The IRS released the 2027 inflation adjustments on November 5, in Revenue Procedure 2026-35. For an ecommerce brand heading into its seven busiest weeks, it is the list of lines that move on January 1, and it tells you which side of December 31 the next dollar should land on.
The direct answer: the brackets are about 3.2% higher for 2027, so deferring ordinary income buys a little. The money is in four thresholds, plus a set that matters if you plan to sell.
Inventory is not a deduction, so the levers are elsewhere
Buying inventory in December does not create a 2026 deduction; the cost waits until the units sell, so the last purchase order of the year is a cash decision, not a tax one. What does move between years: marketplace settlements that land in late December rather than early January, equipment and software placed in service by the 31st, the owner's salary, the retirement contribution, state entity-level tax a cash-method brand pays before year end, and a tariff refund that arrives before the calendar turns.
The gross receipts line moves to $33 million
For 2027 the section 448(c) test is $33,000,000 of average annual gross receipts over the three prior years, up from $32,000,000 this year. Below the line a brand keeps inventory on the cash method, skips UNICAP, and ignores the interest deduction cap. Above it, all three switch on. Related entities count together: the Amazon, DTC, and holding companies are one number. If your 2024 through 2026 average lands between $32 million and $33 million, that extra million decides whether you plan the switch for 2027.
The loss cap catches December warehouse buys
The excess business loss limit goes to $264,000, or $528,000 on a joint return, from $256,000 and $512,000. It surprises founders who put racking, a conveyor, or two delivery vans into service in December. With 100% bonus depreciation permanent for property bought after January 19, 2025, a $1.5 million automation purchase placed in service by December 31 is a $1.5 million deduction. But if it pushes your total business result into a loss, only $528,000 of that loss offsets other income this year; the rest waits for 2027 as a net operating loss. As an illustration only: a brand with $400,000 of profit before the purchase shows a $1.1 million loss after it, and about $572,000 of that waits a year on a joint return. The purchase may still be right; the deduction just does not arrive when the invoice does. Section 179 also rises, to $2,640,000, which matters mainly in states that do not follow the federal bonus rules.
The QBI cap and a lean payroll
The qualified business income threshold goes to $416,600 on a joint return for 2027, with the phase-in running to $566,600. Ecommerce is not a specified service business, so above the threshold the 20% deduction survives, capped at 50% of the W-2 wages the company paid, or 25% of wages plus 2.5% of the cost of depreciable property it owns. That cap bites hardest in a brand with fulfillment at a 3PL, marketing at agencies, a small team, and a large profit. As an illustration only, $4 million of qualified income with $500,000 of W-2 wages, a rented warehouse, and little owned equipment is an $800,000 deduction on paper and a $250,000 cap in practice. The owner's salary, December bonuses, and owned equipment all move that number, so the last payroll of the year is a tax decision too.
The numbers for an exit
The qualified small business stock caps are indexed for the first time: for 2027 the $15,000,000 per-issuer exclusion becomes $15,480,000 and the $75,000,000 gross assets test becomes $77,390,000, under the rules for stock issued after July 4, 2025. Inventory counts toward gross assets, so an inventory-heavy brand reaches that test sooner than its revenue suggests. The estate exclusion goes to $15,480,000 per person and the annual gift exclusion to $20,000. If a sale is on the 2027 calendar, whether shares move to family or trusts before the price is set is a 2026 question.
What to decide before December 31
- Which side of $33 million your 2024 through 2026 average lands on, related entities included.
- Whether a December equipment purchase creates a loss above the $512,000 cap, and what it looks like in the states where you file.
- What the owner's W-2 and the team's year-end bonuses do to the QBI wage cap.
- Whether to pay 2026 state entity-level tax before December 31, and which December settlements land before the year closes.
Where your facts change the answer
A C corporation pays a flat 21% with neither the loss cap nor the QBI deduction, so most of this applies to pass-through brands. States conform on their own schedules. The figures come from the revenue procedure; the illustrations are arithmetic, not a projection of your return.
If nobody has put your 2026 numbers next to the 2027 lines, that is the tax planning conversation to have before the last payroll and purchase order. The strategies hub lists what the plan covers.
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