U.S. Individual Income Tax Return Forms

Instructions for Form 8881

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

(Rev. January 2024)

Credit for Small Employer Pension Plan Startup Costs, Auto-Enrollment, and
Military Spouse Participation
Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code
unless otherwise noted.

Future Developments

For the latest information about developments related to
Form 8881 and its instructions, such as legislation
enacted after they were published, go to IRS.gov/
Form8881.

What’s New
Increased small employer pension startup costs
credit. The SECURE Act 2.0 of 2022 (SECURE 2.0)
provides that eligible employers with 1–50 employees are
eligible for an increased small employer pension plan
startup costs credit under section 45E of 100% of qualified
startup costs, subject to limitation. The credit for eligible
employers with 51–100 employees remains at 50% of
qualified startup costs, subject to limitation. See Credit for
Small Employer Pension Plan Startup Costs, later.
Employer contribution credit. SECURE 2.0 added an
additional startup cost credit under section 45E available
to certain eligible employers, in an amount equal to an
applicable percentage of the employer’s contributions (not
including an elective deferral, as defined in section 402(g)
(3)) to an eligible employer plan. See Employer
Contribution Credit, later.
Military spouse participation credit. SECURE 2.0
added a new military spouse retirement plan eligibility
credit under section 45AA available to eligible small
employers who maintain defined contribution plans with
specific features that benefit military spouses. The title of
the form has been updated to include this new credit. See
Part III. Military Spouse Participation Credit, later.

General Instructions
Purpose of Form

Eligible small employers use Form 8881, Part I, to claim
the credit for qualified startup costs incurred in
establishing or administering an eligible employer plan
(including for employer contributions). The Part I credit is
allowed under section 45E.
Eligible small employers can use Form 8881, Part II, to
claim the credit for an eligible automatic contribution
arrangement in a qualified employer plan. The Part II
credit is allowed under section 45T.

Eligible small employers can use Form 8881, Part III, to
claim the credit for a military spouse’s participation
(including for employer contributions) in an eligible defined
contribution plan. The Part III credit is allowed under
section 45AA.

Feb 8, 2024

Taxpayers, other than partnerships and S corporations,
whose only source of these credits is from a partnership
or S corporation, are not required to complete or file this
form. Instead, they can report these credits directly on
Form 3800.

Part I. Credit for Small Employer
Pension Plan Startup Costs
(Including Employer Contributions)

The credit is allowed under section 45E and is part of the
general business credit. You may elect, however, to have
section 45E not apply for the tax year the credit is
available by not claiming it on your tax return for that year.

Plan Startup Costs Credit
How To Figure the Credit
For tax years beginning after 2022, for an eligible
employer with 1–50 employees, the credit is 100% of the
qualified startup costs paid or incurred during the tax year.
For an eligible employer with 51–100 employees the credit
remains at 50% of the qualified startup costs paid or
incurred during the tax year. The credit is limited to the
greater of $500 or the lesser of $250 for each employee
that is eligible to participate in the plan and not highly
compensated (as defined in section 414(q)) or $5,000 for
the first credit year and each of the following 2 tax years.
No credit is allowed for any other tax year.
Eligible employer. To be an eligible employer, you must
have had no more than 100 employees who received at
least $5,000 of compensation from you during the tax year
preceding the first credit year. However, you are not an
eligible employer if, during the 3 tax years preceding the
first credit year, you established or maintained a qualified
employer plan with respect to which contributions were
made, or benefits were accrued, for substantially the
same employees as are in the new eligible employer plan.
See section 45E(c) for rules for controlled groups and
predecessor employers.
Qualified startup costs. Qualified startup costs are
expenses paid or incurred in connection with (a)
establishing or administering an eligible employer plan, or
(b) the retirement related education of employees with
respect to the plan.
Eligible employer plan. An eligible employer plan is a
qualified employer plan (as defined in section 4972(d))
with at least one employee eligible to participate who is
not a highly compensated employee. All eligible employer
plans of the same employer are treated as one eligible
employer plan. See Member of Controlled Group or
Business Under Common Control below for rules on
treatment as a single employer.

Cat. No. 74839D

First credit year. The first credit year is generally your
tax year that includes the date that the eligible employer
plan becomes effective with respect to the eligible
employer. However, you may elect to have the preceding
tax year be the first credit year and claim the credit for
qualified startup costs paid or incurred during that tax
year. For example, a calendar-year eligible small employer
whose eligible plan is first effective on January 1, 2024,
may elect to treat 2023 as the first credit year and claim
the credit for qualified startup costs paid or incurred during
2023 on its 2023 tax return.

No Deduction Allowed for Credit Amount

You must reduce your otherwise allowable deduction for
startup costs by the credit amount on line 5.

