XYZ covered the following employees under its qualified plan

XYZ covered the following employees under its qualified plan.

1. Rob, a 4% owner and employee with compensation of $32,000.

2 Robin, Rob’s cousin, a commissioned salesperson with compensation of $160,000 last year (the highest paid employee). Robin owns 2% of the company stock.

3. Randy, the chief operating officer, who had compensation of $155,000 last year, but was not in the top 20% of paid employees.

Assuming the company made the 20% election when determining who is highly compensated, which of the following statements is correct?

A. Rob and Robin are both key employees.

B. Robin is a key employee, but Rob is not.

C. Randy is a key employee, but not a highly compensated employee.

D. Neither Rob, Robin, or Randy are highly compensated employees or key employees

Solution

answer is option B

Robin is a key employee, but Rob is not.

Robin is an employee owning more than 1% of the business and making over $150,000 for the plan year. Rob as an employee is neither making over 150,000 nor owning more than 5% of the business.