Separate Payment

[Guest meeh3704]

Under T.R. 1.409A-2(b)(2), payment means each separately identified amount to which a service provider is entitled to payment under a plan on a determinable date, and includes amounts applied for the benefit of the service provider. An amount is separately identified only if the amount may be objectively determined under a nondiscretionary formula.

It's the latter part, objectively determined under a nondiscretionary formula, that I am struggling with. We have two linked plans: 1) DB plan; and 2) SERP. If an employee is eligible for unreduced benefits and begins taking payments under the DB plan before the SERP commencement Date, then the employee receives a one time lump-sum make-up payment to be paid on the SERP commencement date. If an employee is eligible for the make-up payment, the employee receives the make-up payment and the SERP benefit, but if an employee is not eligible for such payment, the employee receives only the SERP annuity benefit.

The make-up payment does not pull any money away from the annuity; rather, it is a separate lump sum payment. I am trying to determine whether the make-up payment is a separate payment. The issue is whether it is objectively determined under a nondiscretionary formula.