GBurns

I find it difficult to offer a comment without knowing what the HDHP/HSA will cost, so as to understand why the employees would want to opt back in. Why would the employer be offering this HDHP/HSA without having first quantified his cost? The cart seems to be before the horse. You do not make a committment before getting the details. In any case the cost of regular coverage was always more than the opt-out, yet the employer offered it. The cost of the HDHP/HSA is also more than the opt-out. So what is the difference? Is the employer cost of the HDHP/HSA greater or lesser than the regular plans? And yes the HDHP plan design needs a breakpoint to be calculated. Of course if the HDHP is restrictive, has very high deductibles etc, has limited providers and benefits caps etc etc byitself it could be unattractive to the employees, anyhow.

Who asked such a question? JDuns, Is this what you meant? Health benefits rather than HSA???

Why would there be an excise tax? The post was about "booking". Why would there be a loss of deduction? All the entries are in the same accounting period. Why would there be any underpayment of tax ? Which tax and why? Why under payment to PBGC? The payment for that period would have included both dates and so would not show nor should the date really matter. Why would there be late filing?

I should have asked what you mean by "medicare enrolled (in an FSA, HRA or cash)." ? What does Medicare enrollment have to do with FSA, HRA or cash? If a person is Medicare enrolled they are not eligible for an HSA, regardless of ADEA. ADEA would not be applicable. As far as I know Medicare Secondary payer rules do not apply to FSA, HRA or HSAs. There is no COB with plans of this nature.

When were the funds available to the Pension Plan? What caused the error? There would be a difference (to a nit picker) depending on whether the error was just a transcription type error, a wrong account number or it was some other sort of error. In any case, using the 9/17 would be more appropriate unless it was the general thought that the money had gone to the PS and generally thought that it was available. In that case you are only correcting a simple posting error. For a Scedule B, does it really matter, SOX or no SOX? It was in the same accounting cycle for the same amount for the same purpose.

wmyer, What does the Plan Document etc say? Why would you say that "there's no income tax filing deadline" ? Doesn't the 415 limits pointed out by mbozek apply to this plan? Even a tax exempt organization has a filing form e.g 990 and a filing deadline. Felicia, I also do not understand how contributions can be sent and yet not received.

I cannot beleive that the vast majority of "missing participants" would not be found using the methods outlined in the FAB. By the way, for some reason, the USPS address correction service was not listed in the FAB. It would be much more effective than Certified Mail by itself. Also, there are reportedly, some very good private search services that are available. I would have thought that it would be the more moral and ethical thing to use any and all means necessary to locate these "missing participants" especially if the costs can be charged to them, rather than forfeiting that which the participant earned and contributed. I cannot find it within me to so casually be willing to waste people's hard earned money. Thinking that escheat to the state is the only eventual result seems narrow minded ans short sighted. Even if in NJ IRA funds escheat 3 years "after distribution" it appears that such would still be a long way off because it is not the opening of the IRA account that starts the tolling for escheat but the "after distribution" FROM the IRA. How long this whole process would be is speculative but it still is a long time, and then before escheat notices etc are given.

No and I cannot see where either "the ADEA or Medicare Secondary Payer rules" could be applicable. "Comparable contributions" for HSAs are related to IRC 4980G and E. Particular guidance is provided in Notice 2004-50, Q&A -46 and 47. An individual with Medicare entitlement (not eligibility) is not HSA eligible. I think this was Q&A 2. Did the person who made the statement, also give you any cites etc to support their position?

Why do you feel that you are knowledgeable enough to have already made the decision that a Roth IRA would be better for you? Shouldn't any such decision and calculations etc have waited until you raised your knowledge level? If you are in your own words "under educated" it concerns me more that you have made firm decisions before the education. Also, What is it for which you are seeking "verification"?

PORTE Did the IRS tell you why they had a watch list? Have you seen and read any of these DLs? What is covered? Yes, the DL might say that you can invest in employer stock, but I bet it does not say who can nor give guidance for situations where the investor is also the employer or sole shareholder of the employer/sponsor etc. The devil is always in the details and Determination Letters do not go into nor approve the details of design and operation..

