Publication 560 |
2000 Tax Year |
Simplified Employee Pension (SEP)
A simplified employee pension (SEP) is a written plan that allows
you to make contributions toward your own (if you are self-employed)
and your employees' retirement without getting involved in a more
complex qualified plan.
Under a SEP, you make the contributions to a traditional individual
retirement arrangement (called a SEP-IRA) set up by or for each
eligible employee. SEP-IRAs are owned and controlled by the employee,
and you make contributions to the financial institution where the
SEP-IRA is maintained.
SEP-IRAs are set up for, at a minimum, each eligible employee
(defined later). A SEP-IRA may have to be set up for a leased employee
(defined earlier under Definitions You Need To Know), but
does not need to be set up for excludable employees (defined later).
Eligible employee.
An eligible employee is an individual who meets all the following
requirements.
- Has reached age 21.
- Has worked for you in at least 3 of the last 5 years.
- Has received at least $450 in compensation from you for
2000.
You can use less restrictive participation requirements than those
listed, but not more restrictive ones.
Excludable employees.
The following employees can be excluded from coverage under a SEP.
- Employees covered by a union agreement and whose retirement
benefits were bargained for in good faith by the employees' union and
you.
- Nonresident alien employees who have received no U.S. source
wages, salaries, or other personal services compensation from you. For
more information about nonresident aliens, see Publication 519,
U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens.
Setting Up a SEP
There are three basic steps in setting up a SEP.
- You must execute a formal written agreement to provide
benefits to all eligible employees.
- You must give each eligible employee certain information
about the SEP.
- A SEP-IRA must be set up by or for each eligible
employee.
Many financial institutions will help you set up a SEP.
Formal written agreement.
You must execute a formal written agreement to provide benefits to
all eligible employees under a SEP. You can satisfy the written
agreement requirement by adopting an IRS model SEP using Form
5305-SEP. However, see When not to use Form
5305-SEP, later.
If you adopt an IRS model SEP using Form 5305-SEP, no prior
IRS approval or determination letter is required. Keep the original
form. Do not file it with the IRS. Also, using Form 5305-SEP
will usually relieve you from filing annual retirement plan
information returns with the IRS and the Department of Labor. See the
Form 5305-SEP instructions for details.
When not to use Form 5305-SEP.
You cannot use Form 5305-SEP if any of the following apply.
- You currently maintain any other qualified retirement plan.
This does not prevent you from maintaining another SEP.
- You have any eligible employees for whom IRAs have not been
set up.
- You use the services of leased employees (as described
earlier under Definitions You Need to Know).
- You are a member of any of the following unless all eligible
employees of all the members of these groups, trades, or businesses
participate under the SEP.
- An affiliated service group described in section
414(m).
- A controlled group of corporations described in section
414(b).
- Trades or businesses under common control described in
section 414(c).
- You do not pay the cost of the SEP contributions.
Information you must give to employees.
You must give each eligible employee a copy of Form 5305-SEP,
its instructions, and the other information listed in the Form
5305-SEP instructions. An IRS model SEP is not considered
adopted until you give each employee this information.
Setting up the employee's SEP-IRA.
A SEP-IRA must be set up by or for each eligible employee. SEP-IRAs
can be set up with banks, insurance companies, or other qualified
financial institutions. You send SEP contributions to the financial
institution where the SEP-IRA is maintained.
Deadline for setting up a SEP.
You can set up a SEP for a year as late as the due date (including
extensions) of your income tax return for that year.
How Much
Can I Contribute?
The SEP rules permit you to contribute a limited amount of money
each year to each employee's SEP-IRA. If you are self-employed, you
can contribute to your own SEP-IRA. Contributions must be in the form
of money (cash, check, or money order). You cannot contribute
property. However, participants may be able to transfer or roll over
certain property from one retirement plan to another. See Publication 590
for more information about rollovers.
You do not have to make contributions every year. But if you make
contributions, they must be based on a written allocation formula and
must not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees
(defined earlier under Definitions You Need To Know). When
you contribute, you must contribute to the SEP-IRAs of all
participants who actually performed personal services during the year
for which the contributions are made, even employees who die or
terminate employment before the contributions are made.
The contributions you make under a SEP are treated as if made to a
qualified pension, stock bonus, profit-sharing, or annuity plan.
