Old Tax Code Section Answers Questions on New Pass-Through Break

Banking, insurance, and leasing sectors don’t know whether they are eligible for a tax break for pass-through businesses in the new law and are turning to the previous tax law for answers.

The confusion stems from the definition of the type of of businesses that qualify for the 20 percent deduction for pass-through entities under Section 199A of the 2017 tax act (Pub. L. No. 115-97).

Under the act, a service business isn’t eligible for the tax break. Lawmakers plucked the definition of a service business from an existing provision under tax code Section 1202. But in naming ...