Changes to Executive Compensation: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s Impact on Section 162(m)
February 6, 2018
Authored by: Steve Evans and Jennifer Stokes
On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed the bill popularly referred to as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (the “Act”) into law. The Act contains significant changes to Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code that are effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017. In this article, we provide a summary of the changes to Section 162(m) and suggest planning considerations for publicly held corporations.
Summary of Changes to Section 162(m)
Among other changes to Section 162(m), the Act eliminated the performance-based compensation exception to the $1 million deduction limitation under Section 162(m). The Act amended the scope of the covered employees, corporations, and compensation for purposes of the $1 million limitation on the deduction for compensation paid to certain employees under Section 162(m). The changes to Section 162(m) include the following:
- Eliminating the performance-based compensation and commission exceptions from compensation subject to Section 162(m). Under the prior rules of Section 162(m), performance-based compensation and commission were excluded from the $1 million deduction limitation. This change means that a corporation’s compensation committee no longer will be required to establish objective performance goals within 90 days of the start of an applicable performance period and that shareholder approval of the compensation terms and maximum amounts payable no longer is required for Section 162(m) purposes.
- Expanding the definition of publicly held corporations to include corporations that file reports under Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which will subject certain