Consequently, contributions are deductible within limits, as discussed
later, and generally are not taxable to the plan participants.
A SEP-IRA cannot be designated as a Roth IRA. Employer
contributions to a SEP-IRA will not affect the amount an individual
can contribute to a Roth IRA.
Time limit for making contributions.
To deduct contributions for a year, you must make the contributions
by the due date (including extensions) of your tax return for the
year.
Contribution Limits
Contributions you make for a year to a common-law employee's
SEP-IRA cannot exceed the lesser of 15% of the employee's compensation
or $30,000. Compensation generally does not include your contributions
to the SEP. However, if you have a salary reduction arrangement, see
Employee compensation under Salary Reduction
Simplified Employee Pension (SARSEP), later.
Example.
Your employee, Mary Plant, earned $21,000 for the year. The maximum
contribution you can make to her SEP-IRA is $3,150 (15% x $21,000).
Contributions for yourself.
The annual limits on your contributions to a common-law employee's
SEP-IRA also apply to contributions you make to your own SEP-IRA.
However, special rules apply when figuring your maximum deductible
contribution. See Deduction Limit for Self-Employed Individuals,
later.
Annual compensation limit.
You cannot consider the part of an employee's compensation over
$170,000 when figuring your contribution limit for that employee.
Therefore, $25,500 is the maximum contribution for an eligible
employee whose compensation is $170,000 or more.
More than one plan.
If you contribute to a defined contribution plan (defined later
under Qualified Plans), annual additions to an account are
limited to the lesser of $30,000 or 25% of the participant's
compensation. When you figure this limit, you must add your
contributions to all defined contribution plans. Because a SEP is
considered a defined contribution plan for this limit, your
contributions to a SEP must be added to your contributions to other
defined contribution plans.
Tax treatment of excess contributions.
Excess contributions are your contributions to an employee's
SEP-IRA (or to your own SEP-IRA) for a year that exceed the lesser of
the following amounts.
- 15% of the employee's compensation (or, for you, 13.0435% of
your net earnings from self-employment).
- $30,000.
Excess contributions are included in the employee's income for
the year and are treated as contributions by the employee to his or
her SEP-IRA. For more information on employee tax treatment of excess
contributions, see chapter 4 in Publication 590.
Reporting on Form W-2.
Do not include SEP contributions on your employee's Form W-2
unless contributions were made under a salary reduction arrangement
(discussed later).
Deducting Contributions
Generally, you can deduct the contributions you make each year to
each employee's SEP-IRA. If you are self-employed, you can deduct the
contributions you make each year to your own SEP-IRA.
Deduction Limit
for Your Contributions
on Behalf of Employees
The most you can deduct for your contributions for participants is
the lesser of the following amounts.
- Your contributions (including any elective deferrals and
excess contributions
carryover).
- 15% of the compensation (limited to $170,000 per
participant) paid to them during the year from the business that has
the plan.
Deduction Limit for
Self-Employed Individuals
If you contribute to your own SEP-IRA, you must make a special
computation to figure your maximum deduction for these contributions.
When figuring the deduction for contributions made to your own
SEP-IRA, compensation is your net earnings from self-employment
(defined under Definitions You Need To Know), which takes
into account both the following deductions.
- The deduction for one-half of your self-employment
tax.
- The deduction for contributions to your own SEP-IRA.
The deduction for contributions to your own SEP-IRA and your net
earnings depend on each other. For this reason, you determine the
deduction for contributions to your own SEP-IRA indirectly by reducing
the contribution rate called for in your plan. To do this, use the
Rate Table for Self-Employed or the Rate Worksheet for
Self-Employed, whichever is appropriate for your plan's
contribution rate, in the Appendix. Then figure your
maximum deduction by using the Deduction Worksheet for
Self-Employed in the Appendix.
Deduction Limits
for Multiple Plans
For the deduction limits, treat all your qualified defined
contribution plans as a single plan and all your qualified defined
benefit plans as a single plan. See Kinds of Plans, later,
under Qualified Plans for the definitions of defined
contribution plans and defined benefit plans. If you have both kinds
of plans, a SEP is treated as a separate profit-sharing (defined
contribution) plan. A qualified plan is a plan that meets the
requirements discussed later under Qualification Rules. For
information about the special deduction limits, see Deduction
limit for multiple plans under Qualified Plans,
later.
