The One Big Beautiful Act (OBBBA), signed into law on July 4, 2025, is one of the more comprehensive tax reform packages in recent years. It makes several temporary provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) permanent, introduces new deductions, and impacts how businesses and individuals plan for the future.
Below is an in-depth look at the most impactful changes for private companies and their owners — and why they matter for your tax strategy.
The OBBBA maintained the full deductibility of state and local taxes for businesses. This is a key provision that was debated throughout the reconciliation process.
>> Our Take: The ability to fully deduct state and local taxes is a significant planning opportunity for business owners. During year-end tax planning, it will be essential to factor in pass-through entity taxes (PTET) to maximize the tax benefits.
The 20% deduction for qualified business income (QBI), or Section 199A, from a partnership, S Corporation or sole proprietorship is now permanent. The income thresholds for phaseouts have also been expanded to $75,000 (non-joint returns) and $150,000 (married filing joint returns) — up from $50,000 and $100,000, respectively.
>> Our Take: Previously, the QBI deduction was set to expire after 2025, creating uncertainty for long-term planning. Now, with this permanent extension, business owners can confidently build tax strategies around this benefit.
The expanded phase-out thresholds are especially important for owners of specified service trades or businesses (SSTBs), such as physicians, attorneys, consultants and advisers who were previously phased out of the deduction. With more room to qualify, these professionals may now see additional tax savings.
This also helps maintain tax parity with C Corporations, which enjoy a permanent, flat 21% tax rate. If you’re operating a pass-through entity, this is a great time to revisit your entity structure, income and compensation allocations, and other planning strategies to fully leverage this deduction.
Businesses can now immediately expense 100% of the cost of qualified property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025. This reverses the scheduled phase-out that would have reduced bonus depreciation to 40% in 2025, 20% in 2026 and 0% in 2027. However, note that these pre-OBBBA phase-out limits still apply to assets in which a written binding contract was entered into prior to January 20, 2025.
>> Our Take: For those with no written binding contract in place, this provision is a powerful incentive for businesses to make capital expenditures. Whether you're buying new machinery and equipment, upgrading technology or expanding your operations, you can now deduct the full cost of the purchase in the current year rather than over several years.
The incentive also aligns bonus depreciation with Sec. 179 expensing, giving businesses more flexibility in how they manage asset purchases. This change is especially impactful for capital-intensive industries like manufacturing, distribution and construction. It improves cash flow, reduces taxable income and can make large investments more financially viable.
Taxpayers also must pay attention to potential state tax concerns with respect to bonus depreciation. Consider setting a high capitalization policy to reduce state addbacks, since there will be very little risk on the federal side of expensing versus capitalizing and claiming 100% bonus depreciation.
The maximum Sec. 179 deduction increases to $2.5 million, with a phase-out threshold starting at $4 million. These amounts will be adjusted for inflation beginning in 2025.
>> Our Take: Sec. 179 is a favorite among small- and mid-sized businesses because it allows immediate expensing of both new and used equipment, software and certain improvements to nonresidential property.
While bonus depreciation is potentially more generous because the immediate expensing amount is not capped, Sec. 179 can offer more control over managing taxable income. It allows you to choose which assets to expense and which to depreciate, allowing for more strategic tax planning.
The Sec. 179 increase also gives businesses more room to invest without losing the deduction due to the phase-out. It’s particularly helpful for businesses that don’t qualify for bonus depreciation or prefer to tailor their deductions to match income levels. Analysis of the benefit of Sec. 179 deduction versus bonus depreciation is important, particularly with multi-state filings and each state having different conformity rules.
Manufacturers can now fully expense the cost of new or improved U.S. production facilities if construction begins between January 19, 2025, and January 1, 2029, and the property is placed in service before 2031.
>> Our Take: This is a targeted incentive to encourage domestic manufacturing and infrastructure investment. It allows businesses to deduct the full cost of building or upgrading factories, warehouses and other production facilities rather than depreciating them over 39 years.
That’s a massive acceleration of tax benefits, which can significantly improve the return on investment for large capital projects. It also aligns with broader policy goals to bring more production back to the U.S. If you’re in manufacturing or considering reshoring operations, this provision could tip the scales in favor of expansion. It is also a great opportunity to align tax strategy with long-term business growth.
Since the 2022 tax year, businesses were required to capitalize and amortize research expenses over five years (or 15 years for foreign research) causing strain on cash flow when the investment did not align with the tax deduction. OBBBA restores the current deductibility of domestic research and development (R&D) expenses in the year they’re incurred in tax years beginning after December 31, 2024. Small businesses (under $31 million in gross receipts) can apply this retroactively to tax years beginning after December 31, 2021. All taxpayers that previously capitalized R&D costs are permitted to elect to accelerate the remaining deductions over a one- or two-year period, beginning in 2025.
>> Our Take: This is a major shift from the previous rule, which required U.S. R&D costs to be amortized over five years. With the OBBBA, companies can immediately deduct their 2025 research and development costs, dramatically reducing taxable income in high-spending years.
This is especially beneficial for startups, software developers and manufacturers investing in R&D. Many of these companies reported book losses but still owed taxes due to capitalized R&D. This provision helps align tax treatment with economic reality.
