D Lewis

Our software (Ft. William) does not allow and will not save an entry if it has an "&" in it.

The OP said that they added SH in 2009 and then rescinded it. The OP said that prior to 2009, the plan was tested on a prior year basis. I think that means it was changed to current year 1/1/2009, and they must wait 5 years to change back to prior year.

Does the Plan document allow for forfeitures to be used to pay fees? If so, that may be an option. Otherwise, have the Safe Harbor contributions been made yet? Does the Plan document allow for forfeitures to be allocated to any source? If the Safe Harbor has not been completed yet, and the document allows it, use the forfeitures to reduce the Safe Harbor contribution.

Well my story is long, but I'll try to be brief. Many many years ago I had a Sunoco Visa Card - I didn't know it at the time but it was underwritten by BofA. They contacted me about purchases in Canada as being unusual, but didn't notice 6 straight days of max cash advances in California (I live in NJ). The story I was told, is that somebody called in with my info and convinced Sunoco/BofA that they were me - had new cards issued (that I never got of course) and changed the security info. Then whomever had my personal info and I had many years of bank accounts, credit cards and cell phone accounts being opened with my SSN. I Filed multiple police reports. None of it cost me any $, but it was a pain in the . . . . to keep fixing! The locks I would put on my credit reports would expire. Finally, the credit report companies made available a permanent lock, so after I did that, it has stopped happening. But now it's a pain if I legitimately want to establish a new account or credit card or take a loan since when the store or whomever checks my credit, it comes back blocked. I swore that I would never use BofA because of this, but then my bank was sold to BofA - so now my checking and savings are with them. It's been many years now since that, and I never bothered to change banks (too lazy) - but I haven't had any further trouble either. Not really sure that it's just BofA though.

I don't know if there is an official answer, but I can't see why they can't be done together. I know we did one that way last year. Either way, the supplemental safe harbor notice must be given.

What does the document say in it's definition of compensation? If it says compensation prior to entry date is excluded, then the SH contribution is based on the compensation earned after the entry date (11/1 in your example). If it says compensation prior to entry date is included, then the SH contribution is based on the full year's compensation.

Of course it's better to have distributions after the end of the year for this situation as K2retire said, but if the document does have immediate cash outs for a balance forward plan, I don't see why the amount of the distribution can't be the vested amount of the latest valuation, plus any current period deferrals and Safe Harbor contributions. No current period gains or losses. It requires a little extra work to find out from the employer the compensation to calculate the Safe Harbor, and to find out the deferral amount, but it's not that hard. And with a balance forward plan, it doesn't even matter if the employer has deposited the Safe Harbor yet. Of course one has to look to the document, but I think most are silent on this issue. I would be interested to hear if others think this is not allowed, as depending on the situation, we have done this. Of course profit sharing is a different story, and depends on the plan design. Most of ours have 1,000 hours - last day for PS, so unless there is a testing problem, the terminated participant is not getting that piece. If they do get a PS, then that part would require a 2nd distribution (unless it is a fixed required pro rata ps).

I agree with you - the answer key is wrong IMO Total Excess Contributions are 9,000 HCE 1 = 4,200 HCE 2 = 4,000 HCE 3 = 800 Refunds: HCE 1 = 7,000 HCE 2 = 2,000 "B", "II Only" is the correct answer.

What about a plan that terminated in 2009 and the assets were distributed 12/7/2009? We didn't worry about filing before 12/31/2009 to avoid having to file electronically because it's an EZ. We don't want to file a SF - can we file now using the 2008 EZ since the short plan year ended 12/7/2009? Or must we wait until this summer to file a 2009 EZ? Thanks

You would also indicate the change with the Characteristic codes in line 8a. Money Purchase plan would have been reported as 2C, a 401(k) profit sharing plan would use 2E, 2J, possibly 2A and others. I'm not sure if for 2009 you would report both - I would have to look into that

I am also interested in this question as I'm part of the "we" in "are we headed in the right direction". Does anybody have any thoughts on this? Thanks

I don't know much about laws, but if this participant works for a law firm, should not it be explored what remedies there are to force the landlord to make the repairs? Aren't they required to do so if it is a health issue? Can't a renter also legitimately break the lease under such circumstance? Short of going with any of that, if this participant used her regular income and savings to make the repairs, she would need a hardship to prevent eviction since she would not have the money to pay the rent. Might have to get a loan outside of the plan first since the amount to make repairs is most likely more than curent income. Maybe someone else can comment if that is a viable approach.