Can anyone tell me where I can find a table of P.S. 58 costs on the Internet?

I understand that COBRA applies to employers with 20 or more employees. Do COBRA benefits have to be extended to an employee terminating after age 65 (due to serious illness, if it matters)?

A tax-exempt organization, a hospital, sponsors a defined benefit pension plan. One controlled group member that has adopted the plan is a for-profit corporation. An employee retiring at age 55 who is subject to the 415(B) annual limit spent most of his career at the tax-exempt plan sponsor but has worked the last several years at the for-profit affiliate. His accrued benefit is based upon the service with both of these employers. Is anyone aware of any basis for applying the less draconian reduction applicable under 415(B)(2)(F) for plans maintained by tax-exempt organiations to all or part of the benefit (as opposed to the larger reduction applicable under 415(B)(2)© to plans maintained by for-profit entities)?

Does anybody have any experience with a company called US Healthworks? Do they offer good value, analyze claims for wellness opportunities or what? Any info of whatever nature would be appreciated.

Didn't recent regulations under HIPAA address whether requiring an employee to be "actively at work" in order to be eligible for health coverage would constitute a violation of HIPAA's discrimination provisions? I cannot find any discussion of this issue but have a clear recollection of it being addressed at some point.

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Under the substantially equal periodic payment exception to the 10% excise tax on early distributions, are there limits on when the money can actually be distributed? For example, if the amortization method is used and the participant calculates an end of period payment using a reasonable interest rate and life expectancy, must the participant take out only a single distribution at the end of the year. I know its possible to compute quarterly or montly distributions. I'm really just interested in knowing if its acceptable for the annual distribution to be distributed in unequal payments during the year as needed. Thanks in advance for your comments.

Tax time is over. The first year's tax payment for the converted Roth IRA has been sent to IRS. Now that I know how much I have to pay to IRS each year for the next 3 years for the rest of the converted Roth IRA, my question is whether there is a rule on how we should pay it, that is, should we pay the tax we owe by quarterly, or a lump sum at next tax time without a penalty? Business has to do quarterly tax estimates. In addition, the IRS rule is that if the tax withholding is less than 90% there is a penalty at tax time. But I have not yet been able to find any information about how IRS requires for Roth IRA tax payments. Can anyone tell me what I should do? Thanks.

Yan

What sections of ERISA are 403(B) plans established at public universities subject to? Are these plans subject to discrimination testing (i.e. ADP testing). Are there other tests that are requirred as with 401(k) plans (i.e. minimum coverage/participation).

I beleive that these plans are subject to the annual maximum of 25% or $10k, is this correct? Any other testing requirements I need to be aware of??

Thank you.

today on benefitslink there was a link to a CIGNA website that summarized state income tax withholding rules. I found it very useful. We do business in just about every state. Does anyone know of other sources or links to "official" information about the withholding rules for the various states?

I know, I know. The “I” in IRA stands for individual. I have told that to clients a million times - no matter what the attorney who drafted your trust tells you, you can't "transfer" the IRA to the trust (before your death) without creating a taxable distribution. I have always thought this to be the gospel according to the IRS (Treasury, Congress, whom ever...)

But, I have recently had 2 different clients tell me they read somewhere (where they can't remember) that you can move your IRA to your trust prior to your death without causing a taxable transaction.

What have I missed now?

As usual, I am thanking you in advance for your assistance.

Kathy

Can a bonus plan that vests performance bonuses 20% per year for seven years avoid ERISA coverage? Intended recipients are in mid-30s and are not necessarily in "top hat" group.

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What are the fiduciary rules for investment of plan assets applicable to church plans? Where may such be found? Any input is appreciated.

We currently use HyperPrep to do 5500 for about 4,000 small plans. Most of the data needed is already on our databases. In the past we had a special program that imported data for a large number of plans right into HP all at once and then we printed those records using the batch print feature. That program is no longer supported, forcing us to import the data one plan at a time, form by form. It gets pretty tedious after about 3,000 plans. Does anyone else process 5500s in large batches? If so how do you do it?

A colleague has contacted me with concerns re: TPA fees for his self insured plan. He wants to know if his fixed costs for Pre-cert and case management are in line with the industry. Also, he is wondering if his managed care PPO access fee is in order. Where might I find such information? Thanks!

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Stover

An employer stopped payroll deferrals for several months for an individual. No deferrals - no match. After the end of the plan year, he complained. What's the remedy? Have the employer deposit equivalent deferral and match money, just match money, or say sorry - won't happen again.

In 1997 a terminated employee "intended" and requested that the vested balance in his 401(k) plan be rollovered to an IRA. Due to confusion over the way the participant completed the "distribution request" the trustee misinterpreted his intentions and split the distribution between two different financial institutions and sent funds as a direct trustee to trustee rollover.

The trustee of IRA "A" established the IRA and issued a Form 5498 for the amount that they received. The trustee of IRA "B" cashed the check from the 401(k) trustee, but did not establish an IRA. The trustee of the 401(k) issued a 1099-R for the full amount of the distribution in 1997, and then latter issued a corrected 1099-R to reflect the amount that was sent to the trustee of IRA "A".

In 1999, the financial institution holding the IRA "B" funds returned them in the form of an official check made payable to the trustee of the 401(k).

Can the trustee of the 401(k) redeposit this check into the plan for the benefit of the participant?

If lost earnings are added to the redeposit, how should these be reflected in the account of the participant and the 401(k) as a whole?

How does this influence the Form 5500 for 1997 and 1999?

Can a company require an employee to committee to a specific period of employment in exchange for tuition assistance, especially at the master's level? If so, would you share with me your company's policies? Thank you.

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cherylc

I work for a company in the state of Ohio. They offer nice employee benefits, i.e. personal days, vacation, group health, etc, but about a year ago, the board of this privately owned company, changed the "new employee benefit" package. In doing so, they took away all personal days and one week paid vacation from all new hires. Is it legal to make this change and have it only pertain to new hires and not affect current employees?

It seems about 10 years ago, some new legislation passed that made it illegal for an employer to offer one class of employees 100% paid group health insurance without including all classes of employees also....

Can anyone help me with the answer to this question?

Are there prototype documents available for Tiered Profit Sharing Plans and if yes, who can provide them? Thank you!

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A deceased participant in a 401(k) plan named 2 minors as her beneficiaries. Three questions -- 1. To whom should the distribution proceeds be made payable? 2. How will this be reported on a 1099? 3. Who is obligated to pay any tax on this distribution - the estate , beneficiary, or guardian?

Thanks for all responses!