Pension Plan Credit Eligible Employee

Hello-

  1. For the small business retirement plan startup costs credit there is a reference to not including highly comp employees. Would the spouse of the owner (making $30K) be considered a highly comp employee?
  2. For the credit for employer contributions it doesn’t seem clear whether the same non highly comp requirement applies (there is just a stated wage limit). Does it apply? Would the spouse of an owner making $30K be eligible for the credit?

Thank you!



1) It appears so, per Sec 318 which attributes ownership status to spouses of an owner. Such ownership makes the spouse an HCE when either spouse owns more than 5% of the company. Therefore, there must be another employee who is not treated as an HCE to qualify for the credit.
2) Difficult to discern.

Add new comment

Log in or register to post comments