I saw the humor but someone else saw it differently so I wondered if I had read wrong. Their take was that you were saying that any advice given on Forums such as this was free therefore cost nothing therefore worth nothing. The problem with the original post is that it exposes a situation that is very common. A few groups have made feeble attempts at correcting the situation but in general 403(b) participants get the short end and do not even realize it but worse will not understand even when it is explained to them. It matters not whether it is an annuity or a mutual fund that is involved. Shifting from 1 to the other might only mean changing from bad to bad, in most cases. The choices of investment, the fees, the expenses, the surrender charges etc etc are all horrendous when taken in total per "account". Comments such as "I have a 401k with another company and for some reason it is dong better" are very often without basis. "doing better" than what? A bad 403(b)? Annuity or mutual fund? The key in the quote is "for some reason". Why not know what the reason is before deciding whether it is better or worse? There has recently been a lot of press coverage showing how difficult it is to find out what fees and expenses etc are being charged or paid in 401(k) plans. This makes evaluation and comparison even more difficult. RE: "I am almost positive you can't roll a 403B to a 401K. If I could I would do that." Try not to guess, it is easy to look up. A number of posts gave reasons why you might be able to depending on your plan provisions etc.

So the question remains.. When was his last day? pax asked : - was the employee's last day paid on 8/30 or 8/31? - what does the plan say? This one tends to be very important. If he was paid for 8/31 then he was employed on 8/31. If he has been paid for untaken vacation, or has untaken accrued vacation days, then there is still, as pax also asked: - past practice of the employer, - written policies of the employer

Note that the SBA (at least not in the Newsletter link provided) did not say why ERISA covered ERSOPs nor in what respect it did. We also do not know what sort of ERSOP they were referring to. The accepting of ERSOPs for a particular, or even any, purpose by the SBA has no bearing on its acceptance by the IRS etc. What does the IRS have to say? What is in the IRC etc? What has the DoL said about ERSOPs and about Prohibited Transactions? The fact that an item is being promoted by any number of websites etc does not make it viable, compliant or anything else but "being promoted". I noted that according to the post by oxford46105, the "Plan" will be submitted to the IRS for a Determination Letter. Has anyone yet received a favorable DT? Can someone explain why a DT rather than a PLR? And if a DT is issuable for an ERSOP what would it cover? If it is like a Qualified Plan DT, isn't there a need for a PLR in this case?

Demosthenes I do not understand "Free advice, worth every penny. Run, do not walk, to the nearest exit." Was there something wrong in the various posts? What, Why?

This is a very common situation. For example, the Office Manager (or any other employee) of an LLC, creates an S-Corp of which they are the sole shareholder. This S Corp secures orders or a contract from the LLC to supply an item or service that the LLC needs, Gift Baskets, Janitorial service, pest control spraying, car wash, office supplies, catering etc etc. The LLC is the only client that the S Corp has and These orders or contracts are the sole source of revenue. The revenue generates a profit of $4,000 per year which the OM (or other LLC employee) does not need for current expenses and desires to use the $4,000 to fund a retirement plan. The LLC might or might not also have a retirement plan. Can the S Corp set up a plan with the sole shareholder as the only participant? If not, can the sole shareholder use this K1 income to fund any sort of retirement plan? What sort and what restrictions etc?

If the idiot employee was monthly paid salaried exempt and did not show up for work on the last day of the month because of death, Are you saying that on that last day (on which the employee was absent) no employee-employer relationship exists? Better check your payroll dept for what the law says about docking a salaried exempt employee who does not show. So if this employer provided Group Term Life coverage to all employees, the insurance company would not have to pay the death benefit claim because the now dead person was no longer employed?

I am more aware of the DoL working with the Administrators for the Plan Sponsor, to work out an acceptable plan. However, they do not seem to like to work with many "newbies", it takes too much time and effort to explain the requirements etc. What do you mean "divert federal money from the employees who are supposed to receive it"? Which federal money is this that the employees are supposed to get? It is the accepting of a DBRA/SCA contract that obligates "the plan sponsor to provide the minimum fringe benefit levels required by the DBA or SCA" NOT any Plan Document or SPD.

I think that the whole thing depends on whether these are paid vacation days or not unless there is some accepted policy that provides that vacation, paid or not are still days of employment. If it is paid vacation or still days of employmant he should be entitled to whatever it is that he would have been entitled to if he had been on the premises. He is still on the "job" and still "employed". By the way, are you sure that payment of the 15th is for that month, in other words the employees are partially paid in advance?? How do you calculate OT? When do you pay OT? what do you usually do to employees who leave after the 15th and before the end of the month?

