Exam 15: Compensation and Retirement Planning

Employers typically use nonqualified deferred compensation plans to provide additional retirement savings for rank-and-file employees.

Four years ago, Acnex Inc. granted Ms. Cardena an incentive stock option (ISO) to purchase 1,000 shares of Acnex stock at $44 per share. On date of grant, the market price was $42 per share. This year, Ms. Cardena exercised the option when the market price was $75 per share. Which of the following statements is true?

Contributions to an employer-sponsored qualified retirement plan are deductible by the employer in the year of contribution but are not included in the employees' gross income.

Section 401(k) plans allow employees to contribute a portion of their current wages or salary to a tax-exempt retirement account. However, the contributed portion is still taxable compensation to the employee.

Lansing Corporation, a publicly held company with a 35% marginal tax rate, paid its CEO an annual salary of $1 million plus a bonus of $1.3 million. The bonus was based a targeted amount of annual gross revenue. Ignoring payroll taxes, calculate the after-tax cost of this payment.

Which of the following is not a factor considered by the courts when evaluating the reasonableness of an employee's compensation?

Julie, a single individual, is employed by Dashell Inc. but doesn't participate in any employer-sponsored retirement plan. Julie's annual contribution to her traditional IRA is deductible.

Lars withdrew $20,000 from a retirement account and used the money to buy a new car. Assuming that his marginal rate on ordinary income is 28%, compute the tax cost of the withdrawal in each of the following cases. a. Lars is 40 years old. He withdrew the money from a personal savings account. b. Lars is 40 years old. He withdrew the money from his employer-sponsored qualified plan after resigning from his job. c. Lars is 65 years old. He withdrew the money from a Roth IRA.

Wages paid by an employer to an employee who is the employer's child under age 18 are not subject to federal FICA and unemployment taxes.

Mr. and Mrs. Williams are the sole shareholders of Lessing, Inc., an S corporation. Last year, Lessing employed the Williams' son and paid him a $50,000 salary. During a recent IRS audit, the revenue agent discovered that the son rarely shows up for work and spends most of his time playing golf. Which of the following statements is true?

New companies and those with volatile earnings and uncertain cash flows generally prefer defined-contribution plans to defined-benefit plans.

An employee receives $110,000 of group term life insurance coverage per year. The cost of this coverage to his employer is $90. The cost based on the IRS's uniform premium table is $1.08 per year per $1,000 of coverage. What amount is taxable to the employee?

Employees don't include the value of any compensatory fringe benefits in gross income because the benefit doesn't consist of a direct cash payment.

An S corporation generated $160,000 ordinary taxable income this year. The shareholders must pay both income and self-employment tax on their pro rata shares of this income.

In 2013, Amanda earned $70,000 self-employment income. She was allowed a $4,945 above-the line deduction for her SE tax. Compute Amanda's maximum contribution to her profit-sharing Keogh plan.

Jason, a single individual, is employed by KLD Inc. but doesn't participate in any employer-sponsored retirement plan. Jason's annual contribution to his Roth IRA is deductible.

Which of the following statements regarding the foreign earned income exclusion is false?

Keogh plans allow self-employed individuals to save for retirement on a tax-deferred basis.

Qualified withdrawals from both traditional and Roth IRAs are tax-exempt.

Mr. and Mrs. Pointer each contributed $1,800 to their traditional IRAs. Each spouse actively participates in an employer-sponsored qualified retirement plan. Compute the deductible IRA contribution on their joint return if their AGI before such deduction is $108,970.