John

Mmm, I don't think this is solved by taking out the excess, but if it were solved that way, I think everyone would wind up with the same (net) contribution rate, so I'm not sure what you're saying here. Like this Quote The only way they end up with the same contribution rate is if each partner has the same UPEs which would be highly unlikely.

I hope I can find an answer to the following scenario: A partnership establishes a SEP for the partners and the plan calls for the partnership to contribute the maximum allowable amount for each partner. Partnership contributes 20% to each of the five partners. However, each partner has differing unreimbursed partner expenses that may reduce the max contribution amount on an individual partner basis. These UPE are not reported to the partnership. I think that each partner is required to determine if they have excess contributions and remove those contributions and associated earnings from their account. However, this can result in differing contribution rates for the individual partners so that one partner might end up with a 7% contribution rate and another maxes out his contribution at 20% because he had no UPEs. Is it the responsibility of each individual partner to remove the excess contributions caused by the UPEs or is the partnership somehow responsible for recalculating the percent contribution based upon the individual partner UPES to determine the lowest percentage allowed that would equalize all the partners percentages. It's a tough question for the partnership, but does occur fairly frequently. I would appreciate any guidance from the group.