I know there isn't a lot of guidance around excess revenue accounts, but I'm trying to see if there is a rule as to exactly when the money needs to be used...is it 12/31 of the current plan year? Is it similar to some forfeiture accounts where you can use it the following year for previous plan year expenses? Or is there no hard fast rule? I should mention nothing on the usage is listed in the recordkeeper's service agreement either.

Okay, so the procedures for changing organization and EA have been renewed via IRS Announcement 2015-03. It's been 10 years since I was engaged in a takeover and I ask this question out of curiosity since my business book is closed.

Suppose, you cannot replicate the prior actuary's work within the prescribed 5% tolerance. Presumably, the remedy is to apply for a change in funding method. Are there other alternatives?

Suppose you have acquired the new client by lower bid. Have you reflected in your bid the cost of applying for a funding method change? It would seem like the last thing a client who has engaged your because of lower fees would want is more expense for work that would not have been required had he stayed put.

How is this handled?

Partnership of professional corps. Two PCs, one partnership, a classic affiliated service group. 3 separate, identical PS plans, one for each entity.

Can partner A's plan make a loan to the individual shareholder of partner B? B does not sponsor A's plan, is not a fiduciary, etc. However A, B and the partnership are a single employer per 414(m). 4975(e)(2)© and (H) define a disqualified person to include a 10% shareholder of an employer whose employees are covered by the plan.

Under a 414 definition of "employer" the proposed loan would be a PT as individual B is a shareholder of Corp B, which is part of the aggregated employer. However 414(m)(4) lists the specific code sections to which it applies and this list does not include 4975.

Still feels a little too close for comfort.

I have a participant who was over 70.5 and still working in 2014 so did not plan on taking an RMD. He passed away in 2014 with children as the beneficiaries. The accounts will be split into inherited IRAs. The bene's did not complete the beneficiary paperwork until 12/31/14,not leaving enough time to make any transactions in 2014. My 1st question is - since an RMD was not taken in 2014, do they need to take one in 2015 for the 2014 amount before moving the account to an inherited IRA? Secondly will they need to take 2015 distributions of their own calculated in their individual accounts?

My client has a sole prop/corp controlled group. The owner has compensation coming from both entities. She only has employee deferrals from the corp. Can she use comp from the sole prop to calculate the discretionary match to her account?

SSAP 102 was effective 1/1/13. In determining the amount of surplus, SSAP 102 generally called for the immediate recognition of unfunded PBO as a liability. However, SSAP 102 contains an option under which it allowed for the recognition of the unfunded PBO to be phased-in over a period of up to 10 years. Under this alternative, SSAP calls for the establishment of a schedule of the maximum unrecognized amount of unfunded PBO that can exist at year-end. Essentially, the Pension Expense for the year is increased by the 10 year phase-in amount. If, at any point in time, a company wants to voluntarily recognize an additional amount of unfunded PBO (above the 10 year phase-in amount that is recognized for that year according to the amortization schedule), does this additional amount reduce the unrecognized gain/loss that exists at that time? Thanks.

We have someone who took a hardship in early October. He stopped his deferrals, but a deduction did come through for his year-end bonus.

What is the correction?

Someone here mentioned to just extend the suspension period one month. She said it was discussed (perhaps?) at the ASPPA EPCRS session.

Any specific guidance out there on this?

Got a TIAA client and we are restating their document onto ours. TIAA's plans say "are loans allowed - yes or no." What I am wondering is, do I need a separate loan program, or do the TIAA contracts incorporate the true loan program? I am also told by TIAA that each individual promissory note includes all of the provisions regarding default, payment terms, etc. Additionally, the loan is actually with TIAA-CREF and merely collaterized by their account balance in the TIAA Traditional account, and I'm quite sure that any loan program would have to describe all of this.

So what are people doing who work with TIAA with respect to a loan program? We're using Corbel's PT Formatted 403b document.

If plan sponsor excludes employees H-2B workers is that exclusion going to be considered to be based on length of service? We wnat them to be permanently exlcuded. Although such workers are temporary deifinition thye aren't being exlcuded because of that.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

Taking an informal poll. Assume a safe harbor nonelective, utilizing the "maybe" provision. The plan currently uses a non-integrated profit sharing formula, with a last day/1,000 hour provision.

If the client wishes to amend to a new comparability formula, for example, can they:

A. do it at any time prior to the plan formally electing/adopting the SH contribution for 2015, or

B. must they wait until 2016 to have it effective?

Non-profit sponsors 401k. Executive Director's spouse is an employee (and is an NHCE). What's stopping me from giving the spouse a big generous profit sharing contribution, all the way up to the 415 limit? I can't do it for the ED because he is an HCE. Assuming ED is happily married, isn't this a clever way to give this guy an extra contribution? I don't think there is anything in the Internal Revenue Code stopping me (my Doc allows for different allocation rates for each employee, and we're on the PPA Volume Submitter).

Is there some non-profit law that perhaps someone knows of that will trip me up? In other words, it sounds too clever, too cute, and therefore, perhaps, too good to be true? Or do I add this to my non-profit plan design repertoire?

Our plan has a provision which allows a member to use the 3-year catch-up to make additional contributions based on missed contributions under our plan or any other 457 plan in our state. Historically, we have only provided the catch-up based on contributions missed from our own plan, as this requires verification of those missed contribution. Because of turnover at upper management levels, we have been requested to allow a member to catch-up their missed contributions from another plan, but have no mechanism to verify missed contributions under another employer's plan.

Is anyone able to provide a copy of or link to a form that can be sent to another plan for that plan to certify the level of missed contributions?

Thanks in advance.

For those of us still working, I have a question,

a recent article in the Wall Street Journal talked about "pumping up your IRA".

While I can follow all the data and logic presented in the article, I have a question.

Client has a 401(k) Plan - participants can defer pre or Roth. There is a match of 100% up to 6% of compensation.

According to the article, participants who defer the max ( $18,000/$24,000) could make an after tax contribution (assuming plan allows for voluntary contributions) and as long as the total allocation does not exceed $52,000/$57,000) they are all set.

The article is addressing the ability to roll the voluntary account over to a Roth IRA and all the tax savings afforded to the Roth IRA.

Here is my question- most plans removed the voluntary contributions since they needed to satisfy the ACP test. Is this condition still applicable??

While the article made it sound great to add voluntary contributions, and my client is ready to jump all over this, I think, the crucial issue of ACP testing was eliminated from the article.

thanks and happy new year.

ERISA RIP?

http://www.erisalawgroup.com/documents/2014-December-Flash.pdf

Consider a final average pay, defined benefit plan. Assume the benefit formula is 1% of 5-year average compensation, times years of credited service. A client wishes to freeze the average compensation portion of the formula (say as of March 31, 2015), but still allow participants to earn credited service. Is this permissible? The future formula would then be 1% of 5-year average compensation as of March 31, 2015, times years of credited service at subsequent termination of employment. Are there any other considerations? Thank you in advance for your help.

When is an in-plan roth conversion taxable? All the IRS Notice says (2010-84) is "it is generally taxable when the distribution occurs" which I think is ridiculous because there is no distribution.

Obviously I have an 11th hour request from a client. Any value in having them make the election effective as of today? What if the plan was in a pooled account (this one is daily val anyway, but the point is that an entry on a computer should not have any affect on when it is taxable).

Have a new client who has over contributed to their profit sharing plan in 2013. They are now out of business and will not have any compensation (starting in 2014). What can I do about the excess contribution? They cannot use 2013 compensation as after the 12 month period. All guidance refers to using the excess amount in the following years but they will not have any compensation.

One partner wants to make his elective deferral deposit by transferring title of assets in his brokerage account to the 401k plan. I understand about required contributions having to be made in cash. Seems to me that a deferral is a required contribution in one respect. Would this be permissable? Thanks.

Does anyone know of any articles that describes how the individual groups should be chosen. I'm searching for an article to share with a client.

The document states "the amount allocated to one group need not bear any relationship to amounts allocated to any other group."

I was always told that even when the document was written for individual groups, that the participants should still be "grouped", Ie: secretaries, clerks, accounting and so on.

Is there anything written anywhere that I can share. I tried the treas. regs, but I really couldn't find anything pertaining to the grouping the employees.

Is it possible to suspend a non-safe harbor fixed tear match mid-year where the compensation determined for the match is annual?

Example is 50% of the first 6% of compensation where the compensation determination is period is annual?

Again this is a non-safe harbor match. I just want to know how/when this can be suspended midyear.

Thanks