CLE401kGuy Posted May 21, 2014 Posted May 21, 2014 Currently the TPA's plan document legal fees are being paid separately by plan sponsors - with some of these legal fees being paid by the plan (non-elective plan doc work) - so they are disclosed on 408b2, 404a5 disclosures... If a TPA is looking to provide this service for "free" - how is that handled for 408b2, 404a5 disclosures? My understanding is that firms cannot 'give away' services - but if there is no fee, how would that be communicated - are others putting "zero" fees into disclosures or would the TPA need to list under services for plan administration (which will maintain a base + per participant charge) the plan document services rolling up there... No free lunch!
BG5150 Posted May 21, 2014 Posted May 21, 2014 Would this work? If the TPA is performing other services, bundle the "legal fees" in one of the other services. So, instead of: Compliance Testing: $1,000 Legal Fees: $150/hr You have: Compliance Testing & Legal Fees: $1,000 QKA, QPA, CPC, ERPATwo wrongs don't make a right, but three rights make a left.
CLE401kGuy Posted May 21, 2014 Author Posted May 21, 2014 i agree with that... the boss though wants to say "We give you your document services free!" - That's slightly exagerrated but along the lines of the goal - i suggested adding the plan doc language to a fee that remains which I think better 'solves' what we need to do according to the regs... and thanks for the quick response
BG5150 Posted May 21, 2014 Posted May 21, 2014 How about this then: Annual Administration: $1,000 Plan Documents & Amendments: (Included in Annual Administration) Just curious: where does it say you can't do stuff for "free"? QKA, QPA, CPC, ERPATwo wrongs don't make a right, but three rights make a left.
Kevin C Posted May 23, 2014 Posted May 23, 2014 I thought service providers claiming "free" services were the main reason we have fee disclosure regulations.
John Feldt ERPA CPC QPA Posted May 23, 2014 Posted May 23, 2014 Anyone can disclose that their plan documents are provided for free, as long as: the documents are handled entirely and exclusively by volunteers who bring their own computers and provide for the software, provide for the costs for their own training and creditials, pay for any space that they are using with the employer, pay for any costs related to the materials and the shipping of the documents, including the costs for storing such documents, etc. etc. etc.
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