Member of Controlled Group or Business Under
Common Control

For purposes of figuring the credit, all members of a
controlled group of corporations (as defined in section
52(a)), all members of a group of businesses under
common control (as defined in section 52(b)), and all
members of an affiliated service group (as defined in
section 414(m)) are treated as a single employer. As a
member, compute your credit based on your proportionate
share of qualifying small employer plan startup costs
giving rise to your group's credit for small employer plan
startup costs. Enter your share of the credit on line 5.
Attach a statement showing how your share of the credit
was figured, and write “See Attached” next to the entry
space for line 5.

Employer Contribution Credit
How To Figure the Credit
The small employer contributions credit may be claimed
only for tax years of an eligible employer beginning after
2022.
For an eligible employer, the credit is an applicable
percentage of qualifying employer contributions, up to
$1,000 per employee, made by an eligible employer for
the first tax year during which the plan becomes effective
with respect to the eligible employer and the succeeding 4
tax years. The applicable percentage is 100% for the first
and second years, 75% for the third year, 50% for the
fourth year, and 25% for the fifth year. For any tax year, the
applicable percentage (subject to the maximum $1,000
per employee limitation) is reduced by 2% for each
employee in excess of 50 employees during the preceding
tax year.
Eligible employer. To be an eligible employer you must
have had no more than 100 employees who received at
least $5,000 of compensation from you during the tax year
preceding the tax year during which the eligible employer
plan becomes effective. However, you are not an eligible
employer if during the 3 tax years preceding the tax year
during which the plan becomes effective, you established
or maintained a qualified employer plan with respect to
which contributions were made, or benefits were accrued,
for substantially the same employees as are in the new

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eligible employer plan. See section 45E(c) for rules for
controlled groups and predecessor employers.
Qualifying employer contributions. Qualifying
employer contributions include any contributions (not
including an elective deferral (as defined in section 402(g)
(3)) by the eligible employer to an eligible employer plan,
but do not include any such contribution on behalf of an
employee who received wages (as defined in section
3121(a)) from the eligible employer for the tax year in
excess of $100,000.

Member of Controlled Group or Business Under
Common Control

For purposes of figuring the credit, all members of a
controlled group of corporations (as defined in section
52(a)), all members of a group of businesses under
common control (as defined in section 52(b)), and all
members of an affiliated service group (as defined in
section 414(m)) are treated as a single employer. As a
member, compute your credit based on your proportionate
share of qualifying employer contributions giving rise to
the group’s credit for plan startup costs. Enter your share
of the credit on lines 6a–6g. Attach a statement showing
how your share of the credit was figured, and write “See
Attached” next to the entry space for line 6g.

Part II. Small Employer
Auto-Enrollment Credit

The credit is allowed under section 45T and is part of the
general business credit.

How To Figure the Credit

The credit is $500 for the first tax year that an eligible
employer first includes an eligible automatic contribution
arrangement (as defined in section 414(w)(3)) in a
qualified employer plan. The credit is $500 for each of the
following 2 tax years, provided that you continue to
maintain the arrangement at any time during the
applicable tax year. No credit is allowed for any other tax
year.
Eligible employer. To be an eligible employer, you must
have had no more than 100 employees during the tax year
preceding the first credit year who received at least
$5,000 of compensation from you during that tax year.
Qualified employer plan. A qualified employer plan is a
qualified employer plan (as defined in section 4972(d)). All
qualified employer plans of the same employer are treated
as one eligible employer plan. See Member of Controlled
Group or Business Under Common Control below for
rules on treatment as a single employer.
First credit year. The first tax year that the credit applies
is your first tax year in which you or a person treated as a
single employer with you first includes (or had included)
an eligible automatic contribution arrangement in an
eligible employer plan. See Member of Controlled Group
or Business Under Common Control below for rules on
treatment as a single employer.

Instructions for Form 8881 (January 2024)

Member of Controlled Group or Business Under
Common Control

For purposes of figuring the credit, controlled groups of
corporations under section 414(b), partnerships or sole
proprietorships under common control under section
414(c), and affiliated service groups under section 414(m)
are treated as a single employer. In addition, leased
employees described in section 414(n) are treated as
employed by the employer. As a member, compute your
credit based on your proportionate share of the $500
annual credit giving rise to the group's small employer
auto-enrollment credit. Enter your share of the credit on
line 9. Attach a statement showing how your share of the
credit was figured, and write “See Attached” next to the
entry space for line 9.

Part III. Military Spouse Participation
Credit

The credit is allowed under section 45AA and is part of the
general business credit.