Hey, please keep the discussion on-line. Inquiring minds need to know. Don, Which item are you not mistaken on and have court cases to support your position? The pre-emption, the VEBA issue or both? The 10th Amendment is really irrelevant in the initial decision on merits of the issues, anyhow, so the fact that no one mentioned it before is not worth consideration at this time.

What is the difficulty why Company B has not adopted its own plan? What is the difficulty why any account balances were not transferred either to a Company B plan or out of Company A's plan, anyhow? As AshleyL asked " What have they been doing with the contributions..?" You stated that "They have been making premium only payments to the health provider". Does that mean that there is other money, such as a health FSA etc? If there is shouldn't that money be with the TPA? What has happened with employee reimbursement claims? I am also wondering about these "premium only payments". If these premiums are entirely employer paid and there is no employee contribution for health insurance, it raises the question of How come Company A is paying premium for persons who are not their employees oe retirees? If there is an employee portion, why is Company B sending payroll deductions to Company A? If Company B is sending payroll deductions, is any of this premium for any insurer other than the "health provider"? If so, what has happened to those policies since they have not been paid? Also, is the insurance company aware that both the employee group and covered employers has changed dramatically?

What do you mean "from that company"? Isn't the 403(b) money invested in an account or annuity that you chose? If it has not earned anything in that account that you chose, why do you think that it will earn money just because you change the type of plan? The type of plan is just, for the purposes of this discussion, a name. Regardless of the name of the plan, whether 401(b), 401(k) or whatever, you will still have to choose something to invest the money in. If you could not choose effectively in the 403(b), then chances are that you might not either in a 401(k) or otherwise. UNLESS, you were in the very unlikely situation of not having any real choices within that 403(b). If you had choices, then it was not the 403(b) at fault and there will be no difference in any other plan by any other name. It might just be that you need to change whatever it is that the 403(b) money is invested in rather than trying to transfer or rollover to a plan with a different name. Assuming that this is a 403(b) account since there would be a different scenario if it is an annuity where an exchange (90-24, I think) might be considered taking into account any surrender charges etc etc.

banality, See how the chip and the "attitude" eventually creates the problem.

I thought that plan benefits to HCEs and owners were dependent on the participation level of the Non-HCEs. If that is so raising the compensation level of the HCEs should have no effect on the allocation of plan benefits to non-HCEs and if the non-HCEs either do not participate sufficiently or get sufficient allocation, there are limits on what the HCEs can get, if anything. Of course this applies mainly to qualified plans and an Executive Bonus Plan might not necessarily be a QP, but the phrase "reduce allocations to non-HCEs" implies reference to a QP. Using S corp status to avoid IRS challenge seems very ineffective. I thought that there was a lot of case law on this. Jimmy, The phrase "" without the corporation to leverage the tax" is applicable where there is a pass through entity such as a S Corp. The S Corp itself pays no corporate taxes, the profit/loss flows through via a K1 to the owners who report the profit/loss on their individual 1040s and pay any taxes due. In the case of a C Corp there is the difference between the corporations tax rate vs the shareholders tax rate plus the inherent "double taxation" of C Corp profit (once as Corporate profit and then again as shareholder dividends) . It makes sense to transfer money to the entity that has the lower effective tax rate, hence "leverage the tax".

Since someone brought up the issue of PEOs and aggregation of groups under state law, this article should be of interest: http://users.erols.com/spba/p0000035.html Bear in mind that even if a plan is filed in another state, whether MEWA or not, many states have laws regulating what can be sold to residents of that state and by whom. This is mentioned near the end of the article.

Unfortunately it seems that a vast number of PDs provide no guidance. I once thought that most PDs were fairly good, then a few years ago MHM, in a news release, stated that over 90% of the plans that they take over had non-compliant and deficient PDS, and additionally the PDS caused operational failures etc. Since then I kept an eye out, and I have to agree with them. I do not think that I have seen more than a few acceptable PDs in the last 100+ that I have looked at. Bear in mind that the PD cannot preempt the law, IRS guidance or case law.