The IRS would agree with AmeliesUncle. it is your personal skill as an appraiser that earns the corporation its income. one way to legitimately avoid having to pay most of the net profits as salary would be to establish a 401K or other retirement plan. if you carry personal health insurance, it may be possible to have the S-Corp pay it. the S-Corp reports this compensation to you and includes it in box 1 of W-2. on your 1040 you get to deduct the health insurance on schedule 1.
comparison: example S-corp income before s/h health insurance and compensation $!00K. salary $70K no health insurance paid. you report on 1040 $70K salary $30K net profit from S-corp. same example except S-corp pays $5K in health insurance for you now $100K less $75k in comp to you (The $70K + the $5K in health insurance). you report on 1040 $75K in salary, $25K net profit from S-corp less $5k deduction for health insurance on schedule 1 (this is the way the IRS says it must be done to get a page 1 deduction for health insurance)
There are no specific guidelines for reasonable compensation in the Code or the
Regulations. The various courts that have ruled on this issue have based their
determinations on the facts and circumstances of each case.
Some factors considered by the courts in determining reasonable compensation:
š Training and experience
š Duties and responsibilities
š Time and effort devoted to the business
š Dividend history
š Payments to non-shareholder employees
š Timing and manner of paying bonuses to key people
š What comparable businesses pay for similar services
š Compensation agreements
š The use of a formula to determine compensation
