Derek K

Thank you for the information and clarification-- I suspected it was something like this...easier for Vanguard to say no than deal with the complexities for less common situations. I was forced to terminate the Solo 401k plan, as I was dissolving my S-corp. I suppose if I wanted to go through the extra legwork, I could have possibly had the new Sole Prop take over the plan, as with a company acquisition...but it didn't occur to me, and I had plenty of other considerations with dissolution and moving cross-country to deal with... Thanks. -- Derek

Hello. In April of this year(2019), I terminated my [single-owner] S-corp and the Solo 401k I had for it(filing final 5500ez, etc.). I rolled the Solo 401k funds into an existing IRA so I could terminate the 401k plan. I then moved from NY to FL and opened a new business, operating this time as a sole proprietorship. I contributed to the Solo 401k in Q1 before dissolving that business, but only $31.5k($19k employee deferral, $12.5k employer contribution)-- short of my limits for solo 401k or an SEP IRA otherwise. I planned on opening an SEP IRA starting in 2020, but now I'm finding I'd like to max deductions for 2019 more than I expected(I had more taxable events than planned), and was wondering if I could open an SEP IRA for the Sole Prop for the 2019 tax year? Vanguard says their interpretation is that I can't have two plans(401k and SEP IRA) in the same year, due to the same ownership/control of the two companies. When asked for them to point me to anything official to back up that position, they just vaguely pointed me to pub560-- but I can't find anything about multiple plans there, other than 5305-SEP requirements which shouldn't apply(as the 401k was terminated, and the 5305-SEP instructions specify 'presently maintain'; plus, that's just for using the form, not SEP IRA qualification itself). Is there anyone here that can answer this for me, pointing to some authoritative source? Thanks.