The Instructions to Form 5500 state that an amended return should be filed to correct errors or omissions. In informal guidance or best practice, is there a materiality standard -- i.e., if the error or omission is immaterial, an amended return is not required? I realize this would introduce all sorts of subjectivity, but also hard to believe that DOL would want amended returns for inconsequential errors.

If a plan terminates 12/31/2014, then, on the 2015 5500-SF to question 11 ("Is this a defined benefit plan subject to minimum funding requirements?") would be No. Is this correct?

Thanks for any responses!

On a CB plan that has terminated and didn't file for an FDL at termination -- would this change anything for a VCP filing after the term date? The plan is being corrected for a 401(a)26 failure not timely discovered (after 9 1/2 months after the PY)

I don't think so...but not finding much to tell me either way.

A company with 10 employees has a (prototype) SEP plan where, currently, only the business owner has met the 3 of 5 year elgibility requirement. The business owner established a 401(k) plan as of 1/1/15.

1. Can the owner make SEP contributions only to himself and make no profit sharing contribution to the 401(k)?

2. Would there be cross testing between the two plans that would require the owner to make a profit sharing contribution to employees who are elgiible to participate in the 401(k)?

We have a 401k plan with match (not a safe harbor) for a public library, with only 5 eligible employees, none of whom are close to being HCEs.

The Library's director is over age 50 and will contribute the full elective deferral max of $24,000, including catch-up plus receives a match of around $2,000.

Can the Library Board make an additional employer contribution for her, perhaps up to $33,000, without giving any additonal employer contribution to the other NHCEs? With no HCEs there would not appear to be any discrimination issues. The plan would have to be amended to allow for individual rate groups and this probably could not take effect until 2016, but once that is in place, would this fly?

I think the idea is that she would go the Board and ask that her compensation be reduced by the $33,000, and the Board would then simply deposit that for her as a PS contribution.

Thanks

We have received some litigation proceeds for old 401k plans that have terminated. The businesses that sponsored the plans have closed. For one payment, we can locate the owner of the former business and for the second, we cannot locate the owner of the business.

We are trying to find guidance on what to do with these litigation proceeds. Who should they be sent to? If they are supposed to be assets of the plan, what is commonly done for plans that no longer exist? We are only talking about a payment of less than $50 in both cases. Thanks!

For a participant who has an outstanding loan and they terminate and take full distribution should the outstanding loan be reported on line 8e or included with the benefits paid on line 8d?

Example, participant balance is $40,000 including an outstanding loan of $5,000. The participant terminates and does not pay back the outstanding balance but rather takes his remaining account balance of $35,000. Should we report $35,000 on line 8d and $5,000 on 8e, or just $40,000 on 8d, or do it a different way?

Thank you in advance for any thoughts and opinions!

so we are stuck for 9 straight days beginning

5/10/15

and ending

5/19/15

next year it takes place in June

I'm hooked up with a recruiter and have looked thru the jobs here. Any other places to search for pension jobs? LinkedIn?

I have a plan that excludes stock options from their plan definition of compensation (also their allocation definition). They are nonqualified stok options exercised. They exclude other items as well.

When running the general test, do I use gross compensation (W-2 compensation which includes stock options exercised) or do I used plan compensation? (let's assume plan compensation passes 414s testing.)

In a 401k plan, I know you are allowed to charge the participant a fee directly for taking a distribution. Are we also permitted to also charge the participant of a defined benefit plan a fee as well, or if a fee is to be charged, does it have to be charged to the plan?

Thanks for your thoughts.

A client has a participant who died and has no information regarding beneficiaries, family members or the executor of his estate.

They are approaching the 5 year anniversary of the participant's death and want to know:

1) What they should do with the money. Is a missing participant IRA an option?

2) If there is a penalty if they hold on to the money beyond the 5 years.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

An IRA Owner would like to direct investment into a newly forming privately held US Business, whereby he would have an equity interest of less than 10% (probably less than 5%).

It should be noted the IRA Owner would be a member of the advisory board as a recognized professional with immeasurable experience and knowledge as it relates the product the company is developing and will ultimately be marketing.

Would this be a Prohibited Transaction? If the IRA Owner is not a member of the advisory board would the answer change?

Would being a member of the advisory board raise self dealing issues?

The business is developing and ultimately will market an implantable prosthetic.

Would this trigger Unrelated Business Income issues?

The company is expected to be quite successful and the IRA Owner would like the investment growth to occur in his tax deferred IRA rather than his personal asset portfolio for tax reasons.

Could this person who has a non-Title I DBP make the same investment using the DBP assets?

The issue of liquidity is understood. The need for annual valuation of the privately held investment for plan valuation purposes is also recognized.

Thank you

For the 51+ market, it seems that individual health questionnaires can still be required. In fact, many health insurance companies are in fact requiring this.

Now all this seems to me to be in violation of §147.104: Guaranteed availability of coverage: Guaranteed availability of coverage in the individual and group market. Subject to paragraphs (b) through (d) of this section, a health insurance issuer that offers health insurance coverage in the individual, small group, or large group market in a State must offer to any individual or employer in the State all products that are approved for sale in the applicable market, and must accept any individual or employer that applies for any of those products.

Also this: (e) Marketing. A health insurance issuer and its officials, employees, agents and representatives must comply with any applicable state laws

This is for a cross tested 401k Safe Harbor plan that provides:

1 year eligibility for 401k, employer SHM, optional/discretionary ACP SHM and PS

Immediate eligibility for Davis Bacon/Prevailing Wage type contribution

Vesting is 2/20 for PS and optional ACP SHM

100% immediate Vesting for 401k, SHM and DB/PW type contributions

The DB/PW provision states (N/S VS doc): "The Employer will make a Prevailing Wage Contribution on behalf of each Participant who performs services subject to the Service Contract Act, Davis-Bacon Act or similar... The Prevailing Wage Contribution shall be an amount equal to the balance [emphasis mine] of the fringe benefit payment for health and welfare for each Participant (after deducting the cost of cash differential payments for the Participant) based on the hourly contribution rate for the Participant's employment classification as designated on Schedule A as attached to this [Plan]

The PW contribution is defined as non-elective (but specifically not a QNEC) and shall be used to offset the employer's contributions (other than ADP test SH contributions)

The employer has a DB/PW job coming up and would like to contribute the fringe portion (or at least a portion of it) to the plan. It should be noted there have been other jobs subject to DB/PW completed in the past (while plan has been in place) whereby the basic wage and fringe were both paid in cash (i.e. wages).

Will it be sufficient for the employer to provide advance notice to the affected employees that on Job X, $#.## per hour will be contributed to the Plan in lieu of cash payment in accordance with DB/PW? These contributions/hours will be tracked within payroll and plan record kept separately (i.e. own source bucket).

It is okay for the employer to choose whether or not to contribute the DB/PW amounts from job to job, and how much of the fringe portion amount from job to job, in a discretionary manner so long as advance notice is provided to affected employees and the hours/contributions are tracked/record kept accordingly? It would appear to be permissible since the Plan's wording states the contribution to the Plan is the "balance"... (see above).

Apologies for the length of this post. Thank you

Have any of you non-producing (non-licensed) TPAs successfully counted your experience in order to meet the 3 year experience requirement for the CFP designation?

I have met the education requirement to sit for the CFP exam but do not want to waste time taking it if my experience will not count.

Hello, what is the consequence if a plan did not obtain the supporting documentation to prove the loan from the 401k or 403b plan was for the purchase of a primary residence? Is self-correction available? Are there penalties/or filings assessed?

Let's say the employer remitted a payroll contribution to the plan timely, but failed to provide a breakdown for 14 days. Does the employer owe lost earnings to the participants? What's the rule?

Thanks,

deferral only 401(k) did not allow a rehired former participant to make an election to rejoin the plan. (Plan sponsor believed the rehire needed to meet eligibility again). Rehire is an NHCE. Rehire date was March 2014. Does the QNEC and applicable earnings need to be 50% of the NHCE's ADP for the whole 2014 plan year? What about current 2015 calendar plan year? The rehire has made a new deferral election for this plan year and is now in the plan effective this month. Would a separate NHCE ADP need to be calculated for ytd 2015?

thanks

Let's say the participants in a plan are charged (by mistake) 1% annual management fee whereas they should actually have been charged 0.50%. In this case, can the plan sponsor reimburse the participants for the years they were charged extra? Is this considered an allowed correction procedure?