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This is wrong on multiple levels. SE tax is 15.3%, not 30%, and 12.4% of that is social security, which is capped at 118k. Beyond that, you're just paying 2.9% Medicare (plus normal federal and state income taxes).

Assuming that $80k is a reasonable salary for a solopreneur business (which seems iffy to me and probably to the IRS), you're saving 15.3% on $38k (80k to 118k), then 2.9% above that. Your profit distributions are taxed at ordinary income rates, so zero difference there. So on $250k, you'd save about $9k total, in return for higher audit risk and slightly more hassle and expense in maintaining the S-corp. Not crazy to say that's not worth it for some people.

It's also not an option in some locales (NYC doesn't recognize s-corp and taxes them as corporations, negating any benefit).



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