Tax Guru – Ker$tetter Letter

Q-1:

Subject: sep ira tax calculations

can profit distributions to an owner of an s corp. be used to calculate contributions to a sep ira?

A-1:

No it can’t. 

Only earned income that is subject to Social Security tax is eligible for the SEP earning test.  Since S corp net profit on a K-1 is not subject to any SS tax, it doesn’t count towards SEP-IRA eligible income.

Whether or not it makes sense for you to intentionally restructure your S corp income in such a way so as to pay in some SS tax and thus make it possible to use that income as a means of qualifying  for  a SEP-IRA contribution is something you need to work on with your professional tax advisor.  It may or may not be counter-productive to do that.

Good luck.

Kerry Kerstetter

Q-2:

kerry can someone have a sep ira and a roth ira or any other retirement combination with a sep ?

A-2:

You can simultaneously have several types of retirement accounts.  The tricky part comes in determining which ones you are allowed to contribute to each year.

Rather than ask me about each potential combination of plans, the more efficient approach would be to work with a professional tax advisor to run each of the scenarios until you find one that suits your unique situation and goals.

Good luck.

Kerry Kerstetter