We have a plan that amended their plan to stop safe harbor on 1/1/2025 (signed 10/10/2024) but did not distribute the SMM until 12/20.  The safe harbor notice was not distributed. The regs indicated that the 30 days notice is for plans that are amending DURING the plan year, which this plan is not doing a mid-year amendment.  The SMM requirement is 210 days notice.  Participants are allow to change their deferral election every pay period and they are moving to a fixed match formula that is allocated at the plan year-end.  Has anyone else found specifics on the notice requirement for a beginning of plan year amendment to remove safe harbor? 

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Hi, I am working at two jobs one W2 and one 1099 this year and am thinking about setting up a Cash Balance Plan. I know I have to hirer someone to help set this up but I want to understand some basics first. Can someone help explain to me how this will affect my Solo 401k pretax contributions? I read the limit is 6%, but 6% of what? Here are my rounded numbers:

W2 >$168,000 (maxed out $23k employEE)
1099 Gross Pay $415,000 (separate sole proprietor)
Total Expenses $55,000
Net Income after Pension $360,000
1/2 SE Tax $4800 (360k *0.9235 *0.029 *0.5)
Cash Balance Plan $150,000 (estimated)
Adjusted Net Profit $205,200

So is it 6% of $205,200 = $12,312?

Thank you.

IRS issued a penalty for my client for filing after 10/15, when in actuality, they did file, but our software did not make it through to DOL.

I'd like to be able to amend under "Special Extension" FEMA Disaster Zone Declaration 36-12 as well as IR 24-234 (9/10/24).

The IRS Notice mentions a delayed due date of February 2, 2025, which also states the extension also applies to "information returns" of which 5500-EZ applies.

Worth a shot???

Health plans and COBRA are not my area of experience. A question has arisen regarding the continuation of COBRA.

Can an employer elect can to extend the COBRA coverage past the maximum length of time for certain terminated employees/dependents?

Found this on the DOL website. It appears it can be but.....

Q11: How long does COBRA coverage last?

COBRA requires that continuation coverage extend from the date of the qualifying event for a limited period of 18 or 36 months. The length of time depends on the type of qualifying event that gave rise to the COBRA rights. A plan, however, may provide longer periods of coverage beyond the maximum period required by law.

When the qualifying event is the covered employee's termination of employment or reduction in hours of employment, qualified beneficiaries are entitled to 18 months of continuation coverage.

When the qualifying event is the end of employment or reduction of the employee's hours, and the employee became entitled to Medicare less than 18 months before the qualifying event, COBRA coverage for the employee's spouse and dependents can last until 36 months after the date the employee becomes entitled to Medicare. For example, if a covered employee becomes entitled to Medicare 8 months before the date his/her employment ends (termination of employment is the COBRA qualifying
event), COBRA coverage for his/her spouse and children would last 28 months (36 months minus 8 months).

For more information on how entitlement to Medicare impacts the length of COBRA coverage, contact the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration at askebsa.dol.gov or by calling 1-866-444-3272.

For other qualifying events, qualified beneficiaries must be provided 36 months of continuation coverage.

Appreciate any information.  Thank you!

What do you call a wreath made up of $100 bills?

A wreath 'a Franklin, of course.

Merry Christmas all.

Client with calendar year 401(k) plan and fiscal year C Corp(1/31). The client (one man plan) made a 45k in December of 2023 which the accountant is deducting for fiscal year end 1/31/2024 and then a $30,500 contribution at the beginning of January of 2024.  The accountant says it was his intention to process a payroll in January of 2024 which he never did.  I am inclined to call it commingling of corporate assets with plan assets  from the beginning of January till February 1. 2024 and deduct it in the fiscal year ending 1/31/2025 calling it a prepaid contribution.  They just processed the clients 401(k) deferral for 2024.  It is my understanding you can not prepay a 401(k) deferral.  Does anyone have another idea about how to handle this contribution?  For the record I never tell someone to pay their profit sharing contributions before the end of the year... it just gives up options.

I have done a lot of research on this and talked to more than one attorney and this seems to be landing as follows:

1) When mandatory auto enrollment is being added to a plan that was effective before the EACA was effective, a "sweep" is not required. This can happen when either a) new plans established after 12/29/2022 with auto enroll mandated 1/1/2025; OR b) when a new plan is not subject to auto enrollment right away because of the <10 Employee exception and the new business (3 year) exception.

2) When mandatory auto enroll applies to a new plan on the effective date of the Plan, a sweep is required.  The law is less clear to me here, but if a Plan's Elective Deferrals are effective 7/1/2025, then there must be an active EACA on that date. So everyones plan entry date is 7/1/2025 and if no one is enrolled on 7/1/2025 then the plan did not include an EACA on 7/1/2025. That part I think is straightforward enough regarding why a sweep being required makes sense.  I had suggested in one conversation limiting application of the EACA to people who would have become eligible on 7/1/2025 even if the Plan was effective years ago but no one liked that idea (and thus not doing a sweep).  I personally think it works but I don't want to go too rogue.

I am somewhat surprised that there is not a lot more conversation and a lot more articles on this very topic.  This is going to be front and center really now as we establish new plans.  I am curious to know if anyone has come to these same conclusions or something different.  Too bad the IRS is letting us squirm without any guidance.  To me, to sweep or not sweep is the most important question facing our industry today.

Please discuss!

Good afternoon everyone.  Someone is questioning me, so now I'm second guessing myself.  The max deductible contribution for a Cash Balance is:

Funding Target + Normal Cost + Cushion Amount (Funding Target /2) - Assets

I have that correct, right?

