Anyone know of any authority or licensing standards that would require an auditor to provide a TPA with their EIN for purposes of Schedule H item 3(d) (other than common sense)?

I have a filing that may be late or incomplete for this reason. The auditor currently will not provide the EIN because the audit may not be completed by 10/16, and they don't want their EIN on a filing of a 5500 without an audit.

Bizarre but true. I suspect this will get resolved, or we will find another source for this information, but it would be helpful if there is some authority to cite as a reason why they must provide this now.

How should dependent care flexible spending accounts be handled for employees on a paid or unpaid leave of absence?

If the employee is considered totally disabled (and therefore eligible for STD or LTD), can the employee continue his/her dependent care flexible spending account during his/her leave of absence?

A client called me to see if we could provide them any information in regards to how we handle employees with some of our plans, that reside in Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, I have not had any experience dealing with Puerto Rican employees in regards to an U.S. Qualified Plan. I have no idea what type of tax laws we could be dealing with.

Therefore, if you have any information you could share with me to pass along to my client, I would appreciate it.

ER Sells his company, thus terminates his 401k and everyone becomes 100%. Q.> What about participants that have been terminated for 2 or 3 years that were not fully vested at the time they terminated? Don't they have to forfeit their unvetsed balance to the others that stayed until the ER sold the company? This is a standardized prototype document.

I have an S-Corp that is starting up a leveraged esop. They currently have a separate 401(k) plan in existence. I am trying to figure out if the employer will be able to deduct 25% of eligible comp. Since they are an S-corp they do do not qualify for the 25% limit because of the leveraged note. Most of the research is vague. Since an esop is a defined contribution plan and they are now maintaining two it looks like they will be able to take advantage of the 25% limit, but I can find nothing conclusive on this. Does anyone have any conclusions on this?

Any thoughts on how to handle the undue stresses and stains of meeting the October 16th deadline??

Any thoughts on mailing the forms after October 16th.

One org seems to think we can attach a letter to the 5500s stating the profound lateness of the software as an excuse for a late filing; while another org says they spoke with DOL and there is "no way" they will issue an extension-- they would rather see incomplete forms than no forms.

Go figure.

Plan has purchased rental property in Hilton Head, SC. The property is in the segregated account of the HCE. The property is rented out at FMV. The HCE wants to use the property 2 weeks out of the year and pay fair rental value. It seems to me that this would still constitute a prohibited transaction? Any comments or thoughts? Also, how does the HCE get the rental property out of the plan later when he has retired and wants it entirely for his own personal/rental use? Regular distribution? Seems dangerous to me.

Can someone route me to a place on here on internet where I can get a sample COBRA Election Notice.

We have a Sec. 125 cafeteria plan with fewer than 100 participants. I realize that the IRS has not excluded cafeteria plans from filing the Form 5500 and must always file regardless of the number of participants. My question is are we required to complete Schedule I? If so, do we just show our plan assets as zero and the employee salary deferrals as contributions received and subsequently as benefits paid?

If a plan sponsor has processed a QNEC in 1999 in lieu of corective distributions for 1998 testing results, does that QNEC amount need to be factored into the ADP for participants if performing a prior year test in 1999? My feeling is no, that one would use raw 1998 ADP's.

An Employee is on an FMLA leave. Her 12 weeks are just about up. The Employer wants to "extend" her leave for an additional two months. The Employee will continue to be covered under the Company's medical plan. Does the Company need to provide her with a COBRA notice now when FMLA leave would normally be up or can the Company wait until the Employee will lose medical coverage under her "extended" FMLA leave? I'm guessing that the Company could wait. Any thoughts? Thanks. Ed

A shareholder is awarded her former spouse's IRA Rollover (conduit IRA) pursuant to a divorce. Can the shareholder roll this IRA over to a qualified plan maintained by her employer?

help with Schedule I to make sure I am filling out correctly

in a leveraged ESOP,

company makes $400,000 contribution

and receives $800,000 in dividends.

$100,000 is paid in loan interest.

