"For calendar year 2020, if a plan covers only 1 individual and that individual is not the owner or spouse, would they file a 5500(S/F) or a 5500-EZ?"

"There's a deceased participant ('wife') whose estate is producing an executed Separation and Settlement Agreement that, after going on at length about the husband's State retirement benefits and how that will be split, says the following:

Each party hereby waives any legal or equitable interest which he or she has or may have in and to the value of any Retirement Plan owned by the other party. The term 'Retirement Plan', as used herein, shall include, but not be limited to, any Pension Plan, Profit Sharing Plan, Keogh Plan, 401(k) Plan, deferred compensation plan, or Individual Retirement Account titled in the name of either party. Upon the execution of this Agreement, any such Retirement Plan shall become the separate property of the party in whose name the Plan is titled.

This was executed in 2019 (the deceased had been a participant since 2000), and it was signed by a Notary Public (two, in fact). Fine, this is a 403(b) plan, but I'm willing to say that falls under the 'not be limited to' provision (though, really, she had been there for 19 years at that point -- they couldn't have added that in or gotten that right?). So does this count for plan purposes? It's not a typical QDRO, and it was never submitted to the plan sponsor before. Can the plan honor this? Does this remove the separated husband as the deceased wife's beneficiary under the plan?"

"I know there is a 10% limit for the first year, and a 15% limit for all subsequent years, on automatic contributions under a QACA. However, if a plan has just a straight auto-enrollment/auto-escalation (not an EACA or QACA), are there any legal limits on how high the level of contributions can be? I'm not finding any, but proving a negative is always hard."

"I'm a little confused by this. Let's say you have a plan with a Health FSA, that has a rollover provision, but NOT a grace period. It does have a 30 day 'runout' period to submit claims for prior year.

Now assume they executed a CARES amendment, which states, to paraphrase, that the plan's claims procedures and other statutory deadlines are temporarily extended by the 'outbreak period', and the outbreak period extends until 60 days after the end of the National Emergency, etc....

We, of course, are not past the end of the National Emergency. So would you interpret this as allowing the 30-day 'runout' period to be extended, for submission of 2020 claims?"

"Excess deferrals due to 402(g) limit are paid out by April 15. Is the 1099-R with Code P generated for the prior year in which it is taxable, or is it for the current year (when it's distributed), even though it's taxable in the prior year?"

"I was looking over some correspondence that a national carrier put together for sponsors to send HCEs before they get ADP refunds. One of the blurbs says that Roth excess contributions are not taxable, and pre-tax contributions are taxable. But it also says that the earnings on BOTH Roth and pre-tax contributions are always taxable. Is that true? Even if the Roth account is eligible for a qualified distribution (i.e., the 5-year rule was satisfied)?"

"Due to a failed coverage test, I need to prepare an 11(g) amendment. Our firm does not prepare the plan document. Can I still prepare the amendment?"

"The Rescue Plan Act was passed by the House today and is expected to be signed by the president on Friday. The bill adjusts (increases) the segment rates for minimum funding starting in 2020, and (optionally for plan years starting in 2019, 2020, and 2021, and starting for everyone in 2022) replaces the 7-year shortfall amortization with a 15-year amortization. How are you planning to handle the changes?

Hopefully most of us have our 1/1/2020 valuations finished by now. Are you contacting your clients to let them know they should expect a new minimum contribution calculation? Are you going to discuss the shortfall amortization option with them, or just opt them all in (or out)? Or wait until your software supports it before even bringing it up? Any other ideas or concerns about the new law?"

"Wanting to confirm what people are using for the definition of compensation in retirement plans. Generally we use W-2 compensation, but we have a case (about 35-40 participants) where the owner is being taken off W-2 and instead will be paid by a draw whenever the company profits can support it. Obviously he still wants to remain a part of the plan. What to do?"

"One of the participant rolled the funds to an IRA (because the plan terminated). The rollover occurred in Feb. 2021. Because the acquiring company will be setting up a 401(k) plan, the individual wants to roll over the funds from the IRA into the new plan when it's set up in April. Can do? With a correction to the tax reporting?"