Having a brain cramp today. I have a plan that has 3 month wait, entry is date of event. Cross-tested 3% SH plan. Do I have to give the otherwise excludable folks the gateway if I am testing them separately? GW will be 5%.

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Maybe I'm missing something - can a 403(b) plan allow a certain class of employees to defer, but exclude them from the safe harbor match? I didn't think so...

The son of a retiree called in to our corporate office and explained the following situation. His father is drawing social security as well as the company pension. He is applying for certain Medicaid programs that have limits to monthly income. When the retiree combines social security plus pension, he is over the limit for the medicaid program he wants to apply for. The retiree determined that the medicaid benefits are more important than the amount of his monthly pension. Is it possible to refuse/stop/suspend pension payments? Is it different based on each plan document? Are there overall rules governing this? I reached out to the actuaries we use and they said from their research, it is impossible for him to discontinue receiving the pension payments.

Company A purchases Company B in a stock purchase. Company A sponsors a non safe harbor plan, Company B sponsors a safe harbor 3% non elective (both calendar year plans). Purchase transaction has closed and Company B did not terminate its plan beforehand. I have reviewed Notice 2016-16 and understand there is limited guidance on mergers when safe harbor plans are involved. However, I have a bit of a twist: 1.401(k)-3(g) and 1.401(m)-3(h) provide guidance on a suspension of a safe harbor contribution mid year. Let's say Company B's plan complies with all these requirements to remove the 3% safe harbor mid year. I don't believe they can be merged mid year because Company B's plan needs to be tested for the entire plan year (1.401(k)-3(g)(ii)E and 1.401(m)-3(h)(ii)E). Can the plans merge mid year after the removal of the safe harbor contribution? Could they be merged but then tested in separate groups? Thank you

LLC taxed as Partnership, has 2 owners in active management. The 3rd owner is not active and not deferring. I want to include him in testing because his zero will help. Is it correct to include him in testing?

As title suggests, I have a one-person 401(k) Plan that is closing effective 12/31/18. We are, of course, getting trailing dividends and interest well into January 2019. Those div/int are about $1100 out of a 1.9MM plan. Should I: 1) File a 2018 1099-R with the grand total of distribution (once all those div/int have posted, even though those dollars don't technically leave 401(k) Plan until Jan 2019)? Or , 2) File a 2018 1099-R for the total rolled out as of 12/31 and then don't file another 1099-R for 2019 (because those div/int amounts are so de minimus)? Or, 3) File a 2018 1099-R for the total rolled out as of 12/31 and then a 2nd one for 2019 for those trailing div/int? Then, the follow-up related question is about a Final 5500! I do not want my client to have to pay me to complete a 2019 5500 just to report the distribution of those pesky dividends & interest! The amounts are SOOOO low, relatively speaking. If I file a Final 5500 for 2018, I should show the distributed amount as the same amount shown on the 2018 1099-R, right? Sorry this is so long. I searched for the answer before posting this, but cannot find anything relevant (maybe I'm not great at searching). Thanks so much for anyone's help.

What does everyone thing of the following idea? Would it work? A lot of client's are in the enviable position of not needing the income from the RMDs. Therefore they are continually looking for ways to defer or reduce minimum distributions. Let's say a client, age 73, retires from his company in 2019 Prior to rolling the assets to an IRA he takes his 2019 401k RMD. He wont be subject to an IRA RMD until 2020. Later in 2019, he sets up his own business (consulting, Uber Driver, app developer, etc) and establishes a one-person 401k and subsequently rolls his IRA in the newly established 401(k). It would appear to me that the owner (even though they own more than 5% of the business) would not be subject to RMDs until they separate from service I believe this to be true due to section 401(a)(9)(C)(i)(l) "in the case of an employer is a 5% owner with respect the plan year ending in the calendar year in which the employee attains age 70 1/2...." In other words it seems language does not require for an ownership test each year Thoughts?

I know the IRS does not allow participants to change their election amounts mid-year (absent a qualifying event). I'm thinking it should be OK to switch brokers, however, as long as the the election amount does not change. The biggest obstacle would presumably be gaining approval from both brokers. Anyone have any experience with this? Many thanks in advance!