Small Business Retirement Plans
Learn the decision pattern the exam can test, then apply it to a realistic taxpayer fact pattern.
What changes the answer?
A plan that is easy to establish may still require contributions for eligible employees or timely notices.
A tax-practice scenario
An owner wants a late-year plan after hiring employees. Compare establishment deadline, coverage, contribution, and administration.
Identify the taxpayer, entity, transaction, and tax period first. Write the controlling tests in order, apply only the relevant facts, and keep the reporting result separate from any planning recommendation.
Do not take this shortcut.
Choosing a plan based only on the owner's maximum contribution.
Turn the rule into recall.
Use a comparison grid for employer type, employees, deadline, funding, limits, testing, filings, and correction.
- ExplainState the governing distinction without notes.
- ApplyChange one fact in the scenario and predict the new result.
- RetrieveAnswer an unseen question, then review every option.
Official source and scope
This lesson follows the current PSI content outline and uses the IRS reference below for the underlying tax or practice framework. Always confirm current forms, instructions, thresholds, and effective dates before advising a taxpayer.