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I don't have a spreadsheet that I can share, but if I did, it would have these column headings: Attorney name Phone number Email address What I am saying is, there is not a deterministic formula for saying if an ASG exists or not. You need to make a number of factual determinations, including: Is a particular organization a service organization? What entity is the first service organization? Does one organization regularly perform services for another? Is a significant portion of the entity's income derived from providing services? Are the services performed by one entity of a type historically performed by another? There are no spreadsheet functions to answer these questions.

You don't NEED to restate, but you do need to make sure the plan is fully up to date with law and regulations (even if interim amendments are not yet due) and the best way to ensure that is to restate and include the plan provider's amendment for terminating plans.

What purposes does the sponsor want the amendment to be retroactively effective for? If for 401(a)(4) or 410(b), you can do it as a 1.401(a)(4)-11(g) amendment, although you indicated that there was no coverage or nondiscrimination failure that would need correcting. If for 401(a)(26), you can do it as a 1.401(a)(26)-7(c) amendment, which operates under similar rules to -11(g). If for minimum funding/maximum deduction purposes, too late. The deadline to adopt a 412(d)(2) amendment for 2021 was March 15, 2022. If none of the above: then just make the amendment effective in 2022, and give them credit for 2021 for accrual service.

You might be thinking of the flow chart on pages 45-46 here: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/epchd704.pdf

I seem to recall a discussion on this in the past. So for the 2020 return, do you report zero participants and zero assets at the end of the plan year? If non-zero, can you really file it as a final return? Then for 2021, do you start with zero participants and zero assets, or end of 2020 participants and assets... With first day of the plan year as an entry date, I can understand non-zero participants at the beginning of 2021. But non-zero assets at the beginning of 2021?

We've covered the issue before that the effective date of the Plan can pre-date the effective date of the sponsoring entity.

If the entity required to file the 5500 is also required to file at least 250 returns of any type, mandatory electronic filing of the 5500-EZ applies. The CPA is incorrect.

Brian Gilmore hits hits the nail on the head. Many law firms with incorporated partners (414(m)(2)(A) ASG's) have this issue, maybe less so today given that there are fewer incorporated partners. None that I am aware of have were able to resolve the issue favorably, and those that stayed worried about it and were large enough to be self-insured looked at the MEWA issue as just one more reason to be fully insured.

I agree with you Nate - it's also why I used to like AAs putting the integration level at "80% plus $1" even though you'd have to manually calculate/override that number each year in the admin software.

Agreed, you have to pass coverage and that is the only way. Most plans that still allow the opt out also have provision where sponsor may revoke if necessary to satisfy testing. If person was only NHCE at the time, then such opt out election never should have been accepted at the time.

Going off-topic, sort of, but back in the days when we submitted for favorable letters on termination, we had checked on the 5310 that there would be in-kind transfers. This got the IRS' attention and they asked exactly what would be transferred. I told them mutual funds and securities, and they said "oh we don't consider that an in-kind transfer" or words to that effect. I said, "um, okaaaay" and moved on.

I believe you actually have to - and see if your document has any overriding language in the section permitting the waiver indicating as such that the sponsor may have to make contributions anyway.