Trustee Expense Policy

[Guest ooota]

Can anyone point me to the Regs that govern the reimbursement of expenses to trustees or other fiduciaries? Are per diems permitted? Are there any monetary limits to reimbursement?

The plan is a multiemployer plan, does this make a difference to the amount of and type of reimbursement permitted?

Thank you in advance for your help.

[KJohnson]

2550.408c-2 of the DOL regs. A Per-diem is not allowed in the sense that a trustee can "pocket" what he or she does not spend.

An advance is allowed as long as the amount of the advance is reasonable and there is an accounting when the trustee returns from his or her trip on plan business.

I would think that at least one trustee of the plan belongs to the International Foundation of Employee Benefits. (After all the expenses in question are often assoicated with attending one or more of their conferences). I think they have some sample materials on trustee expense policies. I haven't been to one of their conferences in years, but they used to do a good job of scaring trustees on this issue.

[mal]

I don't have the cite for the regs in front of me, but they are common sense. Expenses must be reasonable and necessary. The advance must be based on an estimate of the true costs to be incurred by the Trustee. When reviewed by the DOL, it seems that "reasonable" is in the eye of the beholder. We had a Trustee who was forced to return 1/2 of a $45 dollar dinner, because it included a show. The DOL felt this was entertainment and not a proper expense. It didn't help to point out that $45 was an average price to pay for dinner alone in the locale of the conference.

You can get an expense voucher form from the International Foundation...www.ifebp.org. Look under the multiemployer section.

[Guest ooota]

Are the trustees required per the Regs to attach bills or receipts to their expense voucher? If receipts are not required per the Regs., should receipts be attached to the voucher anyway?

Thanks, again.

[Harwood]

Wouldn't we be talking about the normal recordkeeping requirements for business expenses, as outlined in IRS Publication 463 ""Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses"?

http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p463.pdf

[KJohnson]

I think that would be, at a minimum, the kind of documentation that you would need to maintain. I frankly am not sure whether DOL would agree with the $75 "de minimus" amounts for which no receipts are required.

[Guest Keith N]

You may want to check out "Shaver v. Operating Engineers Local 428 Pension Trust Fund (CA-9)". This case was summarized in the CCH Pension Plan Guide on July 7, 2003. A participant and a beneficiary of a multiemployer pension plan both sought information on how the expenses listed in the plan's form 5500 had been incurred.

The court ruled that the Trustees had "a fiduciary duty to maintain sufficient records to verify plan expenses as reported on the fund's Form 5500 filings, even though there was no statutory duty to furnish the information to participants"

[david rigby]

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinion...pdf?openelement