Signing Form 5500 - just curious!

[Brenda Wren]

Working on a takeover case and couldn't figure out which officer at the company had been signing the 5500 for the last 3 years......turns out it was the former TPA! Apparently, the practice at that firm was to have the client sign a POA (Form 2848) at the time the Annual Request letter goes out. I've never seen that practice before and just wondering if this creates a huge potential liability for the TPA. Anyone ever seen this before?

[JanetM]

No I haven't seen that before. Think the TPA could have liability if the ER sent incorrect or fraudulent data.

[Blinky the 3-eyed Fish]

I have seen it before. I have also seen where the TPA lists themselves as plan administrator and signs on that line. I have also seen where they list the plan adminstrator the same as the employer (like it is 99.9% of the time) but the TPA still signs on the plan adminstrator line.

In each case I shake my head.

[John Feldt ERPA CPC QPA]

Oh yeah, well we . . . (okay, just kidding on the one upmanship)

We've seen some plans where the owner of the TPA firm lists their own name as one of the Trustees in the plan document and they sign the Schedule P as the trustee! Eye popping and head shaking!