When the IRS releases an amendment or restatement, your Solo 401k must adopt it to remain compliant.
SECURE amendment
The IRS is releasing an interim amendment ("SECURE amendment") for 2026. Your Solo 401k must adopt this amendment by December 31, 2026 in order to remain compliant.
The SECURE amendment is a “good faith” amendment which retroactively applies provisions to your plan from the following:
Starting in 2026, all catch-up contributions made to the Solo 401k by a higher-paid employee must be made as a Roth. This is per the IRS’s recently released final regulations for the SECURE Act 2.0, Section 603.
What are catch-up contributions?
Individuals who are 50 and above by the end of the taxable year are allowed to make catch-up contributions to their 401k
In 2025, the catch-up contribution limit was $7,500
Individuals who turn 60, 61, 62, or 63 by the end of the taxable year are allowed to make super catch-up contributions to their 401k
In 2025, the super catch-up contribution limit was $11,250
The mandatory Roth catch-up contribution applies to both types of catch-up contributions listed above
Catch-up contributions were allowed to be made as pre-tax or Roth in previous years, but SECURE Act 2.0 now requires that all catch-up contributions must be made as Roth, starting in 2026, if made by a higher-paid employee
What is a higher-paid employee?
The IRS defines a higher-paid employee as an individual who earns more than $150,000, indexed, in W-2 wages from the adopting business of the plan. This is the figure reported in Box 3 of your W-2 from the adopting business of the plan.
This definition applies to W-2 employees only
If you are a sole proprietor, for example, and are not a W-2 employee of your adopting business, you are not defined as a higher-paid employee. You would be able to make your catch-up contribution as either pre-tax or Roth.
To review, the mandatory Roth catch-up contribution applies only to:
Any participant who is 50 and above by the end of the taxable year, and
Who wants to make a catch-up contribution to their Solo 401k, and
Who is a W-2 employee of the adopting business of the plan, and
Whose wages for the preceding year exceed 150,000 (indexed)
Additional background
The SECURE Act 2.0, Section 603 required that certain participants make all catch-up contributions as Roth for taxable years after 2023
However, the IRS designated 2024 and 2025 as “administrative transition” periods in which catch-up contributions could still be made as pre-tax, without violating SECURE Act 2.0
The IRS recently released final regulations which confirm: the mandatory Roth catch-up contribution will be required for all taxable years, starting in 2026
For more information on calculating and making contributions, please visit our contributions page:
The SECURE Act 2.0 introduced a new limit to catch-up contributions to your Solo 401k, if you are age 60-63. These are referred to as “super catch-up contributions.”
Individuals who are 50 and above by the end of the taxable year are allowed to make catch-up contributions to their 401k
In 2025, the catch-up contribution limit was $7,500
Individuals who turn 60, 61, 62, or 63 by the end of the taxable year are allowed to make super catch-up contributions to their 401k, which are 150% of the normal catch-up contribution limit
In 2025, the super catch-up contribution limit was $11,250. In 2026, the super catch-up contribution limits remains at $11,250.
Super catch-up contribution limits are applicable only for those years in which a Solo 401k participant turns 60, 61, 62, or 63 by the end of the taxable year, starting in 2025.
Once the Solo 401k participant turns 64, they cannot make super catch-up contributions and are again subject to the regular catch-up contribution/for those age 50 and above.
Employer/profit sharing contributions can now be made as Roth, under the provisions of the SECURE Act 2.0.
Previously, employer/profit sharing contributions could only be made as pre-tax. If you wanted the funds as Roth, you would need to make the pre-tax employer contribution to the Solo 401k and then convert the funds to Roth within the Solo 401k.
The SECURE Act 2.0 now allows you to make an employer Roth contribution directly.
If you would like to make a Roth employer contribution, you are responsible for the following:
As employer, your business (which is the adopting business of your Solo 401k) takes the deduction as an employee benefit expense. This deduction is reflected on the company return.
Your Solo 401k issues a 1099-R to you as an individual/employee for the amount of the employer contribution
The 1099-R is completed as for a Roth conversion of pre-tax funds