Is a retirement plan administration fee line 19 or line 17?

An administrator's or actuary's invoice fits line 17 legal and professional services, while money contributed into the plan only ever fits line 19: just never report the same fee on both.

Is a retirement plan administration fee line 19 or schedule 1 line 16?

Schedule 1 line 16 covers the owner's own plan contributions, not plan running costs, so an administration fee never belongs there.

Where do retirement plan admin fees go? Line 19

Short answer Schedule C, Line 19 Pension and profit-sharing plans

A retirement plan administration fee belongs on Line 19, pension and profit-sharing plans.

Why line 19

Fees the business pays to set up and run a retirement plan for its employees are ordinary and necessary business costs, and reporting them on line 19 keeps the whole cost of the plan on one line. Some preparers use line 17 instead, on the view that a third party administrator's invoice is a professional service fee rather than a plan contribution. Either is defensible when the business itself pays the fee, so pick one and stay with it. If the fee is taken out of plan assets rather than paid by the business, the business has no deduction for it at all.

Stop looking up lines one at a time. ClaryBook totals your year into an IRS Schedule C worksheet in form order, Part I and Part II line by line, so a retirement plan administration fee lands on Line 19 without you sorting it.

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What a retirement plan administration fee is confused with

Line 17, legal and professional services: An administrator's or actuary's invoice fits line 17 legal and professional services, while money contributed into the plan only ever fits line 19: just never report the same fee on both.
Schedule 1 line 16, schedule 1 line 16, self-employed retirement plans: Schedule 1 line 16 covers the owner's own plan contributions, not plan running costs, so an administration fee never belongs there.
not deductible, not deductible: A fee netted out of participant balances was paid by the plan and not by the business, so the business has nothing to deduct.

Examples that belong on line 19

$1,200 annual recordkeeping fee for a 401(k) covering three employees
$500 plan setup fee charged by a third party administrator
$750 for year end compliance testing and the Form 5500 filing
$300 annual base fee on a SIMPLE IRA plan paid from the business account

What does not belong here

Fees deducted from participant account balances, which the plan paid rather than the business.
Investment management fees charged inside the funds, which are already netted against returns.
The owner's own plan contribution, which is a Schedule 1 deduction.

What to keep

Keep the administrator's invoices and proof that the business account paid them, plus the year end plan reports. The invoice needs to show it relates to the employee plan rather than to personal investment accounts.

Other expenses on line 19

Expense	Line
a 401(k) employer contribution for an employee	Schedule C, Line 19
a SEP-IRA contribution for an employee	Schedule C, Line 19
a SIMPLE IRA employer match for an employee	Schedule C, Line 19

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Sources

This page explains how Schedule C lines work. It is general information, not tax advice for your situation. If an expense is large or the answer turns on a fact about your business, confirm it with your tax preparer.

Looking for a different expense? The full Schedule C line lookup has every line from 8 to 27 with the expenses that belong on each, and Schedule C expense categories walks the whole form in order.

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