10 Reasonable Compensation Points to Discuss with Your Clients Before Years’ End

Without an accurate Reasonable Compensation figure the rest of tax planning is just a guess.

1. Provide an accurate independent Reasonable Compensation Report to each shareholder-employee

• Research and documentation is now a “must-have” with the passage of the TCJA

2. Section 199A & the QBI

• This will likely be the most popular and important topic you cover with your clients this year. The only way to advise them accurately is to have a Reasonable Compensation figure based on fact.

3. Stress Test your client’s Reasonable Compensation figure
   • If it fails all three stress tests below it likely won’t survive a Reasonable Compensation challenge (3 strikes and you’re out!)
   • Is your client’s Reasonable Compensation amount “Reasonable” when considering their:
     1. Training and Experience
     2. Duties and Responsibilities
     3. Time and Effort Devoted to the Business

4. Add research and documentation to corporate minutes

• This simple step will add an additional layer of defensibility to your client’s Reasonable Compensation figure. Reasonable Compensation Reports for S & C Corps include sample minutes.

5. 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 to 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. Properly document shareholder loans

• Clients who would like to transfer money out of their S Corp as loan repayment should have that loan properly documented and treated as 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.

9. 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 they do take a distribution (depending on the amount) they 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.

10. Verify occupation on your clients’ 1040 & double-check their SIC/NAICS codes

• 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’.
• The IRS uses ratios specific to industries to try and find S Corp owners who are paying unreasonable low compensation.  Make sure your client’s SIC/NAICS code is accurate and hasn’t changed.

For the trusted advisor in you, the list above will get the conversation rolling with your S Corp and will open the door for offering additional products and services.