<xtrakmo[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

You are wrong. The employer limit is per plan, not per person over all the
employers (including himself) he works for. For the SEP the corporation is
the employer. For the proposed SIMPLE you are the employer. What happens
in the SEP doesn't affect what happens in the SIMPLE, and vice versa. See
Publication 560.

- quote -

Yes. That's "you," the employee. "You," the employer can also make
additional profit-sharing contributions. Again, Pub 560.

- quote -

No

In addition to all the above, you the individual can make an IRA
contribution in the full amount allowed, assuming you're under 70 1/2.
Deductibility of traditional IRA contributions is subject to the AGI
phaseouts since you're covered by a retirement plan at work. That's Pub
590.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

--
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Help!! I've asked my accountant and two other CPAs (including an EA!)
these questions, and no one seems to be able to give me an internally
consistent answer about this:

I work for a small corporation (two of us) which offers an SEP
retirement plan. I make no voluntary contributions, but the employer
contributes the maximum (25%) of our compensation. This year, i expect
that the employer's contribution will reach the contribution limit of
$46,000.

I also have a self-proprietership consulting business for which I am
considering setting up a SIMPLE IRA.

Am I permitted to make > employee contributions < to the SIMPLE IRA up
to the $10,500 limit assuming that I am going to reach the 2008 SEP
limit? My understanding is that the $46,000 limit is collectively for
all EMPLOYER contributions to defined contribution plans, and since i
make no employee contributions to the SEP (or to any other plan), I
should be able to contribute through employee contrributions up to the
SIMPLE IRA limit.

If this is correct, how would required SIMPLE IRA employer
contributions be dealt with in this case? Since my employer would
have contributed the maximum amount under the SEP plan, I assume that
one of the plans would be required to stop employer contributions once
my limit of $46,000 is reached. Can that be through either the SEP or
the SIMPLE plan? If I am not making employer contributions under the
SIMPLE IRA, it seems that I'm violating the requirements for mandatory
employer contributions.

If I set up a 401(k), can i contribute the maximum employee amount of
up to $15,500 for the consulting business?

There appears to be no income limit for deduction of the employee
SIMPLE IRA contributions under the regular tax. Do the AMT
calculations negate or reduce the deduction in any way?

Can any of you recommend an accountant in the San Francisco area who
has experience with these types of issues?

Thanks all!

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >