Travis H. Long, CPA, Inc. Blog

Originally published in the Cedar Street Times

March 25, 2016

Forms 8959 and 8960 are two relatively new forms that started with the 2014 tax year.  These are two of quite a number of tax increases that are being used to help fund ObamaCare.  Both of these forms affect people with income in excess of $200,000 for Single filers or 250,000 for Married Filing Jointly.

Form 8959 is the Additional Medicare Tax.  It is an additional 0.9% Medicare Part A tax on combined W-2 and self-employment wages in excess of the above stated thresholds.  Note that it is not based on  W-2 box 1 taxable wages, but on Medicare wages which are often higher for most people.  Pretax deductions such as contributions to retirement plans are included in Medicare wages, whereas they are not included in box 1 taxable wages.

Employers have to start collecting this additional tax once your wages hit the thresholds.  However, if you changed jobs during the year, the second employer will not withhold until the wages your earn with that employer reaches the thresholds.  This means that you could owe additional tax when you file your tax returns for the shortfall, since the new employer and old employer do not communicate to coordinate this tax.  For self-employed people, you would of course be sending in quarterly estimates of your income and self-employment tax liability, and the calculation of this new tax would be made on your income tax returns at year-end.

The Form 8960 is the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT).  Once your income meets the thresholds previously discussed, you will also have an additional 3.8% tax on all investment related income.  This would include income sources such as interest income, dividend income, annuities, rents, royalties, capital gains distributions from mutual funds and capital gains from the sale of investments such as stocks and bonds.  Even real estate professionals would be subject to NIIT on their own rental real estate activities, unless they meet the material participation test specifically in rental real estate, which is a separate test from time spent in real estate sales activities, for instance.

If you own an interest in a business and you are not materially participating in the business, this income will also be subject to the net investment income tax.  Material participation generally means 500 hours or more during the year.  The sale of rental property and even second homes are also subject to NIIT.  If you sell an interest in a partnership or s-corporation and do not materially participate in the business, you will also be subject to NIIT on any gains from those sales.  Investment income from your children that are taxed on your returns through Form 8814 are also subject to NIIT.

Wages, unemployment compensation, alimony, Social Security benefits, tax-exempt interest income, income subject to self-employment taxes, and income from qualified retirement plan distributions are specifically excluded from the tax.

There are also some deductions that can be used to offset NIIT.  These expenses included investment interest expense, investment advisory and brokerage fees, expenses related to rental and royalty income, tax preparation fees, fiduciary expenses (in the case of an estate or trust) and state and local income taxes.

Regarding trusts and estate, it is important to note that the thresholds for NIIT are much lower.  Due to the compressed income tax bracket structure, NIIT kicks in when the trust or estate reaches the highest income tax bracket at only $12,300 of income (2015).  This provides additional incentive for trustees to push income out to the beneficiaries since many trusts will be subject to NIIT, but the beneficiaries are often not subject due to the much higher thresholds for individuals.

Planning can be an important tool to lower the impact of NIIT.

If you have questions about other schedules or forms in your tax returns, prior articles in our Back to Basics series on personal tax returns are republished on my website at www.tlongcpa.com/blog .

Travis H. Long, CPA, Inc. is located at 706-B Forest Avenue, PG, 93950 and focuses on trust, estate, individual, and business taxation. Travis can be reached at 831-333-1041. This article is for educational purposes.  Although believed to be accurate in most situations, it does not constitute professional advice or establish a client relationship.