401(k) Calculators
401(k) Profit Sharing Calculator
Employee deferrals have to be in by December 31. The employer profit sharing piece doesn't — it can be contributed as late as the business's tax filing deadline, extensions included.
Calculate your profit sharing room
2026 IRS limits — see how much room you have under the combined $72,000 ceiling.
Entity type
Income & contributions
This is a planning estimate using standard IRS formulas — a plan administrator or CPA should confirm your exact maximum, especially if your plan uses a non-standard allocation formula.
Profit sharing is the employer's discretionary piece
A 401(k) can hold up to three distinct types of money: your own elective deferral (what you choose to contribute from pay), any employer match, and a separate, fully discretionary employer profit sharing contribution — which despite the name doesn't legally require the business to have actually turned a profit. The employer decides each year whether to make one, and how much, subject to IRS limits.
The 2026 numbers, straight from the IRS
| Limit | 2026 amount |
|---|---|
| Employee elective deferral | $24,500 |
| Catch-up (age 50-59, or 64+) | $8,000 additional |
| Super catch-up (age 60-63) | $11,250 additional |
| Combined 415(c) limit (deferral + match + profit sharing) | $72,000, or 100% of compensation if less |
A clean way to see how these stack: a business owner contributing the full $24,500 employee deferral, plus a $47,500 profit sharing contribution, hits exactly $72,000 — the combined ceiling. Catch-up contributions sit outside this limit entirely; they're permitted in addition to the $72,000, not counted within it.
The formula genuinely differs by entity type
How much profit sharing you can actually contribute depends on how your business is structured:
- Sole proprietors and Schedule C filers are capped at 20% of net self-employment income, calculated after the IRS's specific adjustment for half of self-employment tax — not 20% of gross revenue.
- S-corp or C-corp owners paid W-2 wages use a more generous 25% of compensation, calculated directly on W-2 wages rather than net business profit.
Getting this distinction right matters — using the wrong percentage for your entity type is a common, and costly, mistake.
The deadline flexibility most people don't know about
The 2026 IRS contribution limits are sourced directly from the IRS's own November 2025 announcement (Notice 2025-67). The entity-specific profit sharing percentages and the extended filing-deadline rule verified across multiple independent 2026 retirement planning guides showing consistent detail. This is a planning estimate — a CPA or plan administrator should confirm your exact maximum contribution.
Frequently asked questions
Before you make a profit sharing contribution.
What is the 401(k) profit sharing contribution limit for 2026?
Up to 25% of compensation for W-2 employees of a corporation, or 20% of net self-employment income (after the self-employment tax adjustment) for Schedule C filers — subject to the overall $72,000 combined 415(c) limit.
When is the deadline to make a profit sharing contribution?
Unlike employee deferrals, which must be made by December 31, employer profit sharing contributions can be made up until the business's tax filing deadline, including extensions.
Do catch-up contributions count toward the $72,000 combined limit?
No. Catch-up contributions for those 50 and older are permitted in addition to the $72,000 combined limit, not counted within it.
Does profit sharing require the business to actually be profitable?
No - despite the name, profit sharing contributions are entirely discretionary and don't legally require the business to have turned an actual profit that year.
Is the profit sharing formula the same for a sole proprietor and an S-corp owner?
No - sole proprietors and Schedule C filers use 20% of net self-employment income, while S-corp and C-corp owners use 25% of W-2 compensation, a meaningfully different calculation.