Separate plans for each company in controlled group?

[Guest PLHart]

Controlled group. Each company sponsors its own plan. NHCE/HCE ratio of each company is similar therefore each plan passes coverage on its own when tested with the entire controlled group. In this situation can each plan can now run all other required non-discrimination tests just among its own employees? Or do we still have to include all controlled group EEs for this as well?

[Tom Poje]

it is not a matter of 'can each now run nondiscrim on its own'

its a matter of 'each company has to run nondiscrim on its own'

(all employees of the other companies who have met that plan's eligibility treated as includeable and not benefiting. also, you can not exclude terminees with less than 500 hours from the other companies since they were never participants)

[Mike Preston]

For 401(k) tests, you only use the information from the plan in question. For all other tests, you include the other people in the numerators and denominators when counting, you do not include any of the benefits in the other plans except when running the average benefits test.