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Yes, you should still be eligible as long as you haven't gotten the CP283 notice. CP 220 is the notice informing you that they made a change and what the result of the change was. A CP403 notice will probably follow, which is a notice of late penalties. I would not waste any time and file through the penalty relief program asap. IRS should be able to confirm that you are eligible for penalty relief. For a small fee of $500, I think it's worth it to know you are good rather than wait for them to make a call on abatement.

The section by section legislative summary of SECURE 2.0 says "Section 125 also provides that pre-2021 service is disregarded for vesting purposes..." https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Secure 2.0_Section by Section Summary 12-19-22 FINAL.pdf

For the plan year 4/1/22-3/31/23, attach the Schedule A for the policy year 1/1/2022-12/31/22 For the short plan year 4/1/23-5/31/23, attach the Schedule A for the policy year that ends in the plan year. The Schedule A for the calendar year policy year, doesn't end within the short plan year. No Schedule A for that particular coverage would be attached to the short plan year filing. For the new plan year 6/1/23-7/31/24, use the Schedule A for the policy year 1/1/23-12/31/23. The Schedule A reflects the policy year. I read your message to say that you were going to ask the insurer to produce a Schedule A for the plan year even though that is not the policy year. If that is the case, I wouldn't do it!

A plan is exempt from the automatic enrollment requirements of IRC 414A if it is a church plan as defined in IRC 414(e). IRC 414(e)(1) defines a church plan as "a plan established and maintained (to the extent required in paragraph (2)(B)) for its employees (or their beneficiaries) by a church or by a convention or association of churches which is exempt from tax under section 501." There are some exceptions in 414(e)(2) and other requirements as well so I would recommend going and reading the whole subsection. If your plan meets the definition in 414(e) then it would be exempt from the automatic enrollment requirement. "Who's the Employer" by Derrin Watson has a chapter on church and governmental employers - you may find that to be a helpful resource in analyzing this question, if you have access to it.

A lot of people have wondered about how to count participants for purposes of determining whether an audit is needed, and applying the rules to the first plan year has always been, shall we say, counterintuitive. First, we should understand that these counting rules are not IRS rules. They are DOL rules appearing in 2510.3-3(d)(1)(ii): (ii) An individual becomes a participant covered under an employee pension plan— (A) In the case of a plan which provides for employee contributions or defines participation to include employees who have not yet retired, on the earlier of— (1) The date on which the individual makes a contribution, whether voluntary or mandatory, or (2) The date designated by the plan as the date on which the individual has satisfied the plan's age and service requirements for participation For a new plan, look at the employees who satisfied these eligibility requirement on the effective date of the plan to do the count and note that this has nothing to do with whether an employee gets an allocation of a contribution later in the year.

A quick and easy first step is to Google the name of the participant and "obituary". Obituaries often disclose names of spouses or former spouses, and surviving family members. If you are lucky, the surviving spouse lives at the address of the former employee. Otherwise, you can ask your locator service to search for the surviving spouse. If the spouse passed away before the former employee and the plan identifies beneficiaries that are next in line, then you can have the service look for the surviving family members.

If your company is a corporation and you respected its form such that the IRS cannot say it was your alter ego, and assuming your corporation was the "plan administrator," then the penalty liability belongs to the corporation, and I would certainly claim that as a defense if it comes to that. But I would use that only as a fallback and would pursue first, and immediately, paying the $500 penalty and filing for 5500EZ Delinquent Filing Penalty Relief. If that fails you can use both reasonable cause and the corporate shield as backup defenses.

The § 414A(c)(3) exception includes “any church plan (within the meaning of section 414(e)).” http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:26%20section:414A%20edition:prelim)%20OR%20(granuleid:USC-prelim-title26-section414A)&f=treesort&edition=prelim&num=0&jumpTo=true Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C.) § 414(e) states a definition for a church plan. http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:26%20section:414%20edition:prelim)%20OR%20(granuleid:USC-prelim-title26-section414)&f=treesort&edition=prelim&num=0&jumpTo=true A rule interpreting some aspects of that definition is: 26 C.F.R. § 1.414(e)-1(a) https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/section-1.414(e)-1. Many books, whether print or internet-delivered, retirement-plans practitioners use include a chapter or unit on church plans. In 403(b) Answer Book, it is chapter 22.