The retroactive and accelerated deduction options provide a rare opportunity to unlock past deductions and improve cash flow. If your business has been investing in innovation, this could be one of the most valuable timing provisions in the entire bill. However, when analyzing the options, be mindful of the impact on effective tax rate, including the effect on other tax deductions and credits and consider performing a formal analysis to ensure maximum benefit.
Another key limitation from the TCJA fell under Sec. 163(j) for the deduction of business interest expense, which limited the deduction to 30% of adjusted taxable income (ATI). The OBBBA restores a more favorable calculation for 2025 and all future tax years. The Sec. 163(j) limitation now uses EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) instead of EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes). A new ordering rule requires applying this limitation before the interest capitalization rules for years starting in 2026.
>> Our Take: This change increases the amount of deductible interest for many businesses, lowering the after-tax cost of borrowing. Industries such as manufacturing, real estate, construction and distribution, where interest expense is a major cost, stand to benefit the most. An increase to deductible interest means lower taxable income and improved cash flow.
Additionally, the new ordering rule eliminates a common planning strategy: capitalizing interest to the balance sheet to reduce the amount disallowed under Sec. 163(j). The OBBBA requires the Sec. 163(j) limitation to be considered before the application of other capitalization provisions. This could increase taxable income for some businesses, especially those with large inventories or long production cycles. The increased ATI limitation for 2025 coupled with the ability to capitalize interest until 2026 may present an opportunity for 2025 tax savings, but careful modeling is essential to maximize your deductions.
Prior to the OBBBA, there was no gain exclusion under Sec. 1202 unless the stock was held for at least five years. Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) now has a tiered exclusion:
The per-issuer cap increases to $15 million (from $10 million), and the gross asset ceiling rises to $75 million (from $50 million).
>> Our Take: The QSBS changes offer significant planning opportunities for small businesses. The tiered exclusion schedule should enhance liquidity planning. The increased asset ceiling and exclusion caps expand eligibility and potential tax savings, especially for growing startups. This opens the door to more strategic equity planning, particularly in industries where valuations can rise quickly.
Importantly, these changes may prompt closely held businesses currently structured as pass-through entities to reevaluate whether converting to a C Corporation could unlock long-term tax savings under the QSBS rules. While the C Corporation status comes with its own considerations, the potential for substantial tax-free gains on exit may now outweigh the costs for some businesses.
If your business is raising capital, issuing equity or planning for an eventual sale, this is the right time to revisit your entity structure with your tax adviser.
The deductions for foreign-derived intangible income (FDII) and global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) are adjusted to 33.34% and 40%, respectively. The GILTI foreign tax credit haircut is reduced from 20% to 10%. The GILTI regime is renamed to "net CFC tested income" (NCTI), and the FDII regime is renamed to "foreign-derived deduction eligible income" (FDDEI). The base erosion and anti-abuse tax (BEAT) rate is now permanently set at 10.5%, down from the scheduled rate of 12.5%.
>> Our Take: The NCTI and FDDEI changes slightly increase the effective U.S. tax rate on foreign export income to 14%, but the permanency of this provision provides more predictability and simplicity. The effective tax rate required for U.S. taxpayers to avoid a NCTI inclusion has increased to 14%.
C Corporations that export should ensure they are maximizing the FDDEI deduction to lower the effective tax rate on this income from 21% to 14%. Taxpayers with controlled foreign corporations should reexamine their tax position to ensure the new NCTI provisions do not create additional tax.
The BEAT changes provide relief for large multinationals subject to this tax, especially those with significant cross-border payments. They also preserve the ability to use R&D and other credits in the BEAT calculation, which had been at risk under prior proposals.
If your business is close to the BEAT threshold, or if your business operates internationally, these changes could affect everything from entity structure to transfer pricing to repatriation strategies. It’s time to model the impact and adjust accordingly.
The threshold for issuing Form 1099 to independent contractors increases from $600 to $2,000, indexed for inflation.
>> Our Take: This reduces the compliance burden for small businesses. However, it doesn’t change the rules around worker classification, so businesses still need to be careful about who qualifies as an independent contractor. It’s a welcome simplification, but not a free pass.
In addition to the business-specific provisions above, there are numerous impactful provisions to business owners and other high-net-worth individuals, including planning around:
Read our related blogs:
>> "One Big Beautiful Bill Up Close: Tax Impact for High-Net-Worth Individuals"
>> "One Big Beautiful Bill Up Close: Tax Impact for Real Estate"
>> "One Big Beautiful Bill Up Close: Tax Impact for Private Equity and Registered Funds"
While many of the changes included in the OBBBA are favorable, they also introduce new complexity and decision points. Whether you’re a business owner evaluating capital investments, business exit planning, estate planning or a multinational navigating international tax rules, now is the time to revisit your strategy and build a plan tailored to your goals.
Contact Adam Fink or a member of your service team to discuss this topic further.
In this blog Cohen & Co is not rendering legal, accounting, investment, tax or other professional advice. Rather, the information contained in this blog is for general informational purposes only. Any decisions or actions based on the general information contained in this blog should be made or taken only after a detailed review of the specific facts, circumstances and current law with your professional advisers.