You're already on a 1099. Have CBRE pay your S Corp instead.
QREA Corporation status moves your commissions into an S Corp, and that's where the tax savings start. The election window opens this fall, effective January 1.
Prefer the numbers first? Read the full tax strategy.
What QREA, QREA Individual, and QREA Corporation mean at CBRE
Qualified Real Estate Agent is a status defined in Internal Revenue Code Section 3508, not a CBRE invention. CBRE pays its commission-based brokers under it, and it comes in two forms. Which one you hold decides where your commissions land and how they're taxed.
QREA
Qualified Real Estate Agent, as defined in IRC Section 3508: a licensed real estate professional paid substantially by commission under a written contract stating they won't be treated as an employee for federal tax purposes. Nothing is withheld, and the broker handles income tax, estimated payments, and retirement contributions on their own.
QREA Individual
Commissions are paid to you personally, under your Social Security number. Every dollar of net commission income is subject to self-employment tax. This is where most CBRE brokers sit today.
QREA Corporation
Commissions are paid to a corporation you own, typically an S Corporation, under its EIN. You then pay yourself wages and distributions from the entity. Same production, same split, different tax treatment.
Same commissions. Different tax bill.
As a QREA Individual, every dollar of net commission income is hit with self-employment tax and your planning options stay thin. Moving to QREA Corporation status, where CBRE pays your S Corp instead of you, changes three things:
Lower payroll taxes
An S Corp pays you wages for part of your income and distributions for the rest. Only the wages carry Social Security and Medicare, and that gap is where most of the savings come from.
More retirement room
Wages from your own S Corp support a 401(k) with employee deferrals plus an employer contribution. The combined limits sit well above what most brokers are using today.
A structure that runs all year
Bookkeeping, payroll, and a tax plan updated through the year. Your tax bill stops being an April surprise and becomes something you saw coming in June.
Five things change when CBRE pays your S Corp.
- Where the commission lands. CBRE deposits it in your entity's bank account, not yours. You then pay yourself from the entity as wages and distributions. That one routing change is what makes everything else work.
- Your paperwork with CBRE. A W-9 in the entity's name, a QREA Broker Salesperson Contract in the entity's name, and a Corporate Addendum, signed through DocuSign before the effective date. Depending on your state, the entity may also need its own real estate license and an attorney opinion letter. We tell you which of those applies to you before you spend a dollar on either.
- The 1099. If CBRE issues one, it goes to your entity's EIN, not your Social Security number. Many brokerages don't issue one to a corporation at all, and that's normal. Your books are the record either way.
- Payroll. Your S Corp becomes your employer. Wages run through payroll with withholding, and the rest of what you take is a distribution. For our clients this happens once a year, not every two weeks.
- What doesn't change. Draws, direct deposit, E&O coverage, office and tools all stay the same. Certain CBRE benefits, such as health insurance, remain available to you at your own cost, and the premiums are often deductible through the S Corp. Expense reimbursements still come to you individually, and we book them accordingly.
The window opens in the fall. The entity has to exist before it closes.
CBRE lets a QREA Individual switch to QREA Corporation status during an open election period in the last quarter of the year, effective the following January 1. Miss it and you wait another year.
Before the window
Form the entity, get the EIN, open the business bank account, and line up any state licensing or attorney letter CBRE requires. This is the part that takes weeks, not days, so it's the part to start on.
During the window
Submit the W-9 and license copy, sign the QREA contract and Corporate Addendum through DocuSign. CBRE confirms the switch for the coming year.
The first commission
Commissions start landing in the entity. Payroll, bookkeeping, and the tax plan are already in place, so the first deposit goes to the right account and gets booked the right way.
One package. Ready for CBRE's window.
Everything a CBRE broker needs to stand up the entity correctly and hand CBRE what it asks for, in one flat fee.
- Entity formation and S Corporation election, legal costs and state filing fees included
- EIN and a W-9 prepared in the entity's name for CBRE
- Payroll setup and compensation design
- Banking, cash flow, and withholding framework
- Deduction identification for real estate professionals
- Retirement and benefit plan options
- Structured onboarding session, so you understand your responsibilities
The setup is a moment. The management is the value.
An S Corporation is an ongoing responsibility: payroll, books, planning, and a return, every year. Our S Corp Management service runs all four as one system. A tax and cash flow plan updated five times a year, monthly bookkeeping, payroll run and managed, and 1120S tax return preparation, for $800/month, everything included, month-to-month. Full detail on S Corp Management →
Built for exactly this move
CBRE brokers aren't the first to face this decision, and we've sat on the other side of the table for it many times.
Fifteen years of this exact move
Hundreds of commission-income brokers across dozens of states and firms, including brokers at CBRE today.
Commission-based real estate pros
It's all we do. Your income pattern, your deductions, your entity questions: we've seen your situation before.
Education first
You'll understand your options and your obligations before you commit to anything, in plain language, with the trade-offs stated.
Advice, not products
Business consulting and tax services. No commissions, no product sales, nothing to steer the recommendation.
Make the switch once. Make it correctly.
One Fit Call tells you whether the math works for you, what CBRE will need from you, and whether there's time to have it ready before the window closes. Or start with the numbers on the full tax strategy page.
Rather skip the call and get your number? The S Corp Feasibility Analysis — $999, every dollar credited back when you enroll in S Corp Management.
