I am new to this forum but I am hoping that someone on here can help.

Under 4219(c)(1)(C), the annual payment for withdrawal liability is the product of:

(i) average annual CBUs for the 3 consecutive plan years during the 10 consecutive plan years ending before the plan year in which the withdrawal occurs, in which the number of CBUs for which the employer had an obligation to contribute under the plan is the highest; and 

Newbie here, hoping for some help on ineligible deferrals. Our company issued ineligible deferral refunds this year. The explanation we were given is that "one or more plan participants made ineligible ROTH salary deferrals under the profit sharing plan." Refund checks issued April 13, 2017.

Our company is owned by two individuals. Both are at least age 62, for what that's worth. 

The majority of our employees do not participate in the plan. The few rank and file employees who do participate received checks for matching contributions. The 402(g) violation return summary shows a few different numbers: excess deferrals, gain on excess deferrals, return of gap period interest; total amount return gain; and total amount to be paid.

Might anyone be able to advise on what likely happened here? Is this an HCE type violation? Or could it be from not matching by the safe harbor deadline?

Thank you.

How long do you retain plan records for terminated clients?  We have no contractual obligation to our clients to retain any records, but we do feel it is prudent to keep the records for a period of time.  If there's an audit, we want to be able to defend anything we've done.

I am so sick of the boxes of paper from these former clients and I want to get rid of as much of it as possible.

So, how long are you keeping these records?

Is it April 15, 17 or 18?

Thanks

Can a 401(k) plan with an eligibility service requirement of 30 days of service (elapsed time), exclude employees who work less than 20 hours per week? 

Person made $120,000.40.

it is over $120,000 but would the pennies count?

thanks

What are your thoughts on COBRA notice failures that are not willful and are corrected within 30 days, so no excise tax, and still reporting $0.00 excise tax on Form 8928?  

I am concerned because if we do not file one then no statute of limitations will apply.  So I am considering filing the Form with $0.00, but have multiple (many, many) failures.  Do you file a separate Form 8928 for EVERY participant that had a failure?

Thank you for your help!

A nonelecting church plan sponsors a 403(b) Plan.  All employees are eligible and there is one platform provider.  Much nicer and cleaner than most 403(b)s!  Oone of the pastors would like to have the church start a separate plan with a company dedicated to retirement advice specific to clergy, which appears to have a MEP for church plans.  The only reason for this change seems to be that the pastor has personal investments with this company already.

The church would like all employees to be able to choose between the new plan and the existing plan.  I understand that 410(b) does not apply, but there are still pre-ERISA coverage requirements.

Questions:

1) Can each plan exclude employees covered under another plan sponsored by the church?  Would it need to be specific as to who is covered under each plan or is it okay to allow participants to choose?

2) If the new plan is set-up, can this pastor move his existing 403(b) Plan assets?  There is no distributable event that I can see, but is there a way to do a 403(b) plan to plan transfer?

Thanks,

Kathryn

I work at a TPA firm and one of the recordkeepers that we use is having their clients amend their plans to use elasped time vesting, employment anniversary to anniversary. .   Current adoption agreement says vesting is based on 1,000 hours in a plan year.   The problem with the 1,000 hours in a plan year they say, is that if a participant works 2,080 hours in a plan year, they will receive 2  years of vesting for that plan year, so this plan has a 3 year cliff schedule, the recordkeeper is saying a participant will 100% vest in 1 1/2 years.   Is this something new that I missed?        

Calendar year plan requires employment on last day of the plan year.  The employee works on December 30, 2016--a Friday.  Was the Participant actively employed on the last day of the plan year?  Seems we can go either way with this one...

Just wondering - suppose several school districts, (so non-ERISA plans) who all sponsor 403(b) plans, merge their plans into one 403(b) plan, effective in, say, May of 2017, using an IRS pre-approved prototype - should be available by then...

Do all of the individual plans have to be restated retroactively to 2009? I presume not, but I've never thought about it! Could get messy screwing around with 4 different plans with different provisions going back years and years.

I've got a plan with a non-safe harbor discretionary match that is calculated per payroll with no true-up.  Halfway through the year, the plan sponsor now wants to cut the rate of the match in half.  Is there anything that would prevent this?  I don't see anything in the plan document that discussed this specifically.

I know they'd still have to pass the ACP test, so if this is a ploy to lower the match after the HCEs have maxed their deferrals, they'll just fail that anyway.  Is there anything else that could come into play?  Thanks.

Only contributions are Employee Deferrals and Employer Safe Harbor Match, our documents ask which test the safe harbor is intended to satisfy, just ADP or both ADP/ACP.

Our old documents from McKay Hockman noted that the ACP was automatically satisfied if the only employer contribution was a safe harbor match.  Was I correct in drafting the safe harbor match with only the ADP safe harbor selected to be satisfied and assuming that ADP/ACP election was only for a safe harbor match with additional discretionary/fixed match or after-tax contributions.  Wanted to know for our new docs.

401k Plan with PS only  (no match)  Client wants a design to benefit some more than others.

NO HCE's by ownership or compensation.

Want Group A to get 10% PS    

Group B to get 5% PS

Group C to get 0% PS

1.  What do I have to look at?  Does it matter how many are in each group?

2.  Is it better to exclude Group C (smallest number of EE's) from the plan by definition or just exclude them from the PS by definition.

No HCE's in plan, plan is not Top Heavy.

We're dealing with a situation in which a participant named his spouse as his beneficiary of his 401(k) plan.  He later divorced, but did not at that time change the beneficiary designation.  (Under Egelhoff v. Egelhoff, 532 US 141 (2001), the divorce would not itself change the beneficiary designation.)  However, after he died, his sister sent a signed beneficiary designation in favor of the sister.  The plan is now asking us whether they can honor a beneficiary designation signed by the participant, but not received until after the participant's death.  The plan document is silent on the issue.

My gut reaction is that the plan should simply refuse to pay until this is straightened out, and file an interpleader action if one of the parties sues for benefits.  But has anyone seen any guidance as to whether a beneficiary designation not received until after death can be honored?

Our Benefits in the News web page displays previously published news items as always, but now you can view them in a new, optional compact format -- you can hide the excerpts, at your option. Just look for the "Hide excerpts" checkbox. (The full list, which includes excerpts, continues to be the default view.)

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I just saw a release from last week where Datair says they have received an Advisory letter.

We haven't heard a peep yet, but presumably it is coming soon.

We have a NQDC Plan.  When a distribution comes due, the Administrator sends the money we have set aside to us, we cut a check to the participant, and we issue a W-2.

The Administrator said it can cut the check to the participant itself, but since the check will be coming from them, they will have to issue a 1099.

I've always understood that NQDC distributions are to be issued with a W-2, since the money represents compensation earned from an employer for work performed.  Would it be appropriate to allow the Administrator to cut the check and issue a 1099?  Can the Administrator legally issue a W-2?  

Another option might be for the Administrator to cut the check, send any withholdings to us, and then we issue a W-2 from that point.  But the point of the change to to have the Administrator take over the entirety of the distribution process, so that is not ideal.

An employer's plan year is 10/01 - 09/30. However, their medical and life policy year changed to 12/01. How do I report this on the Schedule A? The system that we use will not accept the policy year because it extends beyond the plan year end date. I really hope my question makes sense. Thanks in advance for the help and advice.

As of May 1st, 2017, my status will be RETIRED.  And many will say it's about time.  It has been a looooong fun run folks.