With tax planning in full swing, we have compiled a Top Ten To Do List.
1. Determine an Accurate Reasonable Compensation figure for Every Client. Without an accurate reasonable compensation figure, the rest of tax planning is just a guess.
- Research and documentation is the best practice. If you don’t have a simple, economical and efficient solution for determining your client’s Reasonable Compensation figure, check out RCReports – industry-leading software for determining Reasonable Compensation for Small Business Owners and shareholder-employees of S Corps.
2. Add research and documentation to corporate minutes.
- For S Corps this step is simple and will add an additional layer of defensibility to your client’s Reasonable Compensation figure. The RCReports Reasonable Compensation Report for S Corps includes sample minutes for your client.
3. Educate your clients. Send an issue letter so your clients are thinking about Reasonable Compensation before you meet with them.
- Most S Corp owners, once they understand the issue, will follow your advice as their Trusted Advisor. For those who don’t, sharing the issue letter will document your attempt to do so. Need an issue letter on Reasonable Compensation? We have one you can download from the RCReports Resource Library – free to anyone who has an RCReports account.
4. Add Reasonable Compensation to your engagement letters.
- Another strategy for notifying and documenting the issue of Reasonable Compensation with your clients is to add an additional paragraph to your engagement letter. Need a sample paragraph or full engagement letter? Download ours from the RCReports Resource Library – free to anyone who has an RCReports account.
5. Document S Corp officers in name only.
- The IRS assumes all corporate officers are performing services for the S Corp and should be paid Reasonable Compensation. If your client is a corporate officer in name only and not performing any services for the S Corp, there is an exception in the IRS code for officers who perform only minor services. (Treas. Reg. § 31.3121(d)-(1)(b)) If you are filing Form 1125-E, make sure time devoted to the business is 0% and make a notation in the corporate minutes.
6. Properly document shareholder loan.
- Clients who would like to transfer money out of their S Corp as loan repayment should have that loan properly documented and treated as if it were an arm’s length agreement. The IRS requires S Corps to pay Reasonable Compensation before taking a distribution, but an S Corp can re-pay loans before paying Reasonable Compensation to its shareholder-employees as long as the IRS deems the loan as valid.
7. Delay taking a distribution.
- S Corp officers are not required to take Reasonable Compensation if they are not taking a distribution. If an S Corp owner can delay taking distributions for one or more years, when she does take the distribution (depending on the amount) she may be able to avoid some employment taxes. This happens when the Reasonable Compensation figure for multiple years exceeds the Social Security maximum. Be aware that when a multiple-year distribution is taken, the Reasonable Compensation should match the distribution’s time frame.
8. Verify occupation on your clients’ 1040.
- In most tax software this field auto-populates from the prior years’ return. Make sure it is up to date and best matches the services your client performs. If a client performs multiple job duties (as most small business owners do) consider using ‘Various’.
9. Check SIC/NAICS code.
- The IRS uses ratios specific to industries to try and find S Corp owners who are paying unreasonably low compensation. Make sure your client’s SIC/NAICS code is accurate and hasn’t changed.
10. Time to become an S Corp?
- Talk with your Schedule C, Partnerships and LLC’s that might gain a tax advantage by becoming an S Crop.
For the trusted advisor in you, the list above will get the conversation rolling with your S Corp and Small Business Clients that will open the door for offering additional products and services.
