TaxCurious
Level 2

Yes I agree, everything you're saying makes sense.   It's just, if it were that simple there would be no such thing as a separately stated item, right?  All ordinary income is in the bottom line, but not everything in the bottom line is ordinary income (the dogs / poodles rule).   The only entity which really has one all inclusive bottom line the way you're describing isn't subject to SE tax (C Corp).