We have a client whose business was taxed as a sole proprietor until 12/31/2017. Effective 1/1/2018 he elected to become an S-Corp. The owner was under the impression that he could defer like he was still self-employed, and then max-out after the year end. He also assumed that his shareholder dividend could be used as compensation. His 2018 W-2 wages were $0.
I’m not sure how he actually deferred throughout the year without compensation, I think he took what he considered draws and contributed them into the plan.
Now we have a plan where an owner with $0 W-2 wages thinks that he deferred $9,000.
How would this “deferral” be corrected?
· Should it be returned to the owner as a 415 excess? This would generate a 1099. This was my original thought for correction, but how could someone get money returned when technically they didn’t have it to defer to begin with?
· Should the money revert back into the company somehow, as an operational error (possibly failure to follow the terms of the plan, with no 1099 issued to the owner)?
As a side question, I thought an owner had to take reasonable compensation in an S-Corporation.