DOL Audit

[mming]

A DB plan is undergoing an IRS audit for which the sponsor has assigned her longtime CPA to be the POA. We administer the plan and are working closely with the POA and have provided all of the items initially requested by the auditor. The auditor has since requested additional copies of prior year paperwork and although there's still ample time to provide this additional info, a DOL rep has contacted the POA to inform her that they will be requesting in writing copies of various plan items. The DOL rep also said that they will be calling to interview the sponsor, the TPA, and anyone else involved with the plan, and said that a conference call will not be acceptable - every conversation has to be a 1 on 1. I suppose anyone who is contacted should ask that any info requests be made in writing rather than answering questions on the phone. Has anyone ever had this type of experience?

Since it's been quite a while since our last DOL audit, we're wondering whether this is how the DOL now conducts inquiries or whether they're overstepping their bounds. It's hard not to think this is overkill since the IRS hasn't yet finished its audit and the DOL is taking such a broad approach - is there anything that can be done to limit their scope, or at least establish a POA situation where they contact only one person? If the IRS has found a problem would they involve the DOL before sending out correspondence announcing their conclusion? All help is greatly appreciated.

[K2retire]

The DOL investigators that I've encountered were typically delighted by the option of NOT meeting face to face. We typically respond via a secure web site. This often allows them to get what they want without ever meeting with the plan sponsor face to face.

[Griswold]

In my experience if you're already undergoing an IRS audit, the DOL won't want to waste their resources and also pursue an investigation. If you let the DOL know that you're already working with the IRS, they might back off.

[david rigby]

Unless the CPA is also an attorney, it's time to get a real attorney involved.

[rcline46]

My last face to face with the DOL they sent two people and they tried a 'good cop, bad cop' routine. They tried every trick in the book to get me to say something wrong. The 'bad cop' ended up terribly frustrated.

So yes, get an attorney. This is an investigation and not an audit.

[mming]

Thank you all for your responses and for sharing your experiences.

[Earl]

Based upon my experiences with the DOL I support the opinion of rcline46.

The DOL folks are comically undertrained, uninformed etc. but with potentially frightening power.