If you're a software developer operating either as a sole proprietorship or as an S corporation, I don't think you'll get the deduction. (If you have an LLC, that doesn't mean anything to the IRS; it's treated either as a "disregarded entity", i.e. a sole proprietorship, or as an S or C corp if you've taken that election.)
See Steve's comment on the article from 12/19 at 2:48 PM, replying to someone asking whether developers and other IT professionals would get this break:
> The Sec. 199A statute references another older chunk of tax law, Sec 1202(e)(3)(A). It says this:
> “…any trade or business involving the performance of services in the fields of health, law, engineering, architecture, accounting, actuarial science, performing arts, consulting, athletics, financial services, brokerage services, or any trade or business where the principal asset of such trade or business is the reputation or skill of 1 or more of its employees…”
> So computer/IT consulting pretty clearly fits within the “consulting” category.
> Also, if you’re a one person business, it seems pretty tricky to argue against the position that the principal asset of the business is the reputation or skill of the 1 employee doing the work.
I would appreciate correction if I'm misunderstanding this, as I certainly like tax deductions!