Good morning,
I have a similar question, a client had a SIMPLE plan with himself and just one other employee as participants which was opened in 2018 with Recordkeeper X. in 2019, he decided to move the SIMPLE to Recordkeeper Y so he told Recordkeeper Y to set up a new SIMPLE that would be ready to receive the rollovers. Howe/er, the client already had a SEP account with Recordkeeper Y. As you guessed, Recordkeeper Y placed the SIMPLE rollovers from Recordkeeper X into the SEP account instead of a newly established SIMPLE account (this being in 2019, its less than the 2 year rollover limit). The client only just found out about this issue now as he trusted Recordkeeper Y was doing things correctly and has been maxing out his contributions to the SEP (supposed to be SIMPLE) for 2020. I understand that the IRA holders can request a rollover back into a new SIMPLE account (which Recordkeeper Y should pay earnings on) and self-certify as to the mistake to avoid any penalties but what about the status of his original SEP and current/former SIMPLE plans; is this a significant operational failure? Does he as owner have any duty under EPCRS/VCP to correct the failures or should he just get a letter from Recordkeeper Y that they messed up acknowledging liability and keep it on record in case of audit?