ERISA guy

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Assume an unfunded welfare plan has gone above and below the 100-participant threshold over time and is currently under the threshold - so that it previously filed a 5500 but has not in a couple years. The Plan will terminate and pay all benefits this year (and had below 100 participants on 1/1/25). Does it need to file a final 5500 even though it's under the 100-participant threshold?

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For example, if a missed nonelective contribution for a participant should have been deposited on day 1, and the corrective contribution was deposited on day 100, earnings would of course be calculated from day 1 through day 100. What if the earnings contribution is not deposited until day 150? Must the earnings calculation be adjusted to also account for the additional 50 days it took to deposit the earnings contribution - or is the calculation only of earning from day 1 through 100 sufficient?

For example, if the employer didn't want to calculate and credit matching contributions until June of the following year (with CY PY), would that run afoul of 409A?

Is there a legal deadline by which employer contributions (such as matching contributions) must be credited to a participant's account under a nonqualified plan governed by 409A? One template I've seen provides a deadline for crediting of matching contributions of "as soon as practicable following the last day of the Plan Year to which the Matching Contribution relates and in no event later than the March 15 immediately following the Plan Year." Is March 15 just a random, reasonable date, or is it somehow tied to the short-term deferral rule (probably totally off base there)? Trying to understand the legal limits involved here. Thank you!

As we know, the correction rules for nonqualified plans differ depending on whether the affected employee is an insider or not. If an employee was an insider in the past as defined by IRS Notice 2008-113 by virtue of his status as an officer while he was employed, is he still considered an insider for these correction rules after termination of employment? Thank you.

It appears to actually be speaking to the "residence" itself. Taxpayer's trailer, placed on a lot in a trailer park, didn't qualify as a residence because it wasn't a fixture under the then applicable state (CA) law. Although it was connected to utility services provided by the park, it wasn't permanently attached to the land, i.e., there was no permanent or temporary foundation on which it rested. The trailer's wheels remained in place and supported it. To be a residence, it had to be somehow attached to, or embedded in, the soil (“affixed to the land”). TC Summary Opinion 2014-80.

The recordkeeper may be referring to this: (1) In general. Whether property is used by the taxpayer as the taxpayer's residence depends upon all the facts and circumstances. A property used by the taxpayer as the taxpayer's residence may include a houseboat, a house trailer, or the house or apartment that the taxpayer is entitled to occupy as a tenant-stockholder in a cooperative housing corporation (as those terms are defined in section 216(b)(1) and (2)). Property used by the taxpayer as the taxpayer's residence does not include personal property that is not a fixture under local law. Treas. Reg. § 1.121-1(b)(1).

An employee is the subject of a QMCSO with the employee's child as the alternate recipient. The employee is married to another employee (the step-parent). The parent/employee is enrolled as the spouse of the step-parent/employee. May the child be enrolled as a dependent in the family coverage of the step-parent/employee, or should the parent/employee be removed from the spouse's family coverage and enrolled as a participant in the employee's own right with the alternate recipient as a dependent of the parent/employee?

Does the successor plan rule in Treas. Reg. § 1.403(b)-10(a)(1) apply to a church 403(b) Plan that contains elective deferrals? I do not see anything exempting a church plan from being subject to that rule. Thank you.

Is there an election change event that would allow the employee who enrolled in VA benefits to drop employer coverage mid-year?

A wellness program imposes a surcharge on tobacco users who do not complete a tobacco cessation course. If a person completes the requirements to have the surcharge removed mid-year, could the surcharge that has already been paid during the current plan year be refunded? I'm thinking that would be an impermissible, retroactive election change. Prospectively, the surcharge could be removed and the participant's election automatically decreased assuming it's an insignificant change in cost. Any thoughts on the refund of the surcharge previously charged during the year? Thanks in advance.

A participant in a pure profit sharing plan is claiming that a direct rollover must be permitted at any time and for any reason regardless of whether the participant is otherwise eligible for a distribution (which the participant is not). The participant relies on Treas. Reg. § 1.401(a)(31)-1, Q/A-1. The rules I've reviewed do not explicitly say that a distribution must otherwise be available under the terms of the Plan. Anyone come across some authority to rely upon that an eligible rollover distribution is not permitted at any time and only if a distribution is otherwise available under the terms of the Plan? The direct rollover section of the Plan is not helpful.

The HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices must be tailored to include state laws that are more restrictive than HIPAA (see https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/faq/464/must-a-covered-entity-with-a-notice-revise-the-notice-every-time-it-changes/index.html). Is there a resource that puts out a good survey of those state laws? Practical Law does not appear to have have anything like that.