Artículo Elective deferrals.. Elective deferrals.

id="en_US_2025_publink1000171274"> Elective deferrals. If you’re covered by certain kinds of retirement plans, you can choose to have part of your compensation contributed by your employer to a retirement fund, rather than have it paid to you. The amount you set aside (called an elective deferral) is treated as an employer contribution to a qualified plan. An elective deferral, other than a designated Roth contribution (discussed later), isn’t included in wages subject to income tax at the time contributed. Rather, it’s subject to income tax when distributed from the plan. However, it’s included in wages subject to social security and Medicare taxes at the time contributed. Elective deferrals include elective contributions to the following retirement plans. Cash or deferred arrangements (section 401(k) plans). The Thrift Savings Plan for federal employees. Salary reduction simplified employee pension plans (SARSEP). Savings incentive match plans for employees (SIMPLE plans). Tax-sheltered annuity plans (section 403(b) plans). Section 501(c)(18)(D) plans. Section 457 plans. Qualified automatic contribution arrangements. Under a qualified automatic contribution arrangement, your employer can treat you as having elected to have a part of your compensation contributed to a section 401(k) plan. You are to receive written notice of your rights and obligations under the qualified automatic contribution arrangement. The notice must explain: Your rights to elect not to have elective contributions made, or to have contributions made at a different percentage; and How contributions made will be invested in the absence of any investment decision by you. You must be given a reasonable period of time after receipt of the notice and before the first elective contribution is made to make an election with respect to the contributions. Overall limit on deferrals. For 2025, in most cases, you shouldn’t have deferred more than a total of $23,500 of contributions to the plans listed in (1) through (3) and (5) above. The limit for SIMPLE plans is $16,500. The limit for section 501(c)(18)(D) plans is the lesser of $7,000 or 25% of your compensation. The limit for section 457 plans is the lesser of your includible compensation or $23,500. Amounts deferred under specific plan limits are part of the overall limit on deferrals. Designated Roth contributions. Employers with section 401(k) plans, section 403(b) plans, and governmental section 457 plans can create qualified Roth contribution programs so that you may elect to have part or all of your elective deferrals to the plan designated as after-tax Roth contributions. Designated Roth contributions are treated as elective deferrals, except that they’re included in income at the time contributed. Excess deferrals. Your employer or plan administrator should apply the proper annual limit when figuring your plan contributions. However, you’re responsible for monitoring the total you defer to ensure that the deferrals aren’t more than the overall limit. If you set aside more than the limit, the excess must generally be included in your income for that year, unless you have an excess deferral of a designated Roth contribution. See Pub. 525 for a discussion of the tax treatment of excess deferrals. Catch-up contributions. You may be allowed catch-up contributions (additional elective deferral) if you’re age 50 or older by the end of the tax year. For more information, see Pub. 525. Stock Options If you receive a nonstatutory option to buy or sell stock or other property as payment for your services, you will usually have income when you receive the option, when you exercise the option (use it to buy or sell the stock or other property), or when you sell or otherwise dispose of the option. However, if your option is a statutory stock option, you won’t have any income until you sell or exchange your stock. Your employer can tell you which kind of option you hold. For more information, see Pub. 525. Restricted Property In most cases, if you receive property for your services, you must include its fair market value in your income in the year you receive the property. However, if you receive stock or other property that is nontransferable or subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture, you don’t include the value of the property in your income until it becomes substantially vested. (Although you can elect to include the value of the property in your income in the year it becomes transferred to you.) For more information, see Restricted Property in Pub. 525. Dividends received on restricted stock. Dividends you receive on restricted stock are treated as compensation and not as dividend income. Your employer should include these payments on your Form W-2. Stock you elected to include in income.