SEP and profit-sharing plan.
If you also contribute to a qualified profit-sharing plan, you must
reduce the 15% deduction limit for that profit-sharing plan by the
allowable deduction for contributions to the SEP-IRAs of those
participating in both the SEP plan and the profit-sharing plan.
Carryover of
Excess SEP Contributions
If you made SEP contributions that are more than the deduction
limit (nondeductible contributions), you can carry over and deduct the
difference in later years. However, the contributions carryover, when
combined with the contribution for the later year, is subject to the
deduction limit for that year. If you also contributed to a defined
benefit plan or defined contribution plan, see Carryover of
Excess Contributions under Qualified Plans, later,
for the carryover limit.
Excise tax.
If you made nondeductible (excess) contributions to a SEP, you may
be subject to a 10% excise tax. For information about the excise tax,
see Excise Tax for Nondeductible (Excess) Contributions
under Qualified Plans, later.
When To Deduct Contributions
When you can deduct contributions made for a year depends on the
tax year on which the SEP is maintained.
- If the SEP is maintained on a calendar year basis, you
deduct contributions made for a year on your tax return for the year
with or within which the calendar year ends.
- If you file your tax return and maintain the SEP using a
fiscal year or short tax year, you deduct contributions made for a
year on your tax return for that year.
Example.
You are a fiscal year taxpayer whose tax year ends June 30. You
maintain a SEP on a calendar year basis. You deduct SEP contributions
made for calendar year 2000 on your tax return for your tax year
ending June 30, 2001.
Where To Deduct Contributions
Deduct contributions for yourself on line 29 of Form 1040. You
deduct contributions for your employees on Schedule C (Form 1040), on
Schedule F (Form 1040), on Form 1065, on Form 1120, U.S.
Corporation Income Tax Return, on Form 1120-A, U.S.
Corporation Short-Form Income Tax Return, or on Form 1120S,
U.S. Income Tax Return for an S Corporation, whichever
applies to you.
If you are a partner, the partnership passes its deduction to you
for the contributions it made for you. The partnership will report
these contributions on Schedule K-1 (Form 1065). You deduct the
contributions on line 29 of Form 1040.
Salary Reduction
Simplified Employee
Pension (SARSEP)
A SARSEP is a SEP set up before 1997 that includes a salary
reduction arrangement. (See the Caution, next). Under a
SARSEP, your employees can choose to have you contribute part of their
pay to their SEP-IRAs rather than receive it in cash. This
contribution is called an "elective deferral" because employees
choose (elect) to set aside the money, and they defer the tax on the
money until it is distributed to them.
You are not allowed to set up a SARSEP after 1996. However,
participants (including employees hired after 1996) in a SARSEP set up
before 1997 can continue to have you contribute part of their pay to
the plan. If you are interested in setting up a retirement plan that
includes a salary reduction arrangement, see SIMPLE Plans,
later.
Who can have a SARSEP?
A SARSEP set up before 1997 is available to you and your eligible
employees only if all the following requirements are met.
- At least 50% of your employees eligible to participate
choose the salary reduction arrangement.
- You have 25 or fewer employees who were eligible to
participate in the SEP (or would have been eligible to participate if
you had maintained a SEP) at any time during the preceding
year.
- The elective deferrals of your highly compensated employees
meet the SARSEP ADP test.
SARSEP ADP test.
Under the SARSEP ADP test, the amount deferred each year by each
eligible highly compensated employee as a percentage of pay (the
deferral percentage) cannot be more than 125% of the average deferral
percentage (ADP) of all nonhighly compensated employees eligible to
participate. A highly compensated employee is defined earlier under
Definitions You Need To Know.
Deferral percentage.
The deferral percentage for an employee for a year is figured as
follows.
The deferral percentage
The instructions for Form 5305A-SEP have a worksheet you can
use to determine whether the elective deferrals of your highly
compensated employees meet the SARSEP ADP test.
Who cannot have a SARSEP?
A state or local government, any of its political subdivisions,
agencies, or instrumentalities, or a tax-exempt organization cannot
have a SEP that includes a salary reduction arrangement.
Limit on Elective Deferrals
The most a participant can choose to defer for calendar year 2000
is the lesser of the following amounts.