How To Figure the Credit

The military spouse participation credit may be claimed
only for tax years of an eligible small employer beginning
after December 29, 2022.
For an eligible small employer, the credit is $200 for
each military spouse who is an employee of the employer
and who participates in an eligible defined contribution
plan of the employer at any time during the tax year, plus
up to $300 of the amount of employer contributions (not
including an elective deferral, as defined in section 402(g)
(3)) to the plan during the tax year on behalf of the military
spouse. For each employee, the credit is limited to 3
successive tax years of the employer, beginning with the
first tax year during which the employee began
participating in the plan after it was adopted as, or
amended to be, an eligible defined contribution plan.
Eligible small employer. To be an eligible small
employer, you must have had no more than 100
employees during the tax year preceding the tax year for
which the credit is claimed who received at least $5,000 of
compensation from you during that tax year.
Eligible defined contribution plan. An eligible defined
contribution plan is any defined contribution plan (as
defined in section 414(i)) of the eligible small employer
under which military spouses employed by the employer
are eligible to participate in the plan not later than 2
months after the military spouse begins employment and,
upon such participation, are immediately eligible to
receive the same amount of employer contributions under
the plan that a similarly situated participant who is not a
military spouse would be eligible to receive under the plan
after 2 years of service, and immediately have a
non-forfeitable right to the military spouse's accrued
benefit derived from employer contributions under the
plan. All eligible defined contribution plans of the same
employer are treated as one eligible defined contribution
plan. See Member of Controlled Group or Business Under
Common Control below for rules on treatment as a single
employer.
Instructions for Form 8881 (January 2024)

Military spouse. A military spouse is an employee of the
eligible small employer who is not highly compensated (as
defined in section 414(q)) and, as of the first date that the
employee is employed or rehired by the employer, is
married (as defined in section 7703) to a member of the
uniformed services (as defined in U.S. Code Title 10,
section 101(a)(5)) serving on active duty. For this purpose,
you may rely on an employee’s certification that the
employee’s spouse is a member of the uniformed services
if such certification provides the name, rank, and service
branch of the spouse.

Member of Controlled Group or Business Under
Common Control

For purposes of figuring the credit, controlled groups of
corporations under section 414(b), partnerships or sole
proprietorships under common control under section
414(c), and affiliated service groups under section 414(m)
are treated as a single employer. In addition, leased
employees described in section 414(n) are treated as
employed by the employer. As a member, compute your
credit based on your proportionate share of the maximum
$200 and $300 annual credit per military spouse giving
rise to the group's military spouse participation credit.
Enter your applicable share of the credit as appropriate on
line 12 and line 13. Attach a statement showing how your
share of the credit was figured, and write “See Attached”
next to the appropriate entry space for line 12 and line 13.

Specific Instructions
Line A

Enter the number of employees of the eligible employer
who received at least $5,000 of compensation from you
during the tax year preceding the first credit year that
applies to the small employer plan startup costs credit.

Line 2

The computation must be based on the number of
employees entered on line A.

Line 3

Enter the number of non-highly compensated employees
who are eligible to participate in the eligible employer plan
during the tax year for which the credit is claimed.

Line 6a

Enter the number of your employees during the tax year
preceding the tax year for which the credit is claimed.

Line 6c

The employer contribution credit is subject to a $1,000
limit per employee after taking into account the
percentage that applies to the first through fifth years of
the plan.
Therefore, if you have employees for whom you made
employer contributions (not including elective deferrals, as
defined in section 402(g)(3)) of more than $1,000 (and the
contributions are not disqualified because you paid the
employee wages in excess of $100,000), first determine
the amount of contributions made for each individual
employee for the tax year. For this purpose, do not include
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contributions greater than the amount specified below for
the plan year.
If this is treated as the first or second year of the plan,
do not include contributions of more than $1,000 per
employee.
If this is treated as the third year of the plan, do not
include contributions of more than $1,333 per employee.
If this is treated as the fourth year of the plan, do not
include contributions of more than $2,000 per employee.
If this is treated as the fifth year of the plan, do not
include contributions of more than $4,000 per employee.
After determining the amount for each individual
employee, add the amounts together and enter the total
on line 6c.

Line 12

Include only employees who participated in the eligible
defined contribution plan at any time during the tax year
and who have not participated in the plan at any time prior
to the 2 tax years preceding the tax year. For such
purpose, do not count any tax years during which the plan
did not qualify as an eligible defined contribution plan.

Line 13

Include only employer contributions (not including an
elective deferral, as defined in section 402(g)(3)) on behalf
of an employee who meets the requirements to be
included on line 12.

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for the information on this form to carry out the Internal Revenue laws of the
United States. You are required to give us the information. We need it to ensure that you are complying with these laws
and to allow us to figure and collect the right amount of tax.
You are not required to provide the information requested on a form that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act
unless the form displays a valid OMB control number. Books or records relating to a form or its instructions must be
retained as long as their contents may become material in the administration of any Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax
returns and return information are confidential, as required by section 6103.
The time needed to complete and file this form will vary depending on individual circumstances. The estimated burden
for individual and business taxpayers filing this form is approved under OMB control number 1545-0074 and 1545-0123
and is included in the estimates shown in the instructions for their individual and business income tax return. The
estimated burden for all other taxpayers who file this form is shown below.
Recordkeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Learning about the law or the form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Preparing and sending the form to the IRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

6 hr.
1 hr.

42 min.
53 min.
2 min.

If you have comments concerning the accuracy of these time estimates or suggestions for making this form simpler,
we would be happy to hear from you. See the instructions for the tax return with which this form is filed.

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Instructions for Form 8881 (January 2024)