justbsur

Is anyone familiar with the Schedule F that Puerto Rico plans are to file? It appears to be a Schedule that would be attached to their Puerto Rico corporate tax filing. We have a client asking us to complete it. Does anyone out there do these for their clients? Thanks.

Hi, all - The draft of the 2011 Form 8955-SSA has been released by the IRS with a Feb 2, 2012 date. Does anyone have any information on when this will be finalized? Thanks!

Soooo...I called the EFAST2 hotline again, and got a different answer!! This person told me that they are considered filed, and they need to amend, but not by the original filing deadline. This is actually consistent with the FAQ's, so I'm inclined to believe her, but I'm concerned with the fact that I'm receiving conflicting answers.

Thanks for the responses. I saw the same definition for Filing stopped status - but the question is - do they have to file the amended return by 8/2? Thanks again!

If a plan sponsor has attempted to file a Form 5500 on EFAST2 via an approved 3rd party vendor software package, and they receive the status of "Filing Stopped", does that mean they are considered to have filed before the deadline? Their forms are showing up on the search function under EFAST2, and, according to the chart on FAQ#39, it indicates that "Processing Stopped" (assume that is the same as "Filing Stopped"?), it is considered a filing. When I called the EFAST2 hotline, they told me that this client had to amend by the original filing deadline or the DOL would consider them missing the deadline. This client does not want to file a Form 5558. So we now need to work with them to amend within the next few days! Has anyone else run into this situation? Did you get the same answer from the hotline?

Two plans participate in a Master Trust. Each plan has a 5500 filing obligation, as does the Master Trust. For simplicity sake, let's assume ALL plan assets are invested in the Master Trust. How should fees be reported? Are all the fees reflected on ONLY the master trust filing's Schedule H and Schedule C? This would mean that, for the individual plans, only beginning balance, ending balance and "Net investment gain/loss from the Master Trust". This net gain/loss would take into account all fees, so the 5500's (Sch H and Sch C) for the individual plans themselves would not reflect any fees. Actually, a Schedule C would not even be required to be filed for individual plans. Is this correct? Thanks for your help!!

Q 40 of the DOL's FAQ's about the 2009 Form 5500 Schedule C indicates that a plan administrator need NOT report a service provider as "failing to provide information necessary to complete the Schedule C" (line 4 of Sch C), if the plan administrator receives a statement from the service provider indicating that a good faith effort was made to make timely changes and despite such efforts, the service provider was unable to complete the changes for the 2009 plan year. My question is - how many service providers are planning on providing such a statement to their clients? If you've made changes to your system(s) that you feel cover most or all of the required Schedule C reporting, are you also planning on providing such a statement? Thanks in advance!!

Has the plan made a matching contribution at all in the past? If not, then you could make the argument that this is the first plan year for the matching contribution, and use the 3% for the NHCE ACP. IRS Notice 98-1. Otherwise, looks like you're stuck with 0%. As far as shifting, or borrowing, from ADP to ACP, I think this would be allowable assuming that your ADP test passes.

I have a plan that was a member of a controlled group for the majority of their plan year. They actually stopped being a member of the controlled group, effective the last day of the plan year . For that plan year, should I include code 3H on the 5500? Do these feature codes apply to plans if they have that feature at any time during the year? Or is it features as of the end of the plan year? I couldn't find anything in the instructions or the reference materials I have. Any assistance would be appreciated!!

I have a client who has several Synthetic GICs in their plan. Can these be reported in "Other" on the Schedule H for balances and earnings? Or do we need to break them down into the underlying assets (mostly bonds) for balances and earnings?

I have a client with a Master Trust that was dissolved as of 8/31/07. The plan year was a calendar year, and they filed their 1/1/06 - 12/31/06 5500 on time. What is their filing deadline for their 2007 5500? 1. The 5500 instructions indicate that the filing deadline is within 9 1/2 months of the end of the plan year. Would their plan year be 1/1/07 - 8/31/07, making their 9 1/2 month deadline June 15, 2008? Or would their plan year be 1/1/07 - 12/31/07, making their 9 1/2 month deadline October 15, 2008? 2. The 5500 instructions indicate that, for short plan years, the filing deadline is the end of the 7th month following the end of the short plan year. The instructions don't seem to differentiate between Master Trust and other filings for this purpose. This would make their filing deadline 3/31/08!! Also, could you please confirm that Master Trusts are not allowed to file for an extension of their filing deadline?

ADP Testing

How are Highly Compensated Employees determined in Multiemployer plans? For the ownership %'s, is it ownership with a single employer? For the dollar threshold, it is based on compensation earned from ALL employers within the multiemployer plan? Example #1: John Jones owns 100% of ABC Co. His son, Jake, is a member of a union that sponsors a multiemployer plan. Jake earned $50,000 for the 2004 calendar year, working all year for ABC Co. He clearly doesn't meet the dollar threshold. Would he be considered an HCE in the multiemployer plan due to attributed ownership? Example #2: Mike Smith is a member of a union that sponsors a multiemployer plan. He works for Company A for 5 months and makes $48,000. He works for Company B for 7 months and makes 60,000. Is his compensation combined for the year ($108,000) for HCE determination purposes?