How does the QBI deduction phase out for high earners?

Above the taxable-income thresholds (roughly $191,950 single / $383,900 married filing jointly, indexed each year), the QBI deduction gets complicated in two ways. First, if you run a "specified service trade or business" — consulting, law, accounting, health, financial services, performing arts, and similar fields where the main asset is your reputation or skill — the deduction phases out entirely over a band above the threshold and reaches zero. Second, for non-service businesses above the threshold, your deduction is capped by a formula tied to W-2 wages your business pays and the cost of qualified property, so a one-person service business with no payroll can lose much of it. This is one reason high-earning consultants sometimes consider an S-corp election to generate W-2 wages. The interactions are genuinely tricky — model scenarios at wealthserene.com/tools/tax-strategies before assuming you qualify.