Under SECURE 2.0, your employer profit-sharing contributions can go into your Solo 401k as Roth instead of pre-tax. Here's how to do it start to finish: elect Roth before you deposit, deposit into your plan's Roth account, log it in your Contribution Tracker, and file a Form 1099-R in January.
Before you start
You can make Roth employer contributions when all of these are true:
Your plan allows Roth salary deferrals. Nabers Group plans do.
Your 2026 SECURE 2.0 amendment is signed by December 31, 2026, by you and by your spouse if they're on the plan. The amendment covers Roth employer contributions made after January 1, 2024. If you made one before you signed, it's covered as long as you elected Roth before the deposit and you sign by December 31, 2026. What Is the SECURE Act 2.0 Amendment?
It's a profit-sharing (employer non-elective) contribution. Matching contributions can't be made Roth under our plan.
You're 100% vested in your employer contributions, which is typical for a Solo 401k.
SECURE Act 2.0 amendment not signed yet? Log in to your Solo 401k portal and follow the amendment prompt. It takes a few minutes in DocuSign. All new and restated plans after November 1st, 2026 automatically have the SECURE Act 2.0 amendment included in your initial plan document package from Nabers Group.
Step 1: Determine your employer contribution amount
Choosing Roth doesn't change how much you can contribute as the employer. Your employer maximum is the same whether the money goes in pre-tax, Roth, or both.
Sole proprietor or single-member LLC: 20% of your net earnings from self-employment (after the deduction for half of your self-employment tax).
S corporation or C corporation: 25% of your W-2 pay.
The Contribution Calculator does the math. Please confirm your amount with your CPA.
Step 2: Elect Roth before you deposit
This is the step people miss. Your Roth election has to be made before the contribution is deposited. You can't deposit first and decide later, and you can't switch a pre-tax contribution to Roth after it's in the plan.
How to make the election (best way): in your Contribution Tracker, click Add Contribution, choose Employer Roth as the type, enter the amount and the date you plan to deposit, and save it with the status Planned. That dated entry is your record that you chose Roth before the money went in.
How long your election lasts:
It stays in effect for your later profit-sharing contributions until you change it. You don't have to re-elect with every deposit, though logging each deposit as Employer Roth in the tracker keeps your records clear.
You can change it going forward. The plan gives you at least one chance each plan year to make or change your election. A change applies only to contributions made after it.
It can't be undone for contributions already deposited while it was in effect.
No election on file means pre-tax. If you haven't elected Roth, your profit-sharing contributions are pre-tax.
Each participant elects for themselves. If your spouse is on the plan, they make their own choice for their own employer contributions.
Note: in the Contribution Tracker, the Employer Roth type shows a lock and a Sign amendment link until your 2026 SECURE 2.0 amendment is signed.
Step 3: Make sure you have a Roth account for your plan
Roth money has to be kept separate from pre-tax money. Your Roth employer contributions go into the same Roth account as your Roth employee contributions, not your pre-tax account.
Bank account: you can open separate Pre-tax and Roth accounts for your 401k trust with our bank partner Titan, right from your dashboard: app.solo401k.com/accounts/open/bank.
Brokerage account: our software will prefill a Roth account application for Fidelity, Schwab, or E*Trade: app.solo401k.com/accounts/open/brokerage.
Every account is opened in the name of your 401k trust using the trust's EIN.
Step 4: Deposit the contribution into your Roth account
Move the money from your business account into your plan's Roth account. Employer contributions come from the business, not your personal account. Never send contribution money to Nabers.
Write down the date the money lands. The deposit date decides which year the contribution is taxed and reported (see the tax section below).
Step 5: Mark it Done in your Contribution Tracker
Go back to your Contribution Tracker and update the Employer Roth entry to Done, with the actual deposit date and amount. If the amount changed, edit it to match what you deposited.
The tracker counts your Employer Pre-Tax and Employer Roth amounts together against one employer maximum, so you'll see if you're over.
Step 6: File Form 1099-R in January
Roth employer contributions are reported on Form 1099-R, not on a W-2. Your plan issues the 1099-R to you, once a year, for the calendar year the money was deposited.
Open the 1099-R Filer at app.solo401k.com/1099r.
Choose Roth employer contributions as the filing type.
Enter the calendar year the money was deposited and the total of your Roth employer contributions deposited that year.
Submit. We file the 1099-R for you. It shows the total in boxes 1 and 2a, with code G in box 7.
Give a copy to your CPA for your tax return. Our 1099-R Filer is open annually from January 2nd - January 20th and accepts Roth employer contributions starting with the January 2027 filing, for 2026 deposits.
If you're a Solo 401k Core member, your 1099R Filings are included at no additional cost.
How Taxes Work
It's taxable income for the year it's deposited, even when it counts toward the previous year's contribution limit. Example: a 2026 profit-sharing contribution you deposit in March 2027 as Roth goes on a 2027 Form 1099-R and is 2027 income.
No tax is withheld. You may want to raise your estimated tax payments to cover it.
It isn't wages, so it doesn't go on your W-2 if you have an S corporation, and no Social Security or Medicare tax is withheld from it.
After that, it grows like the rest of your Roth money. Qualified withdrawals are tax-free.
How this shows up on your own return depends on your business type. Please review it with your CPA. This is general information, not tax advice.
Helpful tips
Elect first, deposit second, log it, then file. That order keeps every record right.
Watch the year-end deposit. A deposit in early January instead of late December moves the taxable income, and the 1099-R, into the new year.
Roth employer and Roth employee contributions can share one Roth account. The tracker keeps the employee and employer amounts apart for you.
Already have pre-tax employer money in the plan? This option applies only to new contributions. To move existing pre-tax money to Roth, use an in-plan Roth conversion: How to do an in-plan Roth conversion.
Want even more Roth? Roth employee deferrals, Roth employer contributions, and the mega backdoor Roth can work together: Mega Backdoor Roth Solo 401k and Roth IRA.
Keep your records together: the election (tracker entry or signed form), the deposit confirmation from your bank or brokerage, and the 1099-R. As plan administrator, those records are yours to keep. You don't send them to us.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to make my employer contributions Roth? No. It's optional. Without a Roth election, they're pre-tax as always.
Do I elect Roth every time I deposit? No. Your election stays in effect until you change it. It just has to be in place before the deposit. Logging each deposit as Employer Roth in the tracker documents it.
I deposited a pre-tax employer contribution. Can I change it to Roth now? No. The election can't be made after the deposit. You can convert it later with an in-plan Roth conversion, which is taxed when you convert.
Does my spouse need to do anything? Yes, if your spouse wants Roth for their own employer contributions. They make their own election, and their contributions are logged and reported separately.