2(a)(1) Employer contribution = 400,000 + 800,000

2 © Other Income = increase due to change in share price

2 (h) other expenses = 100,000

Total assets = (# of shares * share price) - loan balance

3(d) ER securities = value of all shares

3(f) loans (other) = loan balance

thanks for any help

I have an interest in the new Roth IRA and 401k limits and the new Roth 401k scheme which I have read about. How can I get more information about these new provisions and when will we know if the bill has been passed? ie. what is the schedule for the various hoops it has to jump through before becoming law?

We terminated a profit sharing plan in 1985 or 1986. To the best of our knowledge and recollection, all participants were paid out then. We destroyed the records relative to the terminated plan in 1996. Now a former employee has presented a formal demand for a distribution he claims never to have received. How do we prove we paid him out? How does he prove we didn't? We are within the 30-day response period and will deny that he is due any benefits under the plan. Any experience on this?

Now that the Neolatology case was decided, did the promoters of such arrangement back off? No, they put their heads together and concocted a new scheme to get around the tax laws. Why don't they read the opinion. Judge Laro, who respectfully and impartially reviewed the Prime Benefit Plan in the Booth case (although correctly finding that the Plan was experience-rated), trashed the Southern California Medical (or "SCAM") VEBA, the insurance company (Interamerican, which is now defunct), the financial planners who misrepresented the information to clients and the clients who didn't even bother to do a check with their own CPAs or attorneys before they got involved.

It is obvious that Judge Laro's primary concern (and reason for throwing out deductions without even getting to an IRC section 419 analysis) was the intent of the parties. The VEBA promoters sold the plan on the basis that they had found a tricky way to use welfare benefit plan laws to get money out of a closely-held business. There was never any welfare intent, only the greed of the owners. The Judge imputed their intent and actions to categorize the payments (in excess of the current group-term life insurance premiums) as dividends.

Did they get the message? No. The group who brought you the "speciously designed" continuous group product, now called CJA and Associates, has "found" a new "loophole." They propose to modify their "Group Plus" product to provide a paid-up term insurance policy at retirement. The new product would still be a very expensive product (which Judge Laro correctly described as a combination of two policies in one), but now there would be no conversion privilege. However, since the policy is guaranteed to stay in force for life, it could be "sold" (a viatical sale) for cash.

Now the owner of the business is being encouraged to buy very expensive "group-term life" insurance policy which can be converted to a cash lump sum at retirement. Still doesn't sound like a welfare purpose to me. Will the IRS will be able to see through this? In about 30 seconds.

I'm preparing a requalification application for a multiemployer defined benefit pension plan. My question is about Schedule Q (Nondiscrimination requirements). The plan allows contributing employers to contribute on behalf of nonbargaining unit employees pursuant to a participation agreement -- must I survey all employers with NBU employees to get the information necessary to complete Sch. Q or is there some way that other people do this?

How do you figure out the distrubtion schedule for a 403(b)invested with Fidelity in mutual funds. Fidelity doesn't seem to know

In a retirement plan, a participant must have their spouse listed as primary beneficiary unless that spouse choses to waive that right and notarizes the appropriate paperwork. That being said, lets switch to a company that allows Same Sex Domestic Partner Benefits (which I am very much for)for it's employees. The employee signs an affidavit stating that the other person is their domestic partner and so forth. I know legally that they are not considered married, however, in a sense by signing the affidavit they are saying "if we could get married, we would". The questions (which I already know the legal answer) then is could an employer force that person to name their Same Sex Domestic Partner as primary beneficiary and, on the flip side, could a surviving domestic partner use this thinking to sue for benefits that may have not been left to them. Looking more for discussion than "no, the plan can't" responses.

A DB plan's first PYE is 12/31/99. On that date, no participant has a vested benefit because vesting is based on years of participation and they're using a 2/20 vesting schedule. There are 4 participants: the owner and his wife, and his adult daughter and her husband who do not have any ownership. It seems the plan should/will be covered by the PBGC, but when should coverage begin? Should it be covered from 1999 inclusive, i.e., does the PBGC expect coverage even in the absence of vested benefits just in case the plan terminated and everyone became 100% vested in the first year?

Also, in the case of a new plan where PBGC coverage is needed from the start, do most of you file a PBGC return for two premium payment years the first time you do the tax forms?

Thanks much.