- 15% of the participant's compensation (limited to $170,000
of the participant's compensation).
- $10,500.
The $10,500 limit applies to the total elective deferrals the
employee makes for the year to a SEP and any of the following.
- Cash or deferred arrangement (section 401(k) plan).
- Salary reduction arrangement under a tax-sheltered annuity
plan (section 403(b) plan).
- SIMPLE IRA plan.
Overall limit on SEP contributions.
If you also make nonelective contributions to a SEP-IRA, the total
of the nonelective and elective contributions to that SEP-IRA cannot
be more than the lesser of 15% of the employee's compensation or
$30,000. The same rule applies to contributions you make to your own
SEP-IRA. See Contribution Limits, earlier.
Employee compensation.
For figuring the elective deferral, compensation is generally the
amount you pay to the employee for the year. Compensation includes the
elective deferral and other amounts deferred in certain employee
benefit plans. See Compensation, earlier under
Definitions You Need To Know. These amounts are included in
figuring your employees' total contributions even though they are not
included in the income of your employees for income tax purposes.
You can choose not to treat the deferral as compensation, as
discussed later.
To figure the deferral, multiply the employee's compensation by the
deferral contribution rate. However, you must always use the reduced
rate method to determine the maximum deductible contribution (13.0435%
of unreduced compensation). This is the same method you use to figure
your deduction for contributions you make to your own SEP-IRA.
Example 1.
Jim's SARSEP calls for a deferral contribution rate of 10% of his
salary. Jim's salary for the year is $30,000 (before reduction for the
deferral). You multiply Jim's salary by 10% to get his deferral of
$3,000. Your maximum deduction for elective deferrals and any
nonelective contributions would be $3,913.05 ($30,000 x
.130435).
On Jim's Form W-2, you show his total wages as $27,000
($30,000 - $3,000). Social security wages and Medicare wages
will each be $30,000. Jim will report $27,000 as wages on his
individual income tax return.
Choice not to treat deferrals as compensation.
You can choose not to treat elective deferrals (and other amounts
deferred in certain employee benefit plans) for a year as compensation
under your SARSEP. You can use this method for calculating deferral
percentages for the SARSEP ADP test defined earlier.
The deferral and the compensation (minus the deferral) depend on
each other. For this reason, you figure the deferral indirectly by
reducing the contribution rate for deferrals called for under the
salary reduction arrangement. This method is the same one you use to
figure your deduction for contributions you make to your own SEP-IRA.
You must also use the reduced rate method to determine the maximum
deductible contribution (13.0435% of unreduced compensation).
To figure the deferral, use either the rate table or rate worksheet
in the Appendix. Use the rate table if the deferral
contribution rate called for under the SARSEP equals a whole
percentage. Otherwise, use the rate worksheet. When using the rate
table, first locate the deferral contribution rate in Column A.
Then read across to find the reduced rate in Column B.
Multiply the reduced rate by your employee's compensation to get
the deferral.
Example 2.
The facts are the same as in Example 1 except you chose not to
treat deferrals as compensation under the arrangement. To figure the
deferral, you multiply Jim's salary of $30,000 by 0.090909 (the
reduced rate equivalent of 10%) to get the deferral of $2,727.27. Your
maximum deduction for elective deferrals and any nonelective
contributions would be $3,913.05 ($30,000 x .130435).
On Jim's Form W-2, you show his total wages as $27,272.73
($30,000 - $2,727.27). Social security wages and Medicare wages
will each be $30,000. Jim will report $27,272.73 as wages on his
individual income tax return.
Alternative definitions of compensation.
In addition to the general definition of compensation under
Definitions You Need To Know and the choice described in
the preceding paragraphs, you can use any definition of compensation
that meets all the following conditions.
- It is reasonable.
- It is not designed to favor highly compensated
employees.
- It provides that the average percentage of total
compensation used for highly compensated employees as a group for the
year is not more than minimally higher than the average percentage of
total compensation used for all other employees as a group.
Compensation of self-employed individuals.
If you are self-employed, compensation is your net earnings from
self-employment as defined earlier under Definitions You Need To
Know.
To figure the deferral, you must use a reduced rate instead of the
deferral contribution rate called for under the SARSEP. Use either the
rate table or rate worksheet in the Appendix to get the
reduced rate. Then use the deduction worksheet to figure the deferral.
