The 5307 schedule Q attachment for application for a determination letter must be 410-b compliant with it's coverage testing. Does the new 5500 coverage testing need to be compliant with 410-b regulations?

I know this has been addressed before. What does one do if a participant has left the company, has a vested balance, and cannot be located?

The employer has already tried to locate him, and has sent letters to the IRS and SSA to be forwarded according to their procedures.

One suggestion was made awhile ago that the trust obtain a cashier's check so that the funds are out of the trust (rather than having an outstanding check). If the cashier's check remains outstanding, what does the bank do? Will the trust eventually be credited back with the money and if so can it be absorbed rather than held for the missing participant.

Why can't this $ just go to the State as unclaimed funds? Other ideas?

Has the SS integration rate for DC plans increased above 5.7%? I've had several people tell me it is 6.2%, which corresponds the the OASDI rate, not the OA rate called for in the Code. I'm assuming they are looking at the wrong rate, but thought I would first check with others.

Please note that I have edited and closed the thread pertaining to the

chain letter that appeared here this morning.

I will attempt to keep this reflector centered on IRA and IRA related topics. This is growing into a very active BBS and your participation is appreciated greatly.

Hope that you agree. Thanks to all.

Dave H.

If a practice has a Section 125 plan for health insurance only (employees pay 100% of premium), how much advance warning is required before the employer can cancel the plan?

I WOULD LIKE THE NAME AND ADDRESS of a Federal agency to write expressing the safety of the 457 deferred compensation plan

------------------

What you see is all you get. You didn't miss a thing. Either/or and no more.

if a plan is amended to no longer provide for participant loans, what happens to loans outstanding at the time of the amendment? Do they become due and payable as of the date of the amendment or does the participant just keep paying as usual until paid off?

In terminating a 401(k) pension plan there are restrictions in setting up a successor plan within a 12 month period. Is a Simple IRA plan a successor plan for this purpose. A SEP and ESOP are not. A Defined Contribution is.

We have a client who has a medical spending account limit of $2000. They have asked about increasing the limit because an employee wants to be able to defer more than $2000. Is there anything that states the maximum dollar amount that the employer can allow an employee to defer for a MSA like the dependent care's $5000 or is it any dollar amount that the employer chooses?

Also, if they want to change this dollar amount mid-year, do they have to do a re-enrollment to allow all employees to defer more money or should they only make this kind of a change at the beginning of a plan year?

Company A spins out all of its employees to a professional employer organization (PEO) and leases them back. Company A wants to adopt an ESOP covering the leased employees and purchase stock from the owner in a leveraged transaction. Is the Company A stock "qualified employer securities" with respect to PEO's employees controlled by A?

I am just curious if anyone is taking advantage of IRS Notice 99-5 by treating hardship withdrawals as eligible rollover distributions in 1999. Thanks in advance.

What happens is an employer makes a mistake and contributes too much to one employee's SEP account? Is it a deemed IRA contribution? Who is eligible for the deduction, if any? The SEP provider returned the money to the employer and issued a 1099-R to the employee. I can't believe that this can be correct. Any help is appreciated.

A small employer(less than 50 ees) is a wholly owned subsidiary of a larger corporation (8,000 ees). The larger corp. maintains a DB plan but does not plan to cover the small employer. Can the small employer establish a DB plan and pass 401(a)(26)? There are HCEs in the small employer. Is the only way to apply for a QSLOB determination? We think so, but someone else has advised that they can maintain their own plan as long as it is identical to parent company plan.

I am wondering how FSA administrators typically handle the usual lump sum payment to an OB/GYN for prenatal care & delivery. Do they reimburse the portion for prenatal office visits as they occur or must the participant wait until after the baby is delivered to get reimbursed anything at all? It is a fairly large sum to be out of pocket for six months or so...

I would like to find an educational resource for someone that has no experience in HR benifits. The information would be a very basic overview of how benifits work and laws regulating required benifits. I would perfer to find an online university. Can anyone help me out?

------------------

jstyer@gt.com

there is nothing in concrete. The Erisa Outline Book notes that some (and I stress some) IRS personal will use 3% or less. It becomes more of a facts and circumstances. (I imagine if bonuses are excluded and the hce gets no bunuses, then you fail at 3%. But if the boss had a bonus, then 3% would be ok. That would be my best guesstimate)

Where can complaints about 457 plan administration be addressed? Specifically, a friend of mine participates in a 457 plan, and they are trying to get information on an unregistered annuity option in the 457 plan. The city plan sponsor is not providing any information regarding this investment option, and my friend would like to put some pressure on the sponsor to cooperate. I called the

state department of labor and they incorrectly told me to check with the US department of labor. Does anyone know which government agency (I am assuming state) has oversight over 457s? Thanks in advance.

The plan I am looking is a calendar year plan. Here are my questions:

1) If I use prior year data for NHCEs, do I include in my HCEs a HCE who terminated in the prior year and count him w/ an ADP of 0?

2) Again, if I use prior year data for NHCEs, do I not include in the NHCE pool anyone who gained eligibility in the current year?

3) When I calculate the ADP for NHCEs using prior year data, and new hires have eligible comp less than their gross comp in the prior year, do I use total year comp?

As noted by Dave Baker on the 403(B) Plans message board, "The IRS National Office has published IRS Revenue Procedure 99-13. Excerpt:

This revenue procedure provides a comprehensive system of correction programs and procedures for an employer that offers a plan that is intended to satisfy the requirements of section 403(B) of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code"), but that has failed to satisfy those requirements because of Operational, Demographic, or Eligibility Failures. This system permits an employer to correct these failures, and thereby provide its employees with retirement benefits on a tax-favored basis. This revenue procedure modifies and amplifies the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS), set forth in Rev. Proc. 98-22, 1998-12 I.R.B. 11, to include specific programs and procedures relating to 403(B) Plans. In addition, this revenue procedure replaces the program described in Rev. Proc. 95-24, 1995-1 C.B. 694, which established the Tax Sheltered Annuity Voluntary Correction (TVC) program, and which was extended by Rev. Proc. 96-50, 1996-2 C.B. 370. Except as otherwise indicated in this revenue procedure, the specific provisions of EPCRS apply to 403(B) Plans.

Here's a link: http://www.benefitslink.com/IRS/revproc99-13.shtml (click)"

Historically, few governmental plans appear to have taken advantage of the VCR program for correcting defects in qualified plans, in part because of the financial costs of doing so and the historically low level of audits of governmental plans. However, the IRS has clearly been more active lately in auditing public 403(B) plans, particularly those of public hospitals and universities. Anyone have any thoughts on how attractive the TVC program is likely to be to governmental employers which maintain 403(B) plans?