Leaderboard

taxnotes.com has the functionality you're talking about. The currently displayed section (paragraph, subpararaph, etc) is displayed at the top and updates as you scroll up and down through the document. The cite can be copied by clicking a button. For example ... 26 CFR Section 1.401(k)-3(d)(2) or IRC Section 415(c)(3)

When in doubt, I'd take the conservative route and file. Filing is easy even if technically not required, not filing is very expensive if you later find out it was required and you didn't.

I use this one: https://www.irs.gov/privacy-disclosure/tax-code-regulations-and-official-guidance By the way, although this is an IRS site, other information is also available (eg, the Department of Labor is under Title 29, etc.) If I "misplace" that bookmark, I'll go to the Cornell Law School reference: https://www.law.cornell.edu/

About the $250,000 tolerance, I see in the instructions no guidance about what “the employer” means. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i5500ez.pdf Following how Internal Revenue Code § 414(b)-(c)-(m)-(n)-(o) combine organizations and businesses might be a reasonable interpretation. Yet, that interpretation might be more cautious than the IRS’s interpretation. Consider also that, even if neither ERISA’s title I nor tax law requires a filing, an employer or a plan’s administrator might voluntarily file. Even when no other organization or business need be counted together with the distinct organization or business that maintains the particular plan, some prefer a filing to get a statute-of-limitations period running. This is not advice to anyone.

And a click on the in-context hyperlink also calls up an amendment history and an effective-date note.

Remember that there might be two bodies of law to meet, not only tax law but also ERISA’s title I. Under tax law, there might be an I.R.C. § 72(p) failure, a § 4975 nonexempt prohibited transaction, and a § 401(a) failure to administer the plan according to the written plan. Under ERISA, there might be a § 406(a) nonexempt prohibited transaction, and a § 404(a)(1)(D) breach of not administering the plan according to the documents governing the plan. Read EBSA’s 2025 Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program to consider whether there might be an opportunity to coordinate tax law and ERISA corrections. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-01-15/pdf/2025-00327.pdf Consider whether a failure was an “eligible inadvertent failure” and, if so, what opportunities SECURE 2022 § 305(b) might allow. Get the advice of a lawyer who’s independent of the recordkeeper. Although ordinarily a lawyer doesn’t accept a fee from a payer other than the lawyer’s client, one of the recognized variations is payments under an indemnity obligation. This is not advice to anyone.

I agree with Bill, you would normally have a new plan for one of the companies since the other would remain the sponsor of the original plan. If you did two new plans, the old MEP would need to terminate and file a final 5500.

Typically one would remain the sponsor of the current plan and the other would spin off into its own plan. The spin off would likely be a short plan year unless crafted carefully at 1/1. But that’s just the way I would have done it.

For Bloomberg’s free edition of the Internal Revenue Code, it seems Bloomberg might no longer maintain the detailed formatting we liked. For rules, regulations, and even some nonrule interpretations, the Government Publishing Office’s electronic Code of Federal Regulations (ecfr.gov) is formatted and edited for detailed citations and hyperlinks. And one can use an in-context tool (right-click) to paste into your word-processing or other file a particular bit’s citation, hyperlink, or both. For example, for the ERISA 404a-5 rule’s subparagraph that defines how to count a designated investment alternative’s total annual operating expenses if the investment is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, the tool renders these: 29 CFR 2550.404a-5(h)(5)(ii) https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/part-2550/section-2550.404a-5#p-2550.404a-5(h)(5)(ii) The eCFR and many other U.S. government resources can be found from https://www.govinfo.gov/. (In most internet locators, typing as little as “govinfo.gov” calls up this webpage.)

There are a few sources listed here: https://benefitslink.com/research.html I'm not seeing that any have the format you're describing, though.

Terminating the MP is probably the best option regardless, otherwise, a transfer of those accounts (versus an elected rollover) would require continued separate tracking and future annuity normal form requirement.

See Notice 2016-16 D. Prohibited Mid-Year Changes #3. Answer is no, you can't do this.