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SIMPLE IRAs: Introduction
What Is a Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) IRA?
A SIMPLE IRA, a retirement plan that may be established by employers, including self-employed individuals (sole proprietorships and partnerships), allows eligible employees to contribute part of their pre-tax compensation to the plan. This means the tax on the money is deferred until it is distributed. This contribution is called an elective-deferral or salary-reduction contribution.
Employers are required to make either matching contributions, which are based only on elective-deferral contributions made by employees, or nonelective contributions, which are paid to each eligible employee regardless of whether the employee made salary-reduction contributions to the plan. For a matching contribution, the employer's contribution may match the employees elective-deferral contribution up to a certain dollar amount or a percentage of compensation.
Like other employer plans, the SIMPLE IRA allows employers a tax deduction for contributions they make to the SIMPLE IRA plan.
The employee's contributions to the SIMPLE IRA are not taxed, but distributions from the SIMPLE IRA are.
Why Establish a SIMPLE?
Unlike qualified plans, a SIMPLE IRA plan is easy to administer. The start-up and maintenance costs for SIMPLE IRAs are very low compared to qualified plans. Because the responsibility of funding the SIMPLE IRA is shared between the employer and employee, employees have some degree of control over how much and when (the years in which) their SIMPLE IRAs may be funded.
Next: SIMPLE IRAs: Eligibility Requirements
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