If you have less than $250,000 no filing is required.Disclosure: We establish Solo 401k Plans for clients and can prepare and submit for electronic filing with the IRS both forms.

@Jesse KindraThe following IRS website is a good resource for self-employment requirements. https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employed-individuals-tax-centerFollowing are the similarities and differences between the solo 401k and the self-directed IRA.The Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k Similarities Both were created by congress for individuals to save for retirement;Both may be invested in alternative investments such as real estate, precious metals tax liens, promissory notes, private company shares, and stocks and mutual funds, to name a few;Both allow for Roth contributions;Both are subject to prohibited transaction rules;Both are subject to federal taxes at time of distribution;Both allow for checkbook control for placing alternative investments;Both may be invested in annuities;Both are protected from creditors;Both allow for nondeductible contributions;Both are prohibited from investing in assets listed under I.R.C. 408(m); and The Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k DifferencesIn order to open a solo 401k, self-employment, whether on a part-time or full-time basis, is required;To open a self-directed IRA, self-employment income is not required;In order to gain IRA checkbook control over the self-directed IRA funds, a limited liability company (IRA LLC) must be utilized;The solo 401k allows for checkbook control from the onset;The solo 401k allows for personal loan known as a solo 401k loan;It is prohibited to borrow from your IRA;The Solo 401k may be invested in life insurance;The self-directed IRA may not be invested in life insurance;The solo 401k allow for high contribution amounts (for 2015; the solo 401k contribution limit is $53,000, whereas the self-directed IRA contribution limit is $5,500);The solo 401k business owner can serve as trustee of the solo 401k;The self-directed IRA participant/owner may not serve as trustee or custodian of her IRA; instead, a trust company or bank institution is required;When distributions commence from the solo 401k a mandatory 20% of federal taxes must be withheld from each distribution and submitted electronically to the IRS by the 15th of the month following the date of each distribution;Rollovers and/or transfers from IRAs or qualified plans (e.g., former employer 401k) to a solo 401k are not reported on Form 5498, but rather on Form 5500-EZ, but only if the air market value of the solo 401k exceeds $250K as of the end of the plan year (generally 12/31);When funds are rolled over or transferred from an IRA or 401k to a self-directed IRA, the amount deposited into the self-directed IRA is reported on Form 5498 by the receiving self-directed IRA custodian by May of the year following the rollover/transfer.Rollovers (provided the 60 day rollover window is satisfied) from an IRA to a Solo 401k or self-directed IRA are reported on lines 15a and 15b of Form 1040;Pre-tax IRA contributions on reported on line 32 of Form 1040;Pre-tax solo 401k contributions are reported on line 28 of Form 1040;Roth solo 401k funds are subject to RMDs;A Roth 401k may be transferred to a Roth IRA (Note that from a planning perspective, it may be advantageous to transfer Roth Solo 401k funds to a Roth IRA before turning age 70 ½ in order to escape the Roth RMD requirement applicable to Roth 401k contributions including Roth Solo 401k contributions and earnings.)

Luckily the PA sales pitch educated my enough to not let them haul all my clothes, appliances and electronic away right away the first day. 

I get laid into on this forum about collecting rents personally, doing yards, etc, and here is what happens when you run your investments at arms length.Everyone wants electronic payments, charging for yard work to make sure the tenant does it, everyone is doing their level best to avoid their investment and their customer.And then the tenant starts doing stuff that you don't know about and eventaully you get stuck with some huge bill and a huge pile of trash.

I've had great success getting rents on time by having tenants pay electronically either online or at their local 7-11.  

We started before some of the electronic methods of rent collection and communication were around. 

The majority of the section 8 rent comes in from the city electronically like clockwork leaving a small portion for the recipients to pay.  

I previously used an electronic service but they charged almost $10/month.

I wasn't sure what I was missing, but I don't consider being forced online a flaw - if my tenants aren't savvy enough to apply online, they probably aren't savvy enough to look at our listing, pay electronically, communicate by text, etc.

As part of the lease agreement, there is a clause in the lease authorizing him to withdraw the rent as at when due.In fact, the clause on my lease is something like this:AUTOMATIC ELECTRONIC PAYMENT AUTHORIZATION: Tenant authorizes <OWNER> to initiate, and Tenant's financial institution to honor, an electronic funds transfer payment in the amount of the rent from Tenant's bank account effective on the first day of each month.