Investing Retirement Planning IRAs SEP IRAs for Self-Employed and Small Business Owners Is a SEP IRA retirement plan right for your business? By Dana Anspach Dana Anspach Dana Anspach is a Certified Financial Planner and an expert on investing and retirement planning. She is the founder and CEO of Sensible Money, a fee-only financial planning and investment firm. learn about our editorial policies Updated on December 8, 2022 Reviewed by Gordon Scott Fact checked by Suzanne Kvilhaug Fact checked by Suzanne Kvilhaug Suzanne received a Bachelor's Degree in Finance and has worked as a journalist for over a decade. She works as a fact-checker on a variety of financial topics for The Balance and Investopedia. learn about our editorial policies In This Article View All In This Article Who Might Want to Establish a SEP? How Much Can You Contribute to a SEP? How Much Do You Have to Contribute for Employees? What Are the Advantages of SEPs? What Are the Disadvantages of SEPs? Frequently Asked Questions Photo: Thomas Barwick / Stone / Getty Images A Simplified Employee Pension individual retirement account (SEP IRA) is a type of retirement plan. It can be established by a self-employed person or small business owner. Learn more about SEP IRAs and how they work. Key Takeaways A SEP IRA can be useful for deferring income, saving for retirement, and saving money on taxes. You can contribute up to 25% of your earned income to a SEP IRA, with a maximum of $61,000 per year for tax year 2022. You must contribute the same percentage of income for eligible employees as you do for yourself. You're not required to make contributions every year. Who Might Want to Establish a SEP? A high-income earning self-employed person with no employees might consider setting up a SEP IRA. It can be useful for deferring income, saving for retirement, and saving money on taxes. For self-employed people with no employees, it may be best to compare a SEP to an Individual 401(k) plan to decide which plan is better for you. Note The Individual 401(k) may allow you to switch between Roth 401(k) (after-tax) and Regular 401(k) (pre-tax) contributions. It all depends on your tax bracket. The SEP, on the other hand, only accepts pre-tax contributions. An employer who wants to reward loyal employees might consider a SEP as an alternative to a more formal profit-sharing plan. The SEP will have lower administrative fees and lower costs. It will also be more flexible. How Much Can You Contribute to a SEP? You can contribute up to 25% of your earned income. This is your net income after business expenses. There's a maximum contribution of $61,000 in 2022 and $66,000 in 2023. How Much Do You Have to Contribute for Employees? You must contribute the same percentage of income for your employees as you do for yourself. For instance, let's say you contribute 20% of your eligible compensation to the plan. In that case, you must also make a contribution for each eligible employee in the amount of 20% of their eligible compensation. Employees are eligible for contributions if: They have worked for you three out of the past five years.They earn more than $650 in 2022 ($750 in 2023).They are age 21 or older. You have until your tax filing deadline (plus extensions) to make contributions to your SEP for the previous year. The IRS website has a section on SEP IRAs that covers additional rules. How Do You Set Up a SEP? There are a few steps for setting up a SEP. You establish it by executing a written agreement and setting up the SEP with a qualified financial institution. This could be a bank, mutual fund company, or brokerage firm; you could also go through a financial advisor. Then, you open a SEP IRA for each eligible employee. You must notify employees that you have established a plan. You also must inform them of the eligibility criteria. In addition to any employer contributions, employees may make their regular IRA contributions to their SEP IRA. The deductibility of their IRA contribution is subject to the normal IRA deductibility rules; these are based on their gross income. It also depends on whether they participate in an employer-sponsored plan. The SEP does count as an employer-sponsored plan. What Are the Advantages of SEPs? SEPs have a variety of advantages. Employers are not required to make contributions each year. The amount of contribution as a percentage of income can vary from year to year. No excess tax forms are required. With a 401(k) plan, an annual Form 5500 must be filed. This is not required for a SEP. The employer chooses the financial institution that holds the SEP accounts. But each employee is responsible for choosing their own investments inside the account. This is an advantage for the employer; the employer is not responsible for the underlying investments. SEPs are great for people who have a side gig. That's because it allows the worker to fully contribute to their employer's 401(k) plan and use a SEP IRA for self-employment income. What Are the Disadvantages of SEPs? SEPs have a few disadvantages for small business owners as well. Employees are 100% vested in employer contributions once they are made. No vesting schedule may be attached to SEP contributions. If an employee leaves the day after the contribution is made, it is theirs. In addition, let's say they leave partway through the year, and you make a contribution for that calendar year. In that case, you must make a contribution for them based on the amount of eligible compensation they had up until the time they left. You must make the same percentage contribution for all eligible employees. In a formal profit-sharing plan, you can classify employees into groups and have the ability to make different contribution amounts for different groups. Frequently Asked Questions Who is eligible for a SEP IRA? You can use a SEP IRA if you are a small business owner, a self-employed person, or a qualified employee of a small business with a SEP IRA plan. For employees, the general requirements are that they must be 21 years old and have earned the minimum required income for the year. They also must have worked for the business for three or more out of the last five years. How much can I contribute to a SEP IRA? If you're self-employed or a small business owner, you can contribute up to 25% of your income for the year, as long as you don't exceed the limit ($61,000 for 2022). Employees don't contribute to their SEP IRA; the employer does. How do I set up a SEP IRA? To set up a SEP IRA, you have to establish the plan in writing and inform the employees of the existence of the plan as well as the requirements for using it. Then you must set up an IRA account for each eligible employee. You can open the IRAs at a bank, brokerage, or other qualified financial institution. You have until your tax filing deadline (including extensions) to establish the SEP IRA. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit Sources The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. IRS. "SEP Contribution Limits (Including Grandfathered SARSEPs)." IRS. "SEP Plan FAQs." IRS. "Simplified Employee Pension Plan (SEP)."