Having trouble with TurboTax handling being employed part of the year and participating in the 401k and being self employed the rest of the year and doing a solo 401k

[rpagnotto]

Employed through August and participated in the company 401k contributing $17,000.  I am 55 so I also do the catch up.  I became self employed in September and want to get the max. amount I can contribute for a solo 401k. I know I should have at least the balance of the $24,500 max or $7,500 but Turbo Tax does not calculate it that way

[dmertz]

TurboTax can't directly handle calculating the maximum permissible solo 401(k) contribution when you also made employee contributions to another employer's plan.  Since you contributed $17,000 to the other employers plan and you can only contribute $7,500 in elective deferrals and Roth contributions to the solo 401(k), enter you elective deferral or Roth contribution explicitly, limiting the total to $7,500.  For the employer contribution, you can get TurboTax to calculate the maximum permissible employer contribution by marking the Maximize box for either a Profit Sharing Keogh or a SEP contribution; the calculation is the same.