I am only familiar with Form 945 being used to reconcile taxes withheld and paid from retirement plans during the year.  Is there another purpose for this form that an employer may need it for outside of retirement plan taxes?

A client received a rather odd call from the IRS ( I was not on the calls but I believe the phone number is legit and it was the IRS).  They are telling her that she has not filed form 945 for years 2020-2023 and that even if no taxes are reported on it, it is still due and that if not filed, a $2,500 penalty will be incurred for each year.  Even odder, they are saying there is no letter or correspondence that they can send.

The plan utilizes a national retirement plan distribution service which accepts the 401k distribution, remits the taxes electronically, issues the 1099-Rs and also files a 945.  But the 945 is filed under the service providers name and EIN, which is submits along with presumably hundreds of other non-related clients.  The IRS caller was made aware of that and insisted that they need a separate 945 for my client, using their name and their EIN.  

Has anybody come across this before?  Any thoughts?

Thank you

Ignoring the fact that some of these ostensibly non-ERISA deferral only plans don't really qualify as non-ERISA...

Let's assume they qualify. Mandatory auto-enrollment in 2025 shouldn't apply, correct? 

As not being a 401k person, have a question for the gurus out there.

First year of the plan. HCE's will be limited to 5% and prior year testing.

HCE salary is 100k so max 5% is 5k

HCE is over 50, can they do additional 7.5k of catch-up and still pass ADP?

Thanks

Have a client with seasonal layoffs this time of year.  A participant wants to request a loan but is currently on lay off.  Since the loan policy requires repayments be made through payroll deduction, is the Sponsor ok with denying this loan until the participant returns to work?  With the nature of this business, the client should address this is in the plan loan policy but at this time has the stock loan policy from the Plan Doc, which does not specifically address this situation.  

A participant in a 401(k) is taking RMDs.  The participant would like to start using her RMD for a Qualified Charitable Donation, so she sets up a direct rollover of the 401(k) account to a new IRA so a portion of her 2025 RMD can be a QCD.  (The 2024 RMD was taken before the rollover was processed.)

The recordkeeper will only process rollovers as paper checks.  The distribution was processed from the 401(k) but the recordkeeper said it is likely that the participant will not receive the check until after the end of the year.

If that happens, the 401(k) will have a $0 balance on December 31, 2024 and so will the IRA.  Is the date of the check from the 401(k) distribution sufficient to use that balance as the 12/31/2024 balance for the new IRA so the 2025 RMD can be processed from the IRA?

Thank you.

Participant elected 10% pre-tax for all of 23'. Issue with payroll caused this person to defer 10% Roth instead.  Correcting this sounds messy (new w-2, moving buckets of money, etc.)  My idea is to tell the sponsor to shore them up via payroll with the extra taxes they had to pay. They then get tax free growth for essentially "free".  What else am I missing besides the fact that they couldn't defer paying taxes until later in life?

For reporting delinquent contributions, do they get included in successive years only until the late contributions have been deposited (recovery date), or do they keep getting reported until a VFCP is submitted?

401K Plan permits In-Service withdrawals beginning age 59-1/2; partials of at least $1000. 

Participant is past Normal Retirement Age, actively employed, and has a Participant Loan with a substantial balance; let's say it is $40,000.

Business has been flat this year and making the loan payments is increasingly more difficult. Last payment was end of November 2024. Next due is end of December (monthly payroll). There is a strong chance no wages will be paid for December.

Participant would like the Loan Balance "distributed" this year, as the tax implications would be minimal due to extremely low income, per the CPA. There is hope that things will improve next year but not certain how quickly it may turn around or to what extent if any it will turn around.

If the December 2024 loan payment is not satisfied, a default would occur and the correction period would run to 3/31/2025 per Loan Program.

Can the Participant request in essence a (permitted) partial withdrawal equal to the Loan Balance, or in other words request a Loan Offset and no additional cash distribution at this time (i.e. in service)? And if yes, then Form 1099-R would be Code 7 but not Code M (since not termination of service or plan, not QPLO), zero taxes withheld?

Thank you.

Does EBSA or IRS do something we as employee-benefit practitioners need (that would be delayed by a U.S. government shutdown)? Or does our work not depend on the executive agencies?

(We likely care as citizens, many might care about friends and neighbors who could be without paychecks for a while, and some might care as investors.)

In the law of U.S. government shutdowns, some executive agency functions are treated as essential, allowing a government employee to keep working; but nonessential functions don’t get that tolerance. For example, about 70% of Treasury employees are not permitted to work. In some agencies, it’s around 95% of employees. Further, many executives play “out of position”, taking on emergency functions and unusual activities.

A shutdown precludes work on writing rules, regulations, and other guidance; issuing ERISA advisory opinions or IRS letter rulings and other written determinations; almost all legal advice (except as needed for EBSA or IRS to preserve the U.S. government’s rights and other property); and customer service.

But have the guidance-writing functions become so sparse that we no longer depend on them?

Hoping someone can provide me a quick sanity check.

Plan uses regular NRA definition of later of age 65 or fifth anniversary of plan participation. 

Participant becomes eligible for the plan on 1/1/23, when they are age 63. They quit on 1/1/24, when they are 64, and are 20% vested. Unvested balances are forfeited after five breaks in service. They do not take a distribution. On 1/1/28, when they are age 68 and have four breaks in service, they reach their fifth anniversary of plan participation. 

Are they fully vested? In other words, does reaching NRA after termination restore the pending forfeitures?

I have a client who established a pre-enactment MEP 401k plan. During 2024;, an employer, who is a member of a controlled group which includes the sponsoring employer, adopted the MEP 401k plan. Would this employer be considered as adopting a grandfathered plan since it would not be considered a "new employer" if a member of the controlled group?