New Safe Harbor Plan and Control Groups

[coleboy]

I am in the process of setting up a new safe harbor 401k plan for a company when I find out that there are 3 other companies entirely owned by the same persons.

Do the other companies have to be included in the plan? That is, do they have to be offered the opportunity to enroll into the plan as well?

Can just the one company have a plan and the other 3 not? Or can they have 4 separate plans?

Sorry for the many questions, I am just getting back into pension adminstration after a 2 year lay off.

[K2retire]

If you're using a Standardized Prototype, all of the related companies must be included. If you're using another type of document you have more flexibility. However, regardless of which companies are or are not included, they must be able to pass testing on a combined basis.

[Tom Poje]

and by testing it is 'coverage' that is being referred to, not nondiscrimination.