I am looking for the definition of a "Control Group". If an organization forms a partnership which does not involve a merger of assets, but has a common board at the holding company level, would this fall under the definition of a control group?

Anyone read, or know where I can get a copy of these bills? They've been referenced in a recent article in EBPR and I'd like more info for selling tactics. They are also known as "Retirement Security Act of 1998"..... anyone?

What is the implication to the plan where distributions from the plan to former participants are made in the form of checks and that the particpants have not cashed the checks and the stale date has been exceeded by a number of years? Besides owning the particpant the original amount of the distribution is there an interest payment also due. What law,case, etc. would address this issue?

Currently I work as a manager for a company that has ten different facility sites within the state. Managers at each site are given responsibility to find substitution of staff when they are absent (vacation,sick,etc.)from work. All staff are paid salary. Each facility is unique in the services they provide and the contractor they work with. One manager simply requires their employees to work extra hours since they are salary. Another manager offers comp time. Another manager hires substitutes or independent contractors for the day(s). Another manager arranges for bonuses to be paid according to the hours worked. I have been told offering so many different plans is illegal because they are not equal within the company! Each plan works within each facility but no plan covers the needs of all facilities. What is legal?

I am interested in communicating with anyone involved with the customer service/quality aspects of benefits delivery.

Does the following qualify as a reimbursable expense for a health care spending account? A newborn had not gained a sufficient weight and pediatrician referred to a lactation specialist to see of lack of weight gain had anything to do with breast feeding. Also relates to other problems baby had at birth. Lactation specialist is supposedly a certified professional. Are his services reimbursable under the spending account?

What interest rates are people using when calculating PV for divorce cases? PBGC, GATT, 90 day treasury, current, historical, Other?

What interest rates are people using to perform PV calculations in Divorce Cases? PBGC, GATT, 90 Day Treasury, Current, Historical, Other?

Mike Weinberg sent out an email thru the ABA message board dealing with Equity Split Dollar. Part of his message follows. All planners who have been using Split Dollar for small business owners will want to follow the link to his site for the complete report.

========================================

List subscribers may be interested in the following new developments:

1. Update on Equity Split-Dollar. We have been carefully monitoring and

reporting on the status of equity split-dollar insurance ever since the IRS

issued TAM 9604001 in January 1996. Our industry association, AALU,

comments on some new developments in recent Washington Report #98-79.

AALU reports that a recent rumor has been circulating that the IRS will

momentarily issue a new ruling applying the IRC sec. 7872 interest-free loan

rules to the taxation of equity split-dollar plans. Fortunately, to the best

of AALU's knowledge, this rumor is incorrect.

Nevertheless, it appears that the IRS is again reviewing the taxation of

split-dollar. According to the Washington Report: "In recent months, the

Revenue Service's national office in Washington has received a number of

private letter and technical advice requests which have focused squarely on

equity split dollar. As a consequence, we understand that the Service is

again reviewing the matter and may in the future again speak to the point."

A complete copy of the Report is posted on the Hot Topics page of our

Website for your assessment: http://expertpages.com/~weinberg - click on

"Hot Topics."

This Washington Report confirms a special briefing given a few weeks ago by

AALU to its Business Insurance & Estate Planning Committee, of which I serve

as a member. We also were informed in the briefing that AALU is involved in

one of the TAM cases in New England and that an IRS National Office

conference has been requested in the case, although no immediate IRS action

seems to be contemplated.

An IRS review of split-dollar taxation is not good news. If the "window" is

finally closing on the very favorable taxation of split-dollar, we think

clients and advisors contemplating split-dollar plans should consider

implementing and documenting those plans as soon as possible. That way

clients would be in a position to be protected by any grandfather provision

that is forthcoming. While grandfathering is likely, it is not guaranteed.

We would be pleased to further discuss these split-dollar issues with you.

I have questions about the implementation of a salary deferral plan for a key executive. Please see my message under the "Small Business" message board if you have any insight.

I would like to learn more about salary deferral options for the small business owner/employee. I have a key employee who shares in 25% of the profits of the business. I would like to encourage him to stay until retirement. I would also like to sell him 25% of the stock at a discount. My goal is to provide this employee with a large lump sum upon his retirement. Also, is there any way I can provide this benefit for myself as well?

Anyone who has any insight or knows of any publications or resources which might help me achieve these objectives, please e-mail at markabood@netscape.net. Thank you in advance for you time.

This looks kosher to me.

You could run into snags in future years if you plan on switching between prior and current year testing. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on this, but (assume that the data you provided is current year) if you want to use prior year testing next year, your numbers would look like this...

NHCE

K = 6.4%

M = 0.0%

I think congress uses the missing 1.6% to pay for special prosecutors.

[This message has been edited by Beavis (edited 09-24-98).]

Are SEP's required to be restated prior to December 31, 1999 (for SBJPA, etc.)?

Thanks-

rob

If an employee participates in two separate Simple IRA plans of unrelated employers, my reading of the rules is that the employee can defer up to $10,000, with no more than $6,000 going to either plan. If anyone's still here, is this accurate?

thanks-

rob

What approaches are people taking (or hearing about)when an employee signs up for health benefits, and he/she asks to sign up a spouse to whom they are not formally married but who is believed to be a valid "common law" spouse under the law of their state?

Suppose you were a municipal sewer authority, and were looking to create a 403(B) plan for your employees. Would you need to file for not-for-profit status, or are you exempt under some other section of the IR Code? Is this even an option for such an entity? Thanks!!!

From reading Notice 98-1, it states that an employer can make a change in method (from current year method to prior) during the remedial amendment period. I take this to mean I can switch from current to prior during 1998 or during 1999, but if I am on current year for 1999, I am locked in for five years. Is this correct? What about the anti-abuse provision in Section VIII? Does this provision also apply to switching methods during the remedial amendment period? What if a plan used 1997-prior, 1998-current, 1999-prior? Is this acceptable?

A prototype document uses the IRS deemed standard reasons for hardship withdrawals. If an employee in a factory applies for a hardship withdrawal for pilot training lessons, is this permissible? The regulations don't define "post secondary eduction" and I can't find anything more definitive on the subject.

I have a client that wants to contribute a fixed dollar amount per employee $500, regardless of compensation. Because they also have a hard time passing their ADP test, they also want to designate this as a QNEC. The selections available in their prototype document read to allow the employer to contribute QNECs as a percentage of total compensation of all participants, a percentage of profits, or an amount needed to met the ADP test. It will allow for language to then allocate that amount on the basis of compensation limited to $1.00 per participant, which will enable me to end up with the same dollar amount per participant. My problem is: Am I violating plan terms then becasue I am not limiting my QNEC to what is actually needed to pass the ADP test? Another alternative may be to allocate only what is needed as a QNEC as such, and the remainder as a traditional nonelective contribution. It may be difficult to explain to employees why some employer contributions are 100% vested, and other employer contributions are subject to vesting though? Any suggestions? Thanks.

We are a small company with 20 full time employees. We write our name on a calendar when we want a day off. The office manager checks the calendar periodically, but does not need to approve time off. However, we had a situation where 5 people were off. It seemed (on paper) that all departments were covered. However, the phones were crazy and we all departments could not be covered adequately. I need to come up with a policy of "writing your name on the calendar". Do we set a limit of number of people off on one day, or do we take on a case by case basis? (i.e. workload requirements, etc.) I can see a lot of trouble (favortism-- perceived or actual) ahead. I feel that all time off should be approved ahead of time. Does anyone have any suggestions?