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Retained Earnings lower than shareholder distributions so can't reconcile

I can't reconcile my retained earnings because I have accumulated depreciation which puts my earnings lower than the amount of distributions I took. This blocks me from reconciling retained earnings.

 

Should I be changing some of the distribution to a long term liability or something else? 

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Retained Earnings lower than shareholder distributions so can't reconcile

if retained earnings line 24 on schedule L balanced at the beginning of the year ending retained earnings goes up by net income or down by net loss (either takes into account depreciation) and down by distributions. any additional contributions to the capital of the corp goes on line 23

 

the AAA account (m-2) column a cannot go negative because of distributions. so if distributions line 7 exceeds line 6 you may have a tax issue. it depends on your tax basis before distributions. it must be greater than the distributions or you have income from the excess.   for 2022 you are also required to complete form 7203 with your 1040 to report the S-Corp activity so theiRS can tell if you have unreported income from distributions that exceed your tax basis.  

 

we can't see your return but now is the time to sit down with a tax pro to explain tax basis and various other rules on reporting for an S-Corp and its shareholders.  you don't realize that distributions are a debit from a bookkeeping perspective so it would have to show up on line 7 loans to shareholders which can raise a red flag with the iRS. 

 

 

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