Wisconsin Pass-Through Entity Tax (PTET)
Wisconsin's PTET regime is one of the 37+ state workarounds to the federal SALT cap (IRC §164(b)(6)). The election is annual, statute-pinned below, and interacts with composite filing and §199A QBI in state-specific ways.
- Statute
- Wis. Stat. § 71.21(6)(a) (partnership PTE election) and § 71.365(4m)(a) (S corp PTE election)
- State DOR portal
- https://www.revenue.wi.gov/Pages/FAQS/ise-passthrough-tax.aspx
- Election deadline
- [PLACEHOLDER: state DOR cite] — exact election deadline mechanics (partnership Form 3 vs. S corp Form 5S) to be pinned in 2025 Form 3 / 5S instructions.
- Entity-level rate
- 7.90% — 7.9% flat (per § 71.21(6)(a) — top WI corporate rate, applied to PTE election).
- Eligible entities
- s-corp, partnership, llc-as-s, llc-as-partnership
- Owner credit
- non-refundable — [PLACEHOLDER: state DOR cite] — pin owner-side mechanic from revenue.wi.gov FAQ.
- Composite interaction
- stacks — Form PW-1 (nonresident withholding) interacts with PTE election — non-electing entities still file PW-1.
- §199A QBI base reduction
- Yes — Reduces federal flow-through income (Notice 2020-75).
- Last verified
- 2026-05-11
Source: revenue.wi.gov/Pages/FAQS/ise-passthrough-tax.aspx + Form PW-1 instructions. WI was the FIRST state to enact PTE election (2018, tied with CT).
Reference computation
For a Wisconsin pass-through entity with $500,000 of qualified net income allocated to this state, at a 37% federal marginal bracket, the entity-level PTET and federal-deduction math is:
At a 37% federal bracket, the entity-level deduction saves $14,615 in federal tax. Net of §199A QBI offset (~20% × bracket × entity tax = $2,923), aggregate benefit is approximately $11,692.
Election walkthrough
- Verify eligibility. Wisconsin accepts: s-corp, partnership, llc-as-s, llc-as-partnership.
- Check the deadline. [PLACEHOLDER: state DOR cite] — exact election deadline mechanics (partnership Form 3 vs. S corp Form 5S) to be pinned in 2025 Form 3 / 5S instructions. Election filed annually; for tax years 2018+ for S corps and 2019+ for partnerships.
- Compute the entity-level tax. Apply the 7.90% rate to qualified net income.
- Pay and file. Use Form 3 (Wisconsin Partnership Return) or Form 5S (Wisconsin S Corp Franchise Return) with PTE election; Schedule 3-ET (entity-level tax computation). Quarterly estimates may be required.
- Owners claim the state credit. non-refundable credit on the personal state return.
- Verify composite interaction. Composite interaction: stacks. See composite vs PTET.
- Run the federal §199A QBI math. PTET reduces the QBI base proportionally; net the federal SALT-arbitrage against the §199A offset.
Wisconsin PTET — common questions
State PTET law revises annually. Wisconsin's data was last verified on 2026-05-11. Re-confirm with the state DOR primary source before electing or filing. Last full-site review: 2026-05-12.