Felicia

Technically these types of IRAs are ERISA plans. But, what provisions of ERISA are they subject to? They are not subject to most of the reporting and disclosure requirements (summary plan descriptions are required but no annual reports such as 5500s); they are not subject to the funding provisions; and they are not subject to the participation and vesting provisions.

I am somewhat familiar with SEC rules as they relate to employee benefits. Therefore, any guidance you can provide would be helpful. SEC 10b-10(b) permits quarterly statements for investment company plans. One of the requirements under the definition of an investment company plan is to "advise each customer in the group if a payment is not received from the designated person on behalf of the group within 10 days of a date certain specified in the arrangement for delivery of that payment by the designated person and thereafter to send to each such customer the writen notification described in paragraph (a) for the next three succeeding payments." Under 403(b) plans there is no date certain specified. There is some IRS and DOL guidance on when contributions should be made, but no date certain. The date seems to depend on the respective employers/TPA. Does this mean that the 10-day notification rule does not apply to 403(b) arrangements? If it does apply, does this notice need to be sent by the vendor to participants who had been notified by their employers that future contributions will not be made to that vendor? If a participant voluntarily changes vendors for future contributions, is he/she still a customer and therefore required to receive notice that the vendor did not receive contributions for him/her? I did see some old (pre-final 403(b) regulations) no-action letters from the SEC. Could not find anything recent. In the prior requests vendors proposed getting around the 10 day rule by putting legends on their statements. This approach was approved by the SEC. But, I have not been able to find those legends on recent statements. What, if anything, has changed so that they are no longer required? Thanking you in advance for your thoughts.

A participant recieves a lump sum payment from a qualified plan and rolls it over to an IRA. Participant is advised that he received too much money. Attorney for the plan notifies the IRA provider of the overpayment and requests its return. Is the IRA provider obligated to return it? Does the provider need the participant's approval to return the overpayment?

What withholding rules, if any, apply to distributions from designated Roth 401(k) and 403(b) accounts if the distribution is an eligible rollover distribution but is not a qualified Roth distribution?

Yes it does. Thanks so much.

For purposes of making contributions, does compensation for SIMPLE IRAs, SEPs and SARSEPs include differential pay under the HEART Act? If so, is it elective or mandatory? Is differential pay included in Compensation for purposes of determining the limits such as 25% of Compensation?

Can employer and employee contributions be invested together or must they be invested separately? That is, is there a need to track how much of a contribution is employee money and how much is employer money? If so, who is responsible for the tracking? the employer? participant? vendor?

Since the IRS published an updated Form 5305-EA in October 2010, we are reviewing our current booklet. Has anyone seen any notices regarding changes to the MAGI limits for contribution eligibility for 2011? If so, please advise where they can be found. Thanks.

Sunset provisions were extended through December 31, 2012 under the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 signed into law on December 17, 2010.

Does the recipient vendor in a ROTH contract exchange need to know when the participant first made ROTH contributions to the transferring vendor? the cost basis?

Hi, In the past, I seem to recall that the IRS allowed an employer could use the IRS model form only if it did not maitain any other retirement plan and had not maintained a defined benefit plan at any time in the past. I cannot find this last requirement regarding defined benefit plans in the 5305-SEP instructions or elsewhere. Is it still true? If so, where would I find it. Thanks for your help.

I understand that some states require that if a participant's beneficiary is his/her spouse, that designation is automatically revoked upon divorce. Would appreciate your sharing how you handle this operationally. Thanks.

Hi, Am relatively new to church plans. From what I've read so far, I believe that non-electing church plans do not need to have a plan document unless they are including 403(b)(9) provisions in their operations? Is this correct? Secondly, since non-electing church plans are exempt from ERISA, plan sponsors can perform discretionary functions such as approving loans, determining eligibility for hardships, etc. without subjecting the plans to ERISA. Is that correct? Lastly, if plan documents are not required, what do you recommend we receive so that we'll know the operative provisions of the "program', e.g., if ROTH and/ or employer contributions are permiitted? Thanks for your input.

Can the amount of the hardship required to satisfy the financial need include administrative fees charged by an administrator or vendor?

Are there any restrictions on assets that may be used for an unforeseeable emergency? That is, can earnings on employee deferrals, employer contributions and earnings thereon be used for this type of distribution?