Shareholder Basis
Shareholder Basis, The Retained Earnings for LLC’s & S-Corps
Keeping track of your shareholder basis (also called “Stock Basis” by some people) is something that your tax accountant should be doing for you. Your shareholder basis is the equivalent of a large publicly traded corporation’s “retained earnings” … or what people mean when they say, “Apple has so much cash!”.
When you initially start a business, chances are you have to put some of your own money into the business bank account. That is your initial shareholder basis. You’ve already paid tax on that money, so you can withdraw that money from your company bank account at any point and NOT pay any taxes on it. That money can be viewed your money you can take at any time without paying tax… or shareholder basis.
Let’s say next year you’ve made a ton of money and you can easily take back that initial cash deposit you made into the company bank account. Go ahead! You can do so and there’s no taxes to be paid.
Changes is Shareholder Basis
Shareholder basis (“SB” hereafter) is increased by the income you receive and decreased, but not below zero, by any loss, deductions or distributions on the Form K-1 you receive.
For example, SB at the beginning of the year is $100,000 and you receive Form K-1 (For an S-Crop… same concepts/line items with a K-1 from an LLC but Box numbers will be different) with the following amounts:
| Box 1 | Ordinary Business Income (loss) | (8,000) |
| Box 2 | Rental Income | 4,000 |
| Box 4 | Interest Income | 2,000 |
| Box 9 | Net Section 1231 Gain (Loss) | 1,900 |
| Box 16A | Tax Exempt Interest * | 500 |
| Box 16D | Distribution** | 16,000 |
* Tax Exempt Interest increases shareholder basis. Basis is increased by this amount to preserve the nature of the Tax-Exempt income. If the shareholder fails to include Tax Exempt Interest in the calculation, then the Tax-Exempt Interest will be taxed when the stock is sold (even though it shouldn’t be taxed).
** Non-dividend distributions reduce SB, while dividend distributions do not. Box 16D on schedule K-1 reflects non-dividend distributions. Dividend distributions will be reported on Form 1099-DIV.
Assuming no debt basis and using the ordering rules, SB is increased by income and reduced by distributions, losses and deductions:
Beginning of Year SB $100,000
ADD:
Rental Income 4,000
Interest Income 2,000
Net Section 1231 Gain (Loss) 1,900
Tax Exempt Interest 500
SB before distribution 108,400
LESS:
Shareholder Distribution*** 16,000
SB before loss and deductions 92,400
Ordinary Income (Loss) (8,000)
End of Year SB $84,400
***Since there is adequate SB before distribution, the distribution of $16,000 is non-taxable.
IDEAS How to Use Shareholder Basis
You could of course just distribute the shareholder basis back to the owners (i.e. you). Alternatively, you could use that capital and “invest”. You can buy equipment & other things to help your business. Or you can open a corporate brokerage account and put those assets into investment grade bonds and earn interest. That interest is added to the company’s income, which flows thru to you, and becomes more basis. You could earn interest via preferred shares of stock, interest payments on cryptocurrency, dividend payments from blue chip S&P 500 companies, etc… the risk profiles are endless and up to you.
NOTE: S corporations cannot make more than 25% of annual income via “passive” income, which corporate brokerage income would be classified as (unless you are a frequent day trader within the corporate brokerage account). LLC’s are not limited like S-Corps and are not limited in “passive income”.
