{"id":1979,"date":"2014-01-08T17:05:03","date_gmt":"2014-01-08T17:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ua-cpas.com\/?p=1979"},"modified":"2019-02-12T05:29:57","modified_gmt":"2019-02-12T05:29:57","slug":"avoid-nj-dol-audits-for-s-corps-take-reasonable-compensation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/2014\/01\/08\/avoid-nj-dol-audits-for-s-corps-take-reasonable-compensation\/","title":{"rendered":"Avoid NJ DOL Audits- S-Corp Owners Should Take Reasonable Compensation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wages vs. S Corp. Income<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In an S-Corporation, a popular choice of tax entity among businesses, an owner who works for the company is required to take wages. How much of the company\u2019s income is classified as wages versus S Corp. income (reported to the owner on Form K-1) is up to the owner. The net income will be taxed regardless of how it\u2019s classified. The big difference lies in federal employment taxes, which are not paid on K-1 income. Another consideration is that K-1 income is exempt from the new 3.8% Medicare tax. So it would seem like a no brainer to take the lowest salary possible, right? Think again. There are significant downsides to consider before taking an unreasonably low compensation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Risk of IRS Penalties<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Let us assume Sam Success worked full-time as the manager of his staffing agency, which has net income of $200,000 this year. If he decides to avoid payroll taxes and classify $20,000 as wages and $180,000 as K-1 income, the IRS will probably notice. Using industry averages and other factors, it will argue that the compensation was unreasonable and will therefore impose steep penalties on top of the payroll taxes owed for the difference between the unreasonable $20,000 and what they determined is reasonable compensation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Avoid NJ DOL Audits<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Even if the IRS doesn\u2019t take notice, the State of New Jersey has taken an aggressive stance with regard to unreasonable compensation. New Jersey is looking to collect state unemployment insurance (SUI), and if Sam Success’ salary is less than the SUI threshold ($31,500 in 2014) it will likely be scrutinized. \u00a0The number of such NJ DOL audits is on the increase. Moreover, New Jersey will inform the IRS after taking its share.<\/span><\/p>\n

Less Disability Coverage<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

If Sam Success was injured by an insured party, he wouldn\u2019t be able to argue that as manager of a staffing agency he deserves at least $100,000 for lost wages. Since he only classified $20,000 as wages, he cannot claim that his lost wages are greater.<\/span><\/p>\n

Goodbye Social Security and Pension Benefits<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The amount one receives from Social Security depends on one’s wage income or other income subject to Social Security tax. By minimizing his wages, Sam is also minimizing his potential benefits. In addition the company’s contribution to his pension is based on his wages. Lower wages equals lower pension benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n

Keep it Reasonable<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

When it comes to determining wages from your S-Corporation, reasonable compensation is the way to go. Your tax professional can advise you in determining just the right amount to classify as wages in order to maximize the tax advantages, while avoiding the aforementioned pitfalls.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an S-Corporation, a popular choice of tax entity among businesses, an owner who works for the company is required to take wages. How much of the company\u2019s income is classified as wages versus S Corp. income (reported to the owner on Form K-1) is up to the owner. The net income will be taxed regardless of how it\u2019s classified. The big difference lies in federal employment taxes, which are not paid on K-1 income. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,14,39,20],"tags":[60,143,176],"class_list":{"0":"post-1979","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-small-business-forum","7":"category-medical-practices","8":"category-payroll-taxes","9":"category-staffing-agencies","10":"tag-corporate-tax-planning","11":"tag-nj-dol-audit","12":"tag-s-corp-tax-planning","13":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3536,"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979\/revisions\/3536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}