Does anyone have experience with or work with a good plan document software package that an employer can use in-house (as opposed to outsourcing to a consultant)? I have been looking at the software packages offered by SunGuard Corbel but am interested in examining alternatives to compare against. My primary interest is in H&W master plan documents as opposed to SPD software, though I would certainly be interested in combination packages. Any response appreciated!

I have an employer who is being stubborn and does not want to make their 2001 Top Heavy contribution. However, when I filed their 2001 5500, I reported this contribution as being made since I was under the assumption they wre going to make it.

It's now 2003 and I am pushing them to make it... and really hoping they will but am at a loss on how/where it should be reported when they do.

Do I amend the 2001 5500 to show the contribution was not made?

When should the contribution be reported on their tax return?

Thanks,

Rachel

I have read some prior posts about Short Plan Years and wouldn't mind some assurance on my interpretation regarding the following scenario:

Effective Date: 03/31/03 (Apparently there was a Simple Plan prior to this)

Plan Year: March 31

Limitation Year: March 31

Entry: Anyone employeed on or before 03/31/03, enters on 03/31/03.

Plan Comp: Comp from date of participation.

I understand the following to be true:

Short Plan Year - 03/31/03 - 03/31/03 (5500, allocation & testing)

Plan comp to use for P/S Alloc - 03/31/03-03/31/03 (pro-rate $200,000 limit)

415 comp to use - 04/01/02-03/31/03 (do not pro-rate $200,000 limit)

Deductibility comp - 04/01/02-03/31/03 (do not pro-rate $200,000 limit)

Vesting-no proration of hours. However, we need to give credit for 1000 hours worked from 03/31/03-03/31/04 and 04/01/03-03/31/04

There are not deferrals for the first plan year, so ADP is not an issue.

If the above is true, is there any way the plan could have been drafted to get 12 months comp for the P/S allocation? I realize making the plan effective 04/01/02 would have done it but since the Simple plan was in effect, they could not have another retirement plan.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

The beneficiary of Jane's IRA is listed as "John and Jane Doe Revocable Trust". The trustee of the trust (John) has requested a lump sum distribution (due to the relatively small amount). The custodian has requested the TIN of the trust. John's attorney has advised him not to obtain a TIN for the trust, but to use his own SSN. Is this possible?

While it might suffice for state law, I always thought federal law required the custodian to use the TIN of the trust for 1099-R reporting purposes.

Participant elects Level Income annuity from DB plan. They will recieve payments for 7 years, benefit then reduces to $0. Are distributions subject to 20% mandatory withholding (considered < 10 year periodic payment)?

I have a cite referring to PLR 9429026 indicating yes, but I'd like to read the PLR. So the second question is: where can I do that?

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!