Small businesses—those with average annual gross receipts in the 3 prior years not exceeding a set amount ($26 million in 2020)—are exempt from the limit on deducting interest expenses. However, aggregation rules combine the gross receipts of multiple taxpayers if they are treated as a single employer under a controlled group. IRS FAQs clarify how the aggregation rules operate for different entities (e.g., corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships).