Choosing the right business entity impacts taxation, liability, and long-term planning opportunities. This IRS-approved continuing education course reviews sole proprietorships, partnerships, LLCs, S corporations, and C corporations. Participants will analyze self-employment tax exposure, fringe benefit limitations, distribution rules, and recent updates under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). Practical examples — including the David Watson reasonable compensation case, hobby loss audit challenges, and Mary’s ISO vs. NQO stock option scenarios — bring entity planning to life. The course also covers new excess business loss thresholds for 2025, NOL rules, and the tiered QSBS exclusion structure introduced by OBBBA.

 Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

1. Compare entity-level taxation, distributions, and self-employment tax rules for sole proprietorships, LLCs, partnerships, S corporations, and C corporations.
2. Explain 2025 excess business loss limitations and NOL carryforward restrictions.
3. Recognize hobby loss red flags, including audit risks and deduction limits post-2017.
4. Apply reasonable compensation standards using the David Watson case and understand IRS reclassification risks.
5. Evaluate OBBBA updates, including the tiered QSBS exclusion, the $15M cap, and $75M gross asset threshold.
6. Differentiate ISO and NQO stock option taxation using real-world calculations.

This course counts for 2 Hours of Federal Tax Law for IRS Continuing Education. 

 About the Presenter:

Doug Stives is considered a worldwide leader in public and management accounting by AICPA & CIMA. He is a CPA, MBA, and recently retired professor of Accounting at Monmouth University and a professional speaker at many organizations and conferences. Doug was honored as Monmouth's Outstanding Business Professor of the Year in 2009, 2016, and 2024 and was awarded an Outstanding Educator award in 2021 by the New Jersey Society of CPAs. Frequent media exposure includes The Wall Street Journal and other national publications and television, including CNN, CNBC, PBS, NBC, Fox, CBS, ABC, and several cable networks. Doug was once dubbed as the "Most Tax Efficient Man in America" by the Wall Street Journal.