"I have a small dental practice plan. Sole owner is married with a minor child to spouse who has a sole-proprietorship business earning about $100k annually with no employees. Both spouses participate in the plan, make employee deferrals and receive a SH match. With the change in the rules for 2024, since the spouses no longer have to aggregate for testing purposes, I guess I now have a multiple-employer plan going forward. Sole-proprietorship will be desirous of funding a PSP contribