Is there a trend towards offering some sort of Compliance Guarantee or other way of guaranteeing our work as tpa's? Does such a marketing approach have substance to it, considering the commitment reflected in our credentials?

A small business has a Simple plan (not sure if it is IRA or 401-k) and wants to start a traditional 401-k (safe harbor). Can this be done any time in the calendar year and do participants have to wait a certain time period before rolling the simple into the new plan? Any guidance on notifications/issues would be appreciated.

Am I allowed to use component plan testing to pass the ADP/ACP Test same as for Cross-Testing?

Calendar Year Plan

2012 MRC = $0

5500 on extension

Plan sponsor contributes $50,000 on August 1, 2013. SB filed August 15, 2013 reporting the $50,000 contribution. Plan sponsor contributes additional $75,000 on September 1, 2013 but fails to communicate to EA until 2014. Plan sponsor deducts $125,000 for 2012

For $75,000 to be deductible for 2012, the IRS informal position is it must be claimed on the 2012 and not 2013 SB.

Is it acceptable to amend 2012 SB as of this late date in 2014?

If not, how would this situation be corrected? Claim the contribution on the 2013 SB and ignore the destructibility issue since the IRS has only informally stated their position of not being able to deduct a contribution for a tax year than precedes the Plan Year for which the contribution is claimed?

Client has 4 employees plus himself as the owner. All employees were hired in 2014. The owner started the business 6 years ago.

Can he establish a safe harbor 401k for the employees and continue to contribute the max to the SEP ($52,000) without including any of his employees until

2017 (2014, 2015, 2016 for service = 2017 eligibility in the SEP)? The document does use the "3 of 5 rule."

I know that we can no longer use the 5305 and I also know that I need to be concerned with top-heavy (hence the safe harbor status of the plan).

I know about 415 aggregation, etc., but I cannot find anything on this, which is surprising because I would think this is a pretty obvious plan design choice in the right circumstances.,

Participant withdrew $18,000 from individual account in profit sharing plan in November 2012. The participant started making loan repayments in January 2013 however the participant did not sign the loan documents until February 2013. Can this still be considered a loan or is a taxable distribution? If it's a taxable distribution, what do I do about the repayments that have been made to date?

Prospective client has a current NON-ERISA 403b plan. He wants to establish a 401(k) plan. Current non-ERISA 403b plan has loans.

1. Can the cleint adopt a 401(k) plan while sponsoring a non-ERISA 403b plan?

2. Am I correct that the client cannot merge the non-ERISA 403b plan into the 401(k) plan?

3. If client terminates the non-ERISA plan does it need to wait 12 months to establish the 401(k) plan?

4. If the 403b plan is terminated, can employees roll the 403b assets, including loans, into the 401(k) plan?

Thank for any guidance you can provide.

With the revised final regulations are most folks getting rid of the circular 230 disclaimer on e-mail and other communications or replacing it with a broader, more general disclaimer? Thanks!

In 2013, I was covered under my spouses HMO through her employer, and I enrolled in an HDHP with an HSA through my employer. For 2014, my employer claimed that double coverage was not allowed under the ACA, and that I could only fund an FSA if covered by my spouses HMO. Others have told me that double coverage shouldn't prevent me from enrolling in an HDHP with HSA, especially since I have a pre-existing condition. Does anyone know if my employer is correct, or are they just creating their own rule?

Small business with 10 participants in a MPP, 7 highly compensated persons hitting the 52k mark. Want to terminate the MPP and start a new 401k using another low cost provider (currently using bank for MPP with high fees). We DO NOT want to convert to a 401k but rather terminate the MPP and start new 401k on 1/1/15. Question: Can some persons still keep money in the MPP or do you HAVE to roll it over into an IRA or the new 401k? Thanks in advance.

We have a plan that terminated with a lost participant. The assets for this participant reverted back to the plan sponsor. The participant was found three years later. The plan sponsor will pay them. We will probably outsource the distribution. Is there any necessary plan reporting?

