When are plans subject to ERISA and reporting on form 5500?

[Guest BBishop]

Are there any situations in which a 403(B) plan is not subject to ERISA if the employer makes contributions? We have a plan in which the employer makes contributions regardless of whether the employees make any voluntary withholdings.

We are also looking at Freezing the current plan and making the new plan a matching plan of employee contributions to encourage participation. Based on what we have researched, this would be subject to ERISA and 5500 reporting.

[Carol V. Calhoun]

The only situation in which a 403(B) plan with employer contributions (other than salary reduction contributions) would not be treated as subject to ERISA is if it is a governmental or church plan. This is true regardless of whether the employer contributions are a match for employee contributions.