Compensation does not include tax-free items (or deductions related
to them) other than foreign earned income and housing cost amounts.
Compensation of disabled participant.
You may be able to choose to use special rules to determine
compensation for a participant who is permanently and totally
disabled. Under these rules, compensation means the compensation the
participant would have received if paid at the rate paid immediately
before becoming permanently and totally disabled. See Internal Revenue
Code section 415(c)(3)(C) for details.
Tax Treatment of Deferrals
You can deduct your deferrals that, when added to your other SEP
contributions, are not more than the limits under Deducting
Contributions, earlier.
Elective deferrals that are not more than the limit discussed
earlier are excluded from your employees' wages subject to federal
income tax in the year of deferral. However, these deferrals are
included in wages for social security, Medicare, and federal
unemployment (FUTA) tax.
Excess deferrals.
For 2000, excess deferrals are the elective deferrals for the year
that are more than the $10,500 limit discussed earlier. The treatment
of excess deferrals made under a SARSEP is similar to the treatment of
excess deferrals made under a qualified plan. See Treatment of
Excess Deferrals under Qualified Plans, later.
Excess SEP contributions.
Excess SEP contributions are elective deferrals of highly
compensated employees that are more than the amount permitted under
the SARSEP ADP test. You must notify your highly compensated employees
within 2 1/2 months after the end of the plan year of
their excess SEP contributions. If you do not notify them within this
time period, you must pay a 10% tax on the excess. For an explanation
of the notification requirements, see Revenue Procedure 91-44 in
Cumulative Bulletin 1991-2. If you adopted a SARSEP using Form
5305A-SEP, the notification requirements are explained in the
instructions for that form.
Reporting on Form W-2.
Do not include elective deferrals in the "Wages, tips, other
compensation" box of Form W-2. You must, however, include
them in the "Social security wages" and "Medicare wages and
tips" boxes. You must also include them in box 13. Mark the
"Deferred compensation" checkbox in box 15. For more information,
see the Form W-2 instructions.
Distributions (Withdrawals)
As an employer, you cannot prohibit distributions from a SEP-IRA.
Also, you cannot make your contributions on the condition that any
part of them must be kept in the account.
Distributions are subject to IRA rules. For information about IRA
rules, including the tax treatment of distributions, rollovers,
required distributions, and income tax withholding, see Publication 590.
Additional Taxes
The tax advantages of using SEP-IRAs for retirement savings can be
offset by additional taxes. There are additional taxes for all the
following actions.
- Making excess contributions.
- Making early withdrawals.
- Not making required withdrawals.
For information about these taxes, see chapter 1 in Publication 590.
Also, a SEP-IRA may be disqualified, or an excise tax may apply,
if the account is involved in a prohibited transaction, discussed
next.
Prohibited transaction.
If an employee improperly uses his or her SEP-IRA, such as by
borrowing money from it, the employee has engaged in a prohibited
transaction. In that case, the SEP-IRA will no longer qualify as an
IRA. For a list of prohibited transactions, see Prohibited
Transactions under Qualified Plans, later.
Effects on employee.
If a SEP-IRA is disqualified because of a prohibited transaction,
the assets in the account will be treated as having been distributed
to the employee on the first day of the year in which the transaction
occurred. The employee must include in income the fair market value of
the assets (on the first day of the year) that is more than any cost
basis in the account. Also, the employee may have to pay the
additional tax for making early withdrawals. For more information, see
Taxes on Prohibited Transactions under Qualified
Plans, later.
Reporting and
Disclosure Requirements
If you set up a SEP using Form 5305-SEP or Form
5305A-SEP (for a SARSEP), you must give your eligible employees
certain information about the SEP when you set it up. See Setting
Up a SEP, earlier. Also, you must give your eligible employees a
statement each year showing any contributions to their SEP-IRAs. If
you set up a salary reduction SEP, you must also give them notice of
any excess contributions. For details about other information you must
give them, see the instructions for either of these forms.
Even if you did not use Form 5305-SEP or Form
5305A-SEP to set up your SEP, you must give your employees
information similar to that described above. For more information, see
the instructions for either Form 5305-SEP or Form
5305A-SEP.
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