Highly compensated employee check, 2025
This works out one number from the Highly Compensated Employee Threshold figures published for 2025. Every amount it uses is below, with the document it was read from. What you enter is your own: this site has no way to check it, and the answer it produces is not a published figure.
Effective 2025-01-01Source: Notice 2024-80 (IRS)Verified 2026-09-01
How it is worked out
The published amount less the amount you enter, rounded to the nearest cent. Where what you enter is the larger of the two, the answer is nothing rather than a negative amount.
Which threshold, from the 2 this year publishes: Highly compensated employee threshold ($160,000), Key employee threshold ($230,000). The calculator uses the one you pick and says which.
Figures in this colour are computed from the amounts above. They are not published figures and no document states them.
Work it out
The live calculator needs JavaScript. The table below covers common amounts and is computed the same way.
Worked out for common amounts
| Your compensation | Highly compensated employee threshold | Key employee threshold |
|---|---|---|
| 100,000 | $60,000 | $130,000 |
| 150,000 | $10,000 | $80,000 |
| 200,000 | $0 | $30,000 |
| 300,000 | $0 | $0 |
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
Notice 2024-80 (IRS)
- Highly compensated employee threshold
The threshold used in the definition of “highly compensated employee” under section 414(q)(1)(B) is increased from $155,000 to $160,000.
- Key employee threshold
The threshold under section 416(i)(1)(A)(i) concerning the definition of “key employee” for top-heavy plan purposes is increased from $220,000 to $230,000.
Every 2025 Highly Compensated Employee Threshold figure · Highly Compensated Employee Threshold in every year · Every calculator on this site