Specified Service Trade or Business (SSTB)
Category: Deductions
Certain service businesses (health, law, consulting, financial services, and others listed in the regulations) face tighter Section 199A phaseouts once taxable income exceeds the threshold.
How Specified Service Trade or Business (SSTB) fits 2026 planning
Specified Service Trade or Business (SSTB) sits inside deduction planning — standard vs itemized choices, above-the-line adjustments, and Schedule A limits. For tax year 2026, US Tax Tools treats year-scoped constants (brackets, contribution limits, wage bases, credit schedules) as separate datasets — so explanations of Specified Service Trade or Business (SSTB) should be read with the same year selected in any linked calculator.
Category focus: Deductions. Readers usually land on this page while comparing a paycheck estimate, a credit phaseout, or a retirement contribution room figure that depends on understanding Specified Service Trade or Business (SSTB) first.
Worked example
A consultant with taxable income well above the phase-in range may lose the QBI deduction entirely if the business is an SSTB.
Treat the example as a teaching sketch, not a filing position. Change filing status, state residency, or mid-year events and the same definition of Specified Service Trade or Business (SSTB) can produce a different cash outcome even when the glossary text stays the same.
What to watch for
Definitions of Specified Service Trade or Business (SSTB) can differ slightly across IRS publications, SSA rules, Marketplace subsidy worksheets, and state agencies. When two programs both say “income,” confirm which modification rules apply — MAGI for one credit is not always MAGI for another.
Legislation and inflation adjustments can move the dollar thresholds around Specified Service Trade or Business (SSTB) without renaming the concept. Prefer the effective date on the primary source (Rev. Proc., SSA notice, USDA table, or state DOR bulletin) over any blog summary — including this one if a later notice supersedes it.
Confirm how Specified Service Trade or Business (SSTB) appears on your forms by reading the IRS instructions for the schedules that match your facts. Educational definitions here cannot capture every exception or state overlay.
You may also see this concept labeled as SSTB. Search engines and payroll portals sometimes use those aliases interchangeably with “Specified Service Trade or Business (SSTB).”
Next step
When you are ready to model numbers, open the Specified Service Trade or Business (SSTB) related calculator on US Tax Tools. Engines keep tax-year datasets separate so a 2025 habit does not silently reuse a 2026 constant.
Related reading: Tax insights for longer 2026 explainers, Methodology for how engines store cents and traces, and Disclaimer for educational-use limits.