Is the IRS accepting Form 5310's during the restatement process? We have a company with 2 plans they want to terminate and file 5310's...a 401(k) and a MPP plan. Do we need to wait until we get the approval from the IRS on the 5310's to pay everyone out? They are anxious to terminate these plans.

An employer has two plans, a MP and PS. The MP plan was terminated and received a D letter on the termination. All assets of the MP plan were then moved to the PS plan in a trustee-to-trustee transfer, as if it were a merger of the MP and PS plans, not a termination. Shouldn't the participants have been given the option of taking a cash distribution or rolling it to the PS plan? The plan document says that on termination of the plan the Employer will direct that the plan assets be distributed to the participants. Can (or should) the MP assets, that are now in the PS plan, be distributed since they should have been distributed when the MP plan terminated?

Plan has GUST determination letter stating plan will use prior year ADP testing method for 1999 & future years. Now wants to change to current year ADP testing method for 1999 & future years. Can this still be done within the remedial amendment period or are they precluded from making another retroactive amendment because they have a letter?

Could anyone recommend a source (hopefully online) for a model initial COBRA notice. I recently saw a reference to ERISA Technical Release 86-2, but I have not been able to locate it online. The reference mentioned it is outdated anyway.

I was wondering what people were using for this. I am not sure what is required in the notice, and I need to estimate the approximate length of the text for printing purposes.

Any update on necessity of amending cafeteria plans prior to 1/1/2001? Are there compliance issues if no amendment is made or is it the employer's choice as to making the amendment??

Thanks,

Chris

Are there any exceptions to the general rule that any reimbursement of plan expenses by an employer will be considered an employer contribution? I have heard that an employer can reimburse the plan for the expense of getting out of certain annuity contracts without this being considered an employer contribution, and that this is "done all the time." Does anyone know of a letter ruling or some other guidance that indicates that this is true?

It is my understanding that as a general rule participants should not be charged a fee for processing a distribution upon termination. Is there a problem with the investment company charging a check fee? If so, how can the plan sponsor correct the situation without moving the money?

I assume the check fee is probably O.K. My concern is that the investment company does not call it a check fee, but rather it is clearly labeled an administrative fee. Should the plan sponsor be concerned?

Under what conditions can average comp exclude comp before entry?

Must it be general tested, i.e. no safe harbor treatment?

Is it ok except for integrated plans?

Is it ok for new plans only?

Is it ok for unit credit accrual plans only?

Can anyone clarify this. I find this very unclear.

Having read previous message boards about self-funding plans, I am still caught between the pros and cons of the program. As an adminstrator new to the self funding plan, what am I getting myself into? Please advise.

Do stock options need to be counted in a Cafeteria Plan (not 401k)in determining "key employees"?

Do any formal guidelines exist regarding valid reasons for a hardship withdrawal within a nonqualified deferred compensation plan? The current plan document states that a participant may apply for a hardship in the event of an unforeseeable circumstances beyond the participant's control. Could elderly care expenses apply in this situation and how would the amount be determined (expenses for 12 months, etc.)?

Thanks for any opinions.

The Plan Trustee, a bank has been asked to serve as an independent fiduciary in a prohibited transaction exemption filing to permit the plan to lend money to the plan sponsor. Any advice?

One single employer plan is merged into another. Must the amendment for this merger be signed prior to the effective date of the merger? How about before the end of the plan year in which the merger takes place or retroactively during the following plan year. The 5310-A's will have been filed in a timely manner.

What if a board resolution regarding the merger is passed prior to merger. Does this allow for any type of retroactive amendment?

4041.28(4) addresses "participating annuity contracts" with regard to terminating a DB plan. I have only dealt with nonparticipating annuities so it is unclear to me what is involved with a "participating anuuity contract". The plan will have no residual assets. How does the participating contract work?

My wife and I each made (Schwab) $2000 Roth IRA contributions for 1999 and, as it turned out, we were ineligible. Due to a lack of knowledge on my part, we left the money in there and paid the IRS penalty. She also added $2000 to her Roth account back in January for tax year 2000 and we won't be eligible again this year. Am I best off having her sell the equities she purchased and transfer the cash into a standard IRA account? I assume that by doing this we will reduce the amount of associated penalties that we have to pay. We would just continue to pay the penalties from our 1999 investment. Thanks for any advice.

COBRA regs say that COBRA ends if, after the election period you become covered under another healthcare plan. We seperate out our medical from our dental. That means you can elect COBRA for medical only, dental only or a combination of both. If you elect dental only, or medical and dental and subsequently become covered under an employer sponsored medical plan but have no dental coverage there... must you terminate the dental portion also? If you elect dental only and the administrator finds out you have become covered under a medical plan, do you see a requirement to terminate the dental COBRA? Have others incurred this type of event. I am curious as to how other employers handle this.

I am looking for a bundled provider for davis Bacon Plans. Does anybody know of any? Please help!

Do you need to file a Schedule H for a fully insured welfare plan which consists of group medical, group dental and group term life? All funds went directly to the insurance company. Nothing was self-funded. Thanks.

Assume a trust is the beneficary of three seperate IRA's. The trust is "qualified" such that the ben. of the trust are the desg. ben. of the IRA's. Spouse is one of the ben's of the trust. Assume IRA owner dies.

Q1:

Other than various PLR's, does anyone have any citations as to under what circumstances a spouse would qualify for a spousal rollover? (Having read various PLR's on this topic they tend to use the same language in describing the terms the spouse needs to satisfy).

Q2:

Does it make a diffence, in general, if a spousal rollover goes into a new IRA account or it is rolled over into a pre-existing IRA account of the surviving spouse. If there is a difference, what is it?

Thanks

Can a company contribute, as a corporate contribution to the company's qualified profit sharing plan, the stock of a publicly traded company (not related). The corporation owns the stock and they want to "transfer" it to the plan as a company contribution. They would record it on the corporate books at the market value on the date of transfer, realizing any gain/loss for tax purposes. The company wants to avoid the transaction costs of selling the stock and buying it again for the pension trust.