Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs)

Per IRS guidelines, an employer can reimburse an employee for health insurance premiums for themselves, thier spouse, and and any dependents.

Is there any guidance tht anyone knows of that states that the primary insured on the health insurance policy itself has to be the employee? Or could the primary insured be their spouse or even separate policies for each family member and still be reimburseable?

Hi - can anyone confirm for me that if an employee has a baby mid-year they can then elect to participate in a health fsa account? (They have not previously participated during the year so this is not an increase to the amount they are contributing, but a new election altogether).

Thanks for your response!

Have a separate 401(k) plan for a group of Agents and Managers. The agents are paid on a strictly commission basis so how can we calculate their hours of service? Trying to complete the 2003 ADP test and it's failing, want to knock off NHC with less than a year of service. How can I take them off using that rule if I can't determine how many hours the agents work?

Plan document states "The number of hours of service to be credited to an employee for any period shall be governed by section 2530.200b-2(b) and © of the Labor Department Regulations relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended".

Help?

Kim

What was the first year plans could make Safe Harbor contributions?

Just wondering how most people complete this question for a 401(k) plan where there are only 401(k) deferrals being contributed, yet the Plan does also allow for a discretionary match. Would you indicate a pension feature code of "2K", even though the Employer never contributed a match to the Plan?

Part of my Roth portfolio contains a Canadian stock that pays regular dividends. The Canadian government witholds 15% of the dividends which is refundable since I'm an American citizen & living in the US. Since these earnings are tax free, how can I get these witheld earnings back into my Roth account without it appearing as an excess contribution?

MY SPOUSE DIED LAST YEAR, WITH A SUBSTANTIAL LOSS IN HER 1998 ROTH IRA CONVERSION (ABOUT 50K). I AM THE BENEFICIARY OF THE ROTH, AND I NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE BASIS OF MY SPOUSE'S ROTH IRA IS. SINCE IT IS NOT A CAPITAL ASSET, IS THE BASIS ADJUSTED UNDR IRC. 1014 AT HER DEATH? CAN I KEEP IT SEPARATE FROM MY ROTH IRA'S AND DISTRIBUTE MY SPOUSE'S (LOSING POSITION INSIDE) IRA'S, OR DID THE OPPORTUNITY EVAPORATE LAST YEAR, BEFORE/AFTER HER DEATH? I ALSO HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL LOSS IN MY ROTH IRA'S, SO IT MAY BE DESIREABLE TO KEEP THE SPOUSAL IRA'S INTACT, AND CLOSE ALL OF MINE SEPARATELY. CAN I DO THIS?

ANY SUGGESTIONS?

P.S. DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT DIVERSIFICATION, I LEARNED MY LESSON.

I have been hearing that there is a "problem" with using a maybe notice and then not making the safe harbor contribution.

I am hearing that you "should" amend the plan and remove the safe harbor language rather than announce 30 days before the end of the year that there will not be a contribution (and announce that maybe there will be one for next year).

Am I hearing things? What's an administrator to do?

Thanks for any comments.

A formerly missing terminated vested participant who is now age 72 has come forward with her new name and asked to begin receiving her monthly payments.

An amount was calculated to cover the period from age 70 1/2 to present and the participant has decided she does not want to receive benefits because the increase in her income will affect her eligibility for some kind of benefit (which has not been clarified).

The participant has stated that even if the plan issues her a check, she will not cash it. Is there any way around this for the plan not to pay her? As one possibility, can she be paid an actuarially equivalent value to present age instead of making up her missed RMD payments?

From my research there is no clear guidance on how to calculate the 15% excise tax for late deferrals to be reported on the 5330. I know it is based on the interest. I've checked the ERISA Outline Book and even it is unclear. The outline book hints at the fact that this would be treated as a loan to the employer. So does that mean that it is "discrete" or an ongoing transaction. And from what I can tell, the calculation for the interest to be deposited is different from what is used to calculate the amount for the 5330. And how does this come in to play when the prohibited transaction and the correction date spans two different years.

Can anyone shed some light on this for me or specifically direct me to a place the DOL or IRS has issued guidance on this subject?

Thanks.

It has been proposed that our client, a government plan, enter into a custodial account and recordkeeping agreement in order to permit the participants to invest in mutual funds. (The plan's assets are currently held under 401(f) contracts.) The custodial account calls for a trustee. We have been advised by the custodian, however, that a trustee is not required. We are a little confused as to how the custodial account could function properly without a trustee.

If there is no trustee, in whose name would the plan assets stand? Would the Plan Administrator stand in the shoes of the trustee and instruct the custodian? Is anyone aware of an arrangement such as this and, if so, are there any disadvantages to this type of arrangement?

