The calculation for a self-employed person for a SEP IRA contribution is different than the straight 25% of net income.
Per the IRS:
Plan compensation for a self-employed individual
To calculate your plan compensation, you reduce your net earnings from self-employment by:
- the deductible portion of your SE tax from your Form 1040 return, Schedule 1, on the line for deductible part of self-employment tax, and
- the amount of your own (not your employees’) retirement plan contribution from your Form 1040 return, Schedule 1, on the line for self-employed SEP, SIMPLE, and qualified plans.
You use your plan compensation to calculate the amount of your own contribution/deduction. Note that your plan compensation and the amount of your own plan contribution/deduction depend on each other - to compute one, you need the other (this is a circular calculation). One way to do this is to use a reduced plan contribution rate. You can use the Table and Worksheets for the Self-Employed (Publication 560) to find the reduced plan contribution rate to calculate the plan contribution and deduction for yourself.
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