A lot of bigger companies use onboarding/hr systems that guide people through filling out employment paperwork. And some of them have a very low paid demographic for whom a "blind" application of auto enrollment would result in a nightmare for clients.  People making minimum wage have trouble paying for rent and groceries.  How do we feel about a form with the following options (paraphrasing)?  The point would be to get them to respond and make it easy for them to opt out.  There are often language barriers and technology challenges, etc.

By intialling here _____________,I confirm that the following statement applies to me:

I understand the automatic enrollment provisions of the Plan and I do not wish to be automatically enrolled in payroll deduction contributions, nor to have my contributions automatically increased each year. If and when I decide to contribute to the Plan I will make an affirmative payroll deduction contribution election. 

If no election is made above you will be automatically enrolled in the Plan as described in the Automatic Contribuion Arrangement Notice.

Hello! Apologies if I missed a prior conversation on this. Has the IRS issued guidance for a plan that does not timely operate in accordance with the 3% minimum auto-enroll (plus appropriate auto increase and 90 day withdrawals)? Also, what about plans with exemptions that no longer qualify mid-year since EACA has to be a full plan year?

Thanks for your thoughts!

A Plan has a short plan year running from 7/1/2022 through 12/31/2022.   For the 5500 filing, an auditor's report was not attached and the "it will be attached to the next Form 5500 pursuant to 29 CFR 2520.104-50" box is checked.    For the 1/1/2023-12/31/2023 5500, I figured that we would attach the auditor's report, which would cover the full period running from 7/1/2022-12/31/2023.    However, they also want us to file an amended 2022 short year return and attach the auditor's report.     From what I can tell, an amended return isn't necessarily required for the 2022 short year, just that you have to include the auditor's report with the 2023 return.      

Thoughts?

Some individual-account retirement plans that provide participant-directed investment lack designated investment alternatives. Instead, each participant gets a securities account with a bank or a securities broker-dealer. Trade lingo calls this a brokerage-window-only plan. According to an ERISA Advisory Council report, “BWO” is mostly with small (< 100 participants) plans, and especially plans with “fewer than 25 employees.”

A brokerage-window-only plan calls the plan’s trustee to open and maintain a securities account for each participant. Although the trustee is the account’s holder, the participant instructs the broker-dealer on what securities to buy, hold, or sell.

An automatic-contribution arrangement sometimes requires a plan’s administrator and trustee to act for a participant who does not communicate (other than by not counteracting an automatic-contribution notice).

About a broker-dealer’s account-opening forms (or anything needed to maintain an account):

Does anything require a signature from the participant?

Does anything require information about a participant that the plan’s administrator lacks?

Will a broker-dealer open an account if the individual’s profile information is incomplete?

Did some brokerage-window-only plans have, before any I.R.C. § 414A condition, an automatic-contribution arrangement? Did it work, or have there been difficulties?

If your clients include brokerage-window-only plans that have a § 401(k) arrangement (or will have one by 2025), do you expect difficulties in setting up and maintaining securities accounts for those participants who neither opt out nor affirmatively enroll?

So, I've seen various opinions on this.

One is that for purposes of DEFERRALS ONLY, (not employer contributions) the "less than 20 hour exclusion" is no longer valid at all, and therefore all employees must be allowed to defer under the universal availability rule, absent another valid exclusion category.

Another is that the "less than 20 hour" exclusion is still valid for deferrals, EXCEPT for LTPT employees. In other words, someone who works only, say,  6 hours per week could still be excluded for deferral purposes.

I'm not 100% sure which is correct. From a practical standpoint, since most plans (of ours, anyway) don't use the 20 hour exclusion anyway, it isn't a giant problem for most small plans regardless.

Thoughts?

I have a pension plan that is terminating.  A number of assets in the plan are LLC's that are near worthless, but not easily sellable.  The question is what is the best option to remove these assets from these plans before it is terminated.

If a bankruptcy trustee is involved in the abandoned plan termination (at the initial stage, until a QTA is chosen), can those fees be added to reasonable expenses to be paid out of the pension assets (under the abandoned plan regs) or does the trustee only get paid as "trustee time" paid through the bankruptcy proceeding (where comp is statutorily determined by a formula based upon money disbursed)?

For the “evicted from principal residence” category, would an uninhabitable house qualify?

 I have a participant whose septic system needs repairs.  Without a septic system, the house will be considered uninhabitable and they will have to move out (albeit temporarily).

How do you handle RMD in a defined benefit plan?

Plan has SH Match.

Eligibility is 1 YOS, 1000 hours, monthly entry

Plan Excludes NRAs with US Source Income. I don't believe this group can be considered "Excludable".  

The company has approx 900 Employees of which 700 are in this "NRA" class.  These employees are long term employees who work over 1000 hours each year.  The ratio is about 35%. Plan fails ABT testing.  

Question:  Can they do a QNCE to fix the 401(k) coverage only?  This QNEC would allow them to pass the  ABPT giving them a lower ratio threshold for the 401(m) coverage.  I am thinking no since not all of those "eligible" for the Pretax would be receiving the SHM.  I also believe it should be a 3% contribution since it is a SH Plan?

They also have H2B visa employees.  How are these employees treated?

We've always used Box 5 for the compensation when a document defines it as W2 Compensation.  We have an auditor questioning it, wanting us to use the Gross Pay (which isn't a box on the W2).  Which one is commonly used?

I know if someone is funding the Safe Harbor Match on a payroll-by-payroll basis, a true-up is not required.  However, what happens if someone is inadvertently overfunded?  Does that money need to be pulled from the account or since it's on a payroll-by-payroll basis no adjustments are needed?

Thanks in advance!

I’m looking at an ATP STD program in Florida. No employee contributions. The administrator bills by participant for every activity they do, phone calls, emails faxes, consulting. The participant invoice show the amount of ATP services as taxable income to the participant. Can this be correct?

Hi

I usually manage to file 5500 forms for late adopters but there is one, could not do it.

So, for 2024, when filing the 5500 forms, I know I need to attach a copy of the 2023 SB.

A few things I am not clear about:

1. How do I attach a second SB? My program has a specific SB attachment option with additional sub-attachments for the SB attachments. If I do that, no issue

2. If above is not the right way then I need to attach under "other" option but with this option, I will not have sub-attachment options for SB which means all attachments have to go under "other".

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Is there a new option to contact someone at the DOL that you are working on putting together past 5500's, including this past year, and submit them all together at one time?

CPA seems to think there is. I don't think I missed something, or did I?

Hi there,

Are non-erisa church plans allowed to have adopting employers?  If so, are there any rules around why they may or may not be able to?  

I have a client who is a non-erisa church plan who acquired a new entity.  They have 100% ownership of said entity, however, the new entity will be maintaining its own EIN.  Can those employees participate in my clients existing non-erisa church 403b?

Thanks, 

I have a QDRO for a plan and it has awarded a dollar amount to the former spouse Alternate Payee.  

The date of segregation is 8/2/2024.

Is the Alternate Payee entitled to gains on that amount of assignment from the date of segregation until now?  I thought the answer was yes, but a co-worker felt that this might not be necessary.

Anyone confirm that Alternate Payee is only entitled to the flat dollar amount?

Note the plan's assets are held at Hancock, so we will move the amount over to an account for the Alt Payee until she fills out a distribution form.  Right now, I am trying to determine how much to move and split it over his 3 sources.

I have an ineligible employee who was allowed to defer prior to meeting eligibility.  I would normally just amend the Plan to allow early entry for this employee.  My only concern is that the Plan is Top Heavy.  Is there anyway to avoid allocating a Top Heavy Benefit to this employee?

Administer a 1 participant DB plan. Sent to us by an insurance agent.

When the plan was established 10 years ago, the life insurance was exactly 100 times the projected benefit. The client still wants to keep the plan but does not want to fund as much. Dropping the benefit formula will make the insurance more than 100 times the projected benefit.

What happens if the plan were audited and it was determined that the life insurance upon purchase and for 10 following years met the 100 X rule but now does not?

Thanks.

I passed my QKA exam last year and am now interested in taking the QPA exam. Could you please clarify if it’s possible to take the QPA exam without first completing the QKC exam, or if the QKC is a prerequisite?

I appreciate your guidance.
John