Did you know there is a credit for small businesses that adopt a retirement plan for their employees? The credit is equal to 50% of the administrative costs with a maximum credit of $500. You can claim the credit for the first 3 years the plan is in place.
A small business is one that did not employ more than 100 employees with compensation of at least $5,000 in the preceding year. The plan must cover at least one non-highly compensated employee. It must be available to all employees who have worked with the employer for at least three months, and you can’t play any games like starting a new company and moving all the employees from your current company to the new one.
The retirement plan can be a 401(k), SIMPLE, or SEP. So if you are looking at ways to provide benefits to your employees without giving them a raise, providing a retirement plan might be an option you should look into.