BenefitsLink having been one of the first "blogs" on the net, I'm curious as to what it might take to get an RSS feed of BL traffic.

A company with 108 employees and some severe medical problems was directed by an agent to split the company into 3 groups utilizing 3 exsisting FEIN's. This was to avoid underwriting - 3 groups all less than 50. The insurance company put all 3 groups on.

What are the implications for the agent that did this and for the company that now has two healthy groups and one group with many health problems?

I have been looking all over the web, but I can't find the

answer. If I have a Roth IRA account and I purchase

individual stock, will I receive the annual reports from

the companies or will I only recieve annual reports if

I have a regular old stock account? Thanks in advance.

A pension plan terminated and all assets were distributed. Two years later, it was determined that some additional amounts were due to a number of participants.

Should new elections be obtained from all affected participants, only those whose total distributions exceeded $5,000, only those whose additional distributions exceeded $5,000, or some other option?

Is it possible for several churches to establish a multiple-employer 403(b) plan? The salary structures differ from church to church with some of the pastors paid by their churches and receiving regular salaries, other of the pastors seem to be almost self-employed. To further complicate matters, the size of the churches vary greatly, from only a pastor, to churches with large staffs. If such a multiple-employer type 403(b) plan is permissible, would it be established by one church and then adopted by the others?

I have a 401(k) plan with pooled accounting. I provide quarterly valuation and statements. Participants can only make invesment changes, take loans and take distributions quarterly. We are changing mutual fund families. Is a black out notice needed?

Do US employers need to file a 5500 for foreign retirement plans that benefit only foreign employees?

In the "Who Must File" section of the 5500 instructions, included at #5 are "pension benefit plans maintained outside the United States primarily for nonresident aliens if the employer who maintains the plan is...a domestic employer..."

But later in in the "Do not file.." section #6. "A pension plan that is a qualified foreign plan within the meaning of Code section 404A(e) that does not qualify for the treatment provided in Code section 402(e)(5)" need not file a 5500.

I think I have determined that a "qualified foreign plan" is a 1) writen plan where 2) less the 10% of the covered compensation is subject to US taxes, 3) 90% of the employees are non-resident aliens, 4) the plan benefits only employees of the employer, 5) the employer is not a non-profit, and 6) the employer has elected to be treated as a "qualified foreign plan"

I'm pretty sure we don't need to file a 5500 but how would we make an election to be a qualified foreign plan?

An employee is told that his disability does not qualify under the employer's disability plan, and therefore his claim is denied.

Does ERISA come into play here? Could he make a claim under ERISA?

New DB plan effective 4/1/2003 with 9 month initial plan year, switching to calendar year 2nd year on. Plan sponsor is on Calendar tax year and started buisness on 4/1/2003 (hence short fiscal year also, I assume).

For section 412 minimum, charges & credits are prorated for a short plan year. I could not find such a requirement (or restriction) for Section 404 maximum, which means that full NC plus net amortization of 10yr bases, if any, can be contributed & deducted!

Example: Using EOY val date (12/31/03) and Ind Agg cost method, NC =$100k.

S412 required = $75k. S404 Max=$100k.

Any one disagree, and if so why?

Thanks in advance for your response.

Calendar year "Plan A" was merged into "Plan B" as a result of a corporate merger. "Plan A's" assets were transferred into "Plan B's" plan on November 15, 2002.

Question: Is "Plan A" considered to have a short plan year ending November 15, 2002? If so, is the due date of the 5500 then June 30, 2003?

Thanks.

Health Plans:

We have a health plan that is qualified under section 401(a). The eligibility requirements state that you have to be a salaried employee to qualify. Do the minimum participation standards apply to the health plan? If so, when an hourly employee works over 1,000 hours in an employment year are they entitled to benefits even if they do not change status to salaried? Is there case law to substantiate this claim? Does the IRS view this circumstance as a denial of benefits? If so what do we do with employees that work more than 1,000 hours in an employment year and do not change status? Are we liable for denying benefits? Case law?

Health Plans:

We have a health plan that is qualified under section 401(a). The eligibility requirements state that you have to be a salaried employee to qualify. Do the minimum participation standards apply to the health plan? If so, when an hourly employee works over 1,000 hours in an employment year are they entitled to benefits even if they do not change status to salaried? Is there case law to substantiate this claim? Does the IRS view this circumstance as a denial of benefits? If so what do we do with employees that work more than 1,000 hours in an employment year and do not change status? Are we liable for denying benefits? Case law?

I don't understand. Why is a withdrawing employer allocated a share of the reallocated unfunded vested benefits of a multi-employer pension plan?

This situation occurs under the presumptive method of computing withdrawal liability. The withdrawing employer is already allocated a share of the plan's unfunded vested benefits. It seems to me that the withdrawing employer is assessed twice for amounts that are uncollectible.

I have another question dealing with employers who have withdrawn and are expected to make payments on the schedule. Shouldn't the unfunded vested benefit liabilites be adjusted to take into account these expected payments?

Can anyone enlighten me?

When determining the account balances for key employees in the top heavy determination, we subtract teh profit sharing receivable. WOuld we also subtract the employer match contribution receivable?

I have a participant who is a 5% owner, age 73 and retired this plan year. He rolled his vested benefit out of the employer's profit sharing plan and into an IRA. However, he wants to keep his life insurance policy in the plan. How can he take a minimum distribution from the plan if his benefit is tied up in an insurance policy?

Help!

If an adminitrator receives a claim form, filled out and signed by the participant for - let's say a medical reimbursement claim.

The receipt shows $235.00 paid for vision care and that is what is on the claim form as a single figure. However reading over the documentation, the administrator discovers that $35.00 of that claim is for a supplemental warranty/service agreement.

Is it ok for the administrator just enter in and pay the $200.00 and deny the $35.00 portion thus changing the original figure that the participant signed on... or should the administrator deny the claim entirely and ask the participant to resubmit the entire claim and fill out the claim form with the correct figure.

What about the opposite scenario... if the claim form is filled out for $47 but the documentation clearly shows it was $74... can the administrator just enter in the $74 ??

I have a takeover plan from an accountant. There was a MP and PS plan that merged 12/31/01. Neither plan has ever filed an 5500-EZ due to the asset threshold. However, as of 12/31/01, the assets exceeded $100,000 on an accrual basis, but remained under $100,000 on a cash basis.

Obviously, I can report the accounting on a cash basis and make 2002 the first filing for the ongoing PS plan. But for the MP plan I feel that a 2001 final filing should have been made. Agree or is there any argument for not filing for the MP plan because it was merged and was not necessarily terminated?

I am preparing a Schedule P for a plan with a plan year of 5/1/02 - 4/30/03.

The plan sponsor changed Trustees, effective April 30, 2003. Is the Trustee listed on the Schedule P as of the last day of the plan year? It would seem that they would want the former Trustee to sign, as they were Trustee for 364 out of the 365 plan year days.

Thanks.

Ok - I know this seems like a no-brainer, but every year I confuse myself. I have a client who failed the 2002 ADP test. 2 HCE took refunds, they were paid out by March 15, 2003. When I complete my 2002 form 5500; Schedule I, I use the actual total deferral deposits on the "participant contribution" line (2a(2)), which includes the excess. I believe the refund to be a liability of the plan, however if I put the amount in at the top(1b), the assets don't balance unless I reflect the corrective distribution on line 2f. I know that isn't right because I want to show the distribution on the 2003 5500 when it actually occured. How do others report this? Thanks in advance.

A participant takes out a hardship withdrawal and doesn't actually get the house. Can they return the money to the plan ? What are the ramifications of this issue? Thanks for all your help.