topic Re: Solo401k not calculating correctly in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Solo401k not calculating correctly

daichovo — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 07:13:13 GMT

My self-employed income net is about 57000. I have no other income. I'm a sole proprietor, business is just me.

Any calculation I use says that I should be able to put about $31,000 total in: $20,500 "employee" contribution, and additional $10,500 "employer" contribution (both are me).

Turbo tax says I can only put in $19,500 total. If I enter in the 20,500 and 10,500 numbers nothing changes from if I just click "max account" and it puts $19,500. Please help.

Re: Solo401k not calculating correctly

Anonymous_ — Thu, 29 Dec 2022 14:51:39 GMT

@dmertz

Re: Solo401k not calculating correctly

dmertz — Fri, 30 Dec 2022 04:35:14 GMT

Check the amount on Schedule 1 line 16. For a net profit of $57,000, your maximum combined employee elective deferral ($20,500) and employer contribution ($10,595) should be $31,095. In the online version of TurboTax you can select Tax Tools -> Tools -> View Tax Summary -> Preview my 1040. TurboTax automatically calculates the maximum combined contribution when you mark the Maximize box for an individual 401(k) contribution.

Note that the Your Self-Employed Retirement Deduction page shows the 2021 elective deferral limit of $19,500 even though the calculations are using the 2022 limit of $20,500. This page also shows only the employer elective deferral, not the employer contribution. Every year the TurboTax developers have difficulty making such simple corrections to the software and it can be well into January before the appropriate corrections are made. At least this year they seem to already have the calculation correct.

Re: Solo401k not calculating correctly

daichovo — Fri, 30 Dec 2022 03:04:04 GMT

OK.

So I figured out how to fix this. I had been entering in $20.5k and then clicking it to max. I deleted the $20.5k and then clicked max, and the line 16 finally calculated properly.

However, no matter if I enter in max or a lesser # (like $20.5k or even lower) the taxes I owe don't change. This seems incorrect? The taxes I owe stay the same for any amount over $9000 contributed, $10k, $20k, $30k, it's all the same at that point.

Re: Solo401k not calculating correctly

VolvoGirl — Fri, 30 Dec 2022 03:28:07 GMT

I think because the deduction only reduces the regular income tax. Even though you can reduce your taxable income to zero you still owe the self employment tax on your Net Profit.

Re: Solo401k not calculating correctly

daichovo — Fri, 30 Dec 2022 14:37:14 GMT

OK this makes sense, thank you.