S Corp Health insurance tax deductibility 1

pham said:

The ability to claim S-corp status and shield all of your profits from FICA and FUTA taxes is a huge benefit if you make enough

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pham said:

Salary.com. Not a great source, but better than nothing. I just checked the ASCE salary survey for 2023, and putting in my own data it says my median base pay would be $84k with a total primary comp of $95k.

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IRS Website - S Corporation Compensation and Medical Insurance Issues said:

A 2-percent shareholder-employee is eligible for an above-the-line deduction in arriving at Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) for amounts paid during the year for medical care premiums if the medical care coverage was established by the S corporation and the shareholder met the other self-employed medical insurance deduction requirements. If, however, the shareholder or the shareholder's spouse was eligible to participate in any subsidized health care plan, then the shareholder is not entitled to the above-the-line deduction. IRC § 162(l). (An above-the-line deduction is a deduction the IRS allows you to subtract from your annual gross income in order to arrive at your "adjusted gross income".)

Insurance laws in some states do not allow a corporation to buy group health insurance when the corporation only has one employee. Therefore, if the shareholder was the sole employee of the corporation, then the shareholder has to purchase health insurance in the individual’s own name.

Notice 2008-1 provided rules by which a 2-percent shareholder would be allowed an above-the-line deduction even if the health insurance policy was purchased in the name of the shareholder. Notice 2008-1 provided four examples, including three examples in which the shareholder purchased the health insurance and one in which the S corporation purchased the health insurance.

Notice 2008-1 states that if the shareholder purchased the health insurance in the individual’s own name and paid for it with his own funds, the shareholder would not be allowed an above-the-line deduction. On the other hand, if the corporation obtains and pays for health insurance in its name, covers the shareholder under the policy, and reports the premiums as W-2 wages to the shareholder, then the shareholder is allowed an above-the-line deduction. Similarly, if the shareholder purchased the health insurance in his own name but the S corporation either directly paid for the health insurance or reimbursed the shareholder for the health insurance and also included the premium payment in the shareholder's W-2, the shareholder would be allowed an above-the-line deduction.

The bottom line is that in order for a shareholder to claim an above-the-line deduction, the health insurance premiums must ultimately be paid by the S corporation and must be reported as taxable compensation in the shareholder's W-2.

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Notice 2015-17 provides that, unless and until additional guidance provides otherwise, S corporations and shareholders may continue to rely on Notice 2008-1 with regard to the tax treatment of 2-percent shareholder-employee and their healthcare arrangements for all federal income and employment tax purposes.

Until such guidance is issued, the excise tax under IRC § 4980D will not be asserted for any failure to satisfy the market reforms by a 2-percent shareholder-employee healthcare arrangement.

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