Absolutely the best approach. We start with Legacy.com which is pretty helpful. In a couple of cases, at the frustrated suggestion of a member of my team, we've called the coroner of the county where thy died and ask who claimed the body. One actually said it wasn't their county - and inquired on our behalf to the neighboring counties (where we got the info we needed). They actually are very helpful! (I think they don't talk to the living very often). If you can get a death certificate, it will usually indicate if they are married and spouse's name.

Does Section 125 (d) of SECURE 2.0 limit years counted for vesting to those after 12/31/2020? I see that section has a lot of strike this, and insert this, but everything that I'm finding that says years prior to 2021 are not counted for vesting reference 125(d).

I suggest asking a simple question - Who owns the account that is holding the interest-bearing cash? If it is the Trustee of the plan, then it is an asset of the plan. Otherwise, it is not an asset of the plan.

After you file the 5500-SF, you have to go to the DOL site and to the DFVCP Penalty Calculator (Google will find it for you). You will input information about the 5500s that were filed with the DFVCP box checked and the calculator will tell you how much you owe (which for 1 filing is the $750). From that page, you can click to the payment box where you can enter payment information. They take credit/debit cards and possibly electronic checks. FYI, they don't care who pays as long as they get paid.

While this seems like a reasonable conclusion, there is no guidance from IRS on this point yet.

Lines c(9) through c(12) on Schedule are used to report the value of each type of DFE ( MTIA, CCT, PSA, or 103-12 IE) as of the beginning and ending of the plan year. A plan has to report on Schedule D if the plan had investments in a DFE at any time during the year. The implication is you cannot rely solely on having a zero beginning and ending balance on these lines to determine if the plan needs to file Schedule D. DFEs are supposed to provide reporting relief to plans. They do, unless they don't. The DOL publishes a user guide and notes: "Private pension plans participating in DFEs do not have to fully report investment amounts on the Schedule H if the DFE in which the plan is investing files a Form 5500 Annual Return/Report along with all required schedules. In that case, the participating plans need only complete Part I c(9) through c(12) describing the value of their interests in the DFEs. All MTIAs are required to file Form 5500, while CCTs, PSAs, and 103-12 IEs may choose to file in order to provide the investing pension plans the reporting relief described above. All DFEs that file the Form 5500 are required to file a Schedule H. Pension plans investing in filing DFEs are afforded reporting relief through decreased reporting on Schedules A, C, and H; however, they must file a Schedule D, outlining the specific investments in each filing DFE. Plans investing in DFEs will enter the value of their investment in all DFEs of a certain type (MTIAs, CCTs, PSAs, or 103-12 IEs) on the corresponding Schedule H line item." This is great except only MTIAs are required to file 5500s. The other types of DFEs can choose to file or not file a 5500. Most do, but some don't. The plan may be investing in a DFE that does not file a Schedule H. In this case, the plan has to apportion the funds assets into the other categories listed on the Schedule H. Not all a fun job. The investment fund is required to notify each plan each that invests in the fund whether the investment fund will file a 5500 as a DFE. If the plan sponsor did not save the notification, then the plan sponsor or financial advisor (or you if you are so inclined) can contact the fund and ask. The filings are public so there is no reason for a fund not to respond.

The independent auditor will use accrual accounting for their financials. The Form 5500 can use a cash, modified cash or accrual accounting method. Any differences in the accounting between the audit report and the Form 5500 should be reconciled. Here is a short but good explanation of the differences in the methods: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/modified-cash-basis.asp Rai123, if I understand correctly your description of the accounting, you are using the accrual method. As CBZ notes, your auditor will let you know if they disagree with your numbers.