I am going back into the benefit profession and a little rusty around the corners. I wondered if someone could be so kind of explain how a large employer that offers self insurance medical health plans will know if an employee gets a goverment subsidy on the exchange? Is that something that is asked on an open enrollment form? Does the employee have a field that states I am opting out of company plan to be on a private exchange with the gov. subsidy? Or does an employer run salaries and try to guess which employees might take it? Little confused on the process. And once it is determined someone received the subsidy, when and where is the penalty paid? Does this also apply to the few plans out there that are grandfathered? Anything else I might have missed in the last few years for large employers

For a self employed defined benefit pension plan, what limitations are there on treating pension contributions as an expense (either on Schedule C Line 19 or on Line Form 1040 Line 28) when Schedule C earnings are negative?

Line 3g (the chart) is confusing in so many ways, but I will limit my question to a couple of issues.

For the PPA amendment, what are folks entering in column (vii)? Many PPA amendments (and other interim amendments) were model amendments or some kind of standardized format addressing numerous changes. Should we have an attachment listing all of the provisions? The instructions do not address this column.

The instructions describing which amendments to list in this chart are not clear. It seems we are to list certain amendments and include with the submission, but also we are NOT to list certain amendments but still include with the submission.

Has anyone seen guidance on when we must start using this form?

Are others puzzled by this form, or is it just me?

Thank you!

Client had a work-related emergency and had to ignore phone calls and emails pleading regarding filing the 5500 by the 7/15th due date. The form will be filed by noon today (just 12 hours late).

Has anyone ever heard of a) a grace period or b) an abatement request that was approved?

Or is the response, "we know #$@$ happens, and that's why we added DFVC."

Long story short, it was an audited plan and the financials were received yesterday which is why this all went down last minute.

Client had a SIMPLE for 2013, established a 401(k) 1/1/14.

All of the participants have elected to roll their SIMPLE accounts into the 401(k) plan and the money has been transferred. Now the SIMPLE matching receivable needs to be funded from 2013. The client would like to just put the money into the 401(k) rather than re-open all of SIMPLE accounts since everyone is rolling their money anyway. While this is clearly "wrong", it does keep everyone "whole". Any thoughts on how the IRS would view this if we call it self correcting ?

in practice, how often has there been a bad apple that has disqualified a multiple employer plan that was not able to be fixed by one of the correction programs?

Case 1. 2014 AFTAP = 80%. Plan terminated 12/31/2014. Final distributions anticipated in 2016. Assets 12/31/2014 depreciate 25% from 12/31/2013. A NHCE terminates in 2015. Can he receive an unrestricted lump sum distribution prior to the final termination distribution?

Case 2. 2014 AFTAP = 78%. Plan liabilities under IRC 430/436 are determined as of 1/1/2015. An AFTAP of 83% is determined and certified. Subsequently, a NHCE terminates in 2015. Can he receive an unrestricted lump sum distribution prior to the final termination distribution?

I'm unaware where remeasurement, presumed funding, or AFTAP certifications apply after 12/31/2014. So, unless someone can suggest other guidance, life is fixed until final termination distributions.

As a CFP/CDFA, I often deal with pension present value calculations for divorce situations. Often defined benefit pension (employer) will provide the employee the monthly benefit upon his/her retirement (or at various ages). Under a Cash Balance Plan, the aggregate present day hypothetical 'value' is provided by the employer (usually annually?). My question is this: Does that annual phantom value of the account balance (credit) -as communicated to the employee- equate to a present value for determining an asset value of a potential future stream of income? Conventional wisdom would say it is. [based on the theory that a Cash Balance Plan is a dollar amount in present value form for the future benefit of an employee. Trying to determine a future stream of income, only to actuarial back-out a PV seems like an Excel spreadsheet circular reference!] *As a follow-up, Are Cash Balance Plans transferable via a QDRO to an ex-spouse as are Defined Contribution plans?

Is the Plan Sponsor of a Defined Benefit Plan required to notify participants when they've reached or surpassed Normal Retirement age (i.e. a letter reminding the Participant he/she is now eligible and should consider applying)? What about having reached/surpassed age 70 1/2? I'm looking for language regarding whether these notices are REQUIRED by any entity or if it is merely good practice. Thanks.