Christine Roberts

If a plan allows a dependent care election change based on the participant's relocation of residence (where this is only a legitimate change in family status for purposes of changing health/accident/life insurance) are the only consequences to the particpant e.g., loss of income exclusion) or are there potential plan-wide consequences? I thought that only violation of nondiscrimination rules conduct could disqualify the entire plan. In this particular instance the relocation is only by a few blocks and does not impact availability of dependent care.

Can an employer that maintains a non-ERISA 403(B) arrangement actually prohibit a certain annuity provider from having access to its employees? The employer was "burned" with this company before and is telling employees that they cannot maintain annuitys with the company.

Can a plan trustee limit successor alternate payees (who are named in the QDRO as being entitled to receive benefits if the alternate payee dies before they are fully distributed) to the dependent children of the plan participant?

If a plan allows a dependent care election change based on the participant's relocation of residence (where this is only a legitimate change in family status for purposes of changing health/accident/life insurance) are the only consequences to the particpant e.g., loss of income exclusion) or are there potential plan-wide consequences? I thought that only violation of nondiscrimination rules conduct could disqualify the entire plan. In this particular instance the relocation is only by a few blocks and does not impact availability of dependent care.

Is disqualification of an entire plan the result if a plan sponsor allows an election change due to something that is definitely not a "change in family status," or would the consequences simply be inclusion of the deferred amounts in the affected participant's income?

You are right, if it is rolloverable it should be recontributable - why is it that William Safire has overlooked ERISA neologisms (sp?) for so long?? Thanks!

Can a withdrawal made at age 59 1/2 (no hardship) be repaid to the plan if the participant changes his or her mind? I assume that rollover to an IRA is an option, as discussed in Notice 99-5.

An employer would like to establish a nonqualified deferred comp. plan for an executive, with a 10% of annual comp. deferral. However the employer would like to allow for an additional deferral of a "bonus" in the first year of the plan, in recognition of the executive's prior service to the company. Provided that the deferral election is in place prior to receipt of the bonus and the bonus is subject to the withdrawal conditions that apply to regular deferrals (i.e., term. of employment, death, disability, etc.) does this pose a problem? ------------------

You are right re: plan doc. requirement - the regs. you cite applicable to self-insured arrangements trump the general rule contained in Reg. 1.105-5(a), not requiring a document in order to exclude employer-provided medical benefits from taxable income. ------------------

Employer that has maintained a 105(h) plan for over six years without a plan document now wants to adopt a plan document - need the plan document be effective as of inception of informal plan, or can it just be effective going forward (due to fact that 105 does not require written plan document).

I hope you have found one already - I know of two model documents available in RIA publications and BNA. Let me know if you still need one.

Is it permissible to name a Roth IRA as a limited partner in a real estate limited partnership where no capital contribution is required?

A member of a professional corporation signed a one-time, irrevocable waiver of participation in the corporation's money purchase pension plan. He had previously participated in the plan for several years. The member then terminated employment and was rehired a year later. He signed an additional opt-out form upon completion of the eligibility waiting period. However, he "revoked" his irrevocable waiver and entered the plan shortly afterward. The plan is now under IRS audit, and the agent has said that minimum funding deficiencies may apply. Is there a way to proceed so as to minimize potential penalties?

A member of a professional corporation signed a one-time, irrevocable waiver of participation in the corporation's money purchase pension plan. He had previously participated in the plan for several years. The member then terminated employment and was rehired a year later. He signed an additional opt-out form upon completion of the eligibility waiting period. However, he "revoked" his irrevocable waiver and entered the plan shortly afterward. The plan is now under IRS audit, and the agent has said that minimum funding deficiencies may apply. Is there a way to proceed so as to minimize potential penalties?

I am trying to locate recent articles discussing this topic - any referrals would be appreciated.

Can anyone direct me to a fairly recent article (e.g., CCH, BNA, RIA, ASPA) on responding to an IRS audit of a qualified plan? Any other recommended resources? Thanks.

Is there any web link to the text of the reconstructive surgery provisions? I am wondering if the language re: prosthetics and lymphedemas are part of the legislation, or particular to the plan for which the notice was drafted.

A church-affiliated elementary school currently offers school employees a tuition reduction program under IRC Sec. 117(d), where children of school employees can attend the school for reduced tuition. The school wants to offer a comparable benefit to church employees. I believe that Section 117(d) is inapplicable without an employer-employee relationship but was wondering if there are any special interpretations of this requirement due to the church affiliation, or any other way to provide the tuition benefit to the church employees on a tax-free or tax-deferred basis.

A privately held corporation that is winding up its operations wishes to compensate certain executives with stock in a separate, privately held corporation. The executives may ultimately be working for the separate corporation. Are there any ways to plan the gifts of stock so as to defer taxes?

Seeking information on coordination of vacation trading in flex plan (which prohibits carryover of unused vacation time from year to year), with state labor laws such as California's which prohibit "use it or lose it" policy regarding vacation time.

Employer closed out a 403(B) plan, with transfers to individual annuities. Certain transfers were incorrect (too small) for certain participants, due to a clerical error. Employer now wants to make these people whole and was planning on issuing checks and reporting via 1099-R, however checks would be drawn on general account of employer, not on any tax-qualified source. Is there any way to make the corrections to a tax-qualified vehicle for these persons (403(B)/IRA)? The insurance company that maintained the group annuity does not hold any accounts for these individuals. Any comments or ideas are suggested.

Tuition reduction plans under Code section 117(d) refer to employees of organizations under Code section 170(B)(1)(A)(ii)[educational orgs.] Code Sec. 117(d) does not refer to Code section 170(B)(1)(A)(i)[ a church or a convention or association of churches]. A church-affiliated school would like to sponsor a tuition reimbursement plan under section 117(d) - will this have the intended tax effect (exclusion of amount of tuition reimbursement from employees' income)?