Solo 401(k) contribution limits 2026: employee and employer side
A one-participant 401(k) lets the owner contribute twice, once as the employee and once as the employer. The calculator starts from your Schedule C profit and applies the Publication 560 steps to each half.
Your 2026 solo 401(k) maximum
$54,804
As employee $32,500, as employer $22,304.
| Employee deferral | $24,500 |
| Catch-up | $8,000 |
| Employer profit sharing (20 %) | $22,304 |
| Half of self-employment tax deducted first | $8,478 |
Self-employment tax: 12.4 % up to the $184,500 wage base and 2.9 % on 92.35 % of profit (Topic 554).
Worked out by Radif Partners · How we calculate · limits read on irs.gov · not personal financial advice
For 2026 a self-employed person with no employees other than a spouse can defer up to $24,500 as the employee, plus a catch-up of $8,000 from the year they turn 50 ($11,250 in the years they turn 60 to 63). On top of that the business, acting as employer, can add profit sharing equal to 20 % of net earnings, which means profit minus half of the self-employment tax. Employee and employer money together cannot pass $72,000, catch-up excluded, nor your net earnings. A consultant aged 41 with $150,000 of profit pays $21,194 of self-employment tax, deducts half of it, and can put $24,500 plus $27,881, so $52,381, into a solo 401(k). Born in 1972, the same consultant adds the catch-up and reaches $60,381. The calculator above runs these steps on your own profit.
Two contributions, two different limits
A solo 401(k) is an ordinary 401(k) plan whose only participants are the owner and, if the spouse works in the business, the spouse. Because the owner is both the worker and the business, the plan accepts money under two headings. The employee deferral is capped by the personal limit of section 402(g), $24,500 in 2026 (Notice 2025-67). The employer contribution is a profit sharing amount, capped by a percentage of compensation. Both then sit under the section 415(c) ceiling of $72,000 for the year, with the catch-up allowed above it.
The two halves follow different calendars. The deferral is a choice the owner makes as an employee and must be elected by the end of the year; the profit sharing part can be deposited up to the due date of the business return, extensions included. Most owners fund the deferral during the year and settle the employer part once the books are closed and the profit is known.
The 20 % rule from the Publication 560 rate table
An incorporated owner who takes a W-2 salary from an S corporation or a C corporation gets an employer contribution of up to 25 % of that salary. A sole proprietor or partner has no salary. Compensation for plan purposes is net earnings from self-employment, which already include the contribution being computed, so the rate has to be reduced. Publication 560 handles the circularity with its rate table for the self-employed: the reduced rate equals the plan rate divided by one plus the plan rate (Publication 560, chapter 5).
| Plan rate | Rate for a self-employed owner |
|---|---|
| 25 % | 20 % |
| 15 % | 13.0435 % |
| 10 % | 9.0909 % |
The base to which the reduced rate applies is profit minus half of the self-employment tax. The tax itself is 12.4 % for Social Security up to the $184,500 wage base and 2.9 % for Medicare, both on 92.35 % of profit (Topic 554). For $60,000 of profit the tax is $8,478, half of it is $4,239, and the base becomes $55,761. Twenty percent of that is $11,152, the employer side for that profit.
Worked cases at several profits
| Schedule C profit | Half of SE tax | Employee deferral | Employer 20 % | Total at 41 | Total at 54 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $2,119 | $24,500 | $3,381 | $27,881 | $27,881 |
| $60,000 | $4,239 | $24,500 | $11,152 | $35,652 | $43,652 |
| $90,000 | $6,358 | $24,500 | $16,728 | $41,228 | $49,228 |
| $150,000 | $10,597 | $24,500 | $27,881 | $52,381 | $60,381 |
| $250,000 | $14,787 | $24,500 | $47,043 | $71,543 | $79,543 |
| $400,000 | $16,795 | $24,500 | $47,500 | $72,000 | $80,000 |
Three things show up in the table. At low profit, net earnings bind before any dollar limit: with $30,000 of profit the base is $27,881, and that is the whole amount the owner can put in, since contributions cannot exceed compensation. Between those levels and the ceiling, the deferral is fixed and only the employer part grows with profit, by about $186 for each extra $1,000 of profit below the wage base. At the top, $250,000 of profit gives $71,543 at 41, close to the cap, and $400,000 gives $80,000 at 54: $72,000 plus the $8,000 catch-up, which never counts against section 415(c).
Your solo 401(k) total at a lower profit
Your 2026 solo 401(k) maximum
$35,652
| Employee deferral | $24,500 |
| Catch-up | $0 |
| Employer profit sharing (20 %) | $11,152 |
| Half of self-employment tax deducted first | $4,239 |
Catch-up for an owner over 50
The catch-up belongs to the employee half. It starts in the calendar year you turn 50 and rises to $11,250 in the four years you turn 60, 61, 62 and 63 (in 2026, owners born from 1963 to 1966). It needs compensation left after the other two contributions, which is why the $30,000 row above gets no extra amount at 54. The catch-up page covers the age test in detail, and the age 60 to 63 page lists the years for each birth year.
The rule that forces catch-ups into Roth accounts tests FICA wages paid by the employer that sponsors the plan. A sole proprietor's net earnings are self-employment income, not FICA wages, so the owner of an unincorporated business is outside that test (final regulations, IR-2025-91). An S corporation owner paid through payroll is not: the W-2 from the corporation counts.
A day job and a solo 401(k) at the same time
Many people open a solo 401(k) for consulting income while keeping a salaried job with its own plan. The two limits behave differently. The employee deferral limit is personal: $24,500 across every 401(k), 403(b), SIMPLE and SARSEP you take part in during the year, whichever employers sponsor them. If you defer the full amount at work, the solo plan can take no employee deferral at all, and any excess must be withdrawn by April 15 to avoid being taxed twice.
Section 415(c), on the other hand, applies plan by plan for unrelated employers. Your own business is not related to your employer, so its plan has a fresh $72,000 ceiling. A 41 year old with $150,000 of side profit who already maxed the deferral at work can still receive $27,881 of employer profit sharing in the solo plan, and that plan still sits $44,119 below its own cap. Pages that add the day job match to the solo plan's total understate what is allowed.
Employer side only: how much at your profit?
Your 2026 solo 401(k) maximum
$60,381
| Employee deferral | $24,500 |
| Catch-up | $8,000 |
| Employer profit sharing (20 %) | $27,881 |
| Half of self-employment tax deducted first | $10,597 |
Solo 401(k) or SEP IRA
Both plans give the same employer percentage to a self-employed owner. The difference is the employee deferral, which a SEP does not have. At $150,000 of profit a SEP IRA allows $27,881, against $52,381 in a solo 401(k) for the same 41 year old. The gap closes only near the top, where both reach $72,000. A solo plan asks for more paperwork in return: once plan assets pass $250,000 at year end, the owner files Form 5500-EZ. Hiring a common-law employee who meets the plan's eligibility terms ends the one-participant status, and the plan then has to cover that person too.
Employee deferrals can go in as Roth if the plan document offers that option; the employer part can also be designated Roth under SECURE 2.0 when the plan allows it, and is then taxed in the year it is made. Neither choice changes the dollar limits on this page. For the general $24,500 rule and the 415(c) cap in an ordinary workplace plan, see the 401(k) limit page and the employer contribution page.