Plan administrators are elgibile to use the DFVC Program if the required filings are made prior to written notification by the DOL of a falure to file a timely annual report.

Suppose that a timely filing is made, but it is incomplete/incorrect in that the plan was not exempt from the audit requirement as originally thought. Can DFVCP be used?

Non-integrated safe harbor unit accrual DB plan is being amended to provide a second tier solely to 10 HCEs.

Plan might change from

1.50% x all YOS to

1.50% x all YOS plus (1.25% of comp exceeding $90,000) x YOS on or after 1/1/2004

Plan has been around for 40 years or so. Is there anything we're overlooking that would prohibit testing the entire benefit over all years of benefit service, i.e. taking advantage of all the safe harbor years now? And I mean anything other than the 35 year cumulative permitted disparity limit.

I think this is fine but would prefer second and third opinions just in case. Thanks.

We have a client with a custom plan document that limits compensation for purposes of determining contributions and benefits under the plan to $170,000 for the 2003 plan year, not to be indexed with 401(a)(17). Client did this to contain the costs of their annual 5% profit sharing contribution. For ADP testing purposes, can we abandon this restrictive compensation limit and open it up to the statutory $200,000 for the 2003 plan year? You can probably guess that the testing passes using $200,000 and fails with $170,000. Two attorneys have now confirmed that the statutory limit can be invoked for testing purposes even though the document limits compensation to something else for contributions and benefits.

Can anyone give me a citing to this effect? Has anyone actually done this? Tripodi's books have not helped me confirm this.

Please help !!!

Are annual and per pay period the only options available. I read that in Sal's 2003 guide and am wondering if it has been updated and if quarterly is available.

If so, is the funding also due by the end of the quarter following the date of accrual, like per pay period.

Thanks

Let me preface this by saying that we try our best to steer clear of ESOP's... but this one sort of dropped in our lap. If there are problems here, I would just like a general idea of what they are and will likely use that information to convince them that an attorney is necessary.

An S-Corp established a non-leveraged ESOP at the end of 2001, the ESOP still owns less than 50% of the shares. From 2002 to date, the S Corp has extended loans totalling $16,000 to the ESOP cash account for purposes of paying participant distributions and paying the stock valuation fees. The accountant does not want to consider these as contributions to the plan - not sure why since their share allocations have not come close to the deductible limit.

1. Do these loans mean that the plan is now leveraged? If so, does there need to be a formal repayment schedule, etc. No payments have been made and it does not appear that any are planned in the foreseeable future. 2. Company by-laws restrict the ownership of stock to employees so all distributions were made in cash. It is my understanding that the ESOP cannot sell these shares back to the company because it owns less than 50% and the share reconciliation I received shows that the shares remain in the plan. Can they remain in the plan as "unallocated". If they must be allocated, but the money used to pay for them was a loan and not a contribution, what is the basis for the allocation? 3. Is it appropriate for the ESOP to pay for the stock valuation fees? 4. The ESOP received a distribution(dividend) of $2,300 in 2003 which was not reflected on the participants statements because the right hand was not talking to the left. Is there any other way to use the money.. like as a loan payment? The plan is of good size so this would not amount to much for anyone.

I would greatly appreciate any thoughts on my questions as well as any other areas of concern that I may be overlooking. Never again will I say "it's not leveraged... how complicated can it be?".

FSA plan year Jan to Dec. Changed Rx to three tier plan from 2 tier as of 6/1. Been told that we can allow any employee who is NOT in the FSA now to elect coverage under the FSA. For those who are IN the FSA now, they must wait to 1/1 to increase their contribution. Thoughts?

My client is in the process of closing down a profit sharing plan. The plan had several accounts for employees who terminated employment during the past three years without becoming vested ( they have 5 year cliff vesting).

These ex-employees were removed from the plan and their balances were transferred to a forfeiture account.

Will the forfeitures be distributed to the remaining active participants at the termination of the plan?

OR

Will these ex-employee/ participants be restored at 100 % vesting and their forfeited balances be restored?

A non-govermental employer sponsors a money purchase plan and requires employees to contribute 6% of their salary to the plan through salary reduction. There is no written salary reduction agreement. The plan document refers to this as an "additional employer contribution", which is 100% vested at all times. Still, I believe it should be treated as an employee contribution subject to FICA tax and income tax withholding. Does anyone know if that is the case?

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I am looking toobtain a copy of the Act itself. Does anyone have access to such?

At this point my question is related to maximum lump sum payments.

I am not clear if in 2004 the lump sum is based on the 30-yr rate, this new corporate rate or a rate of 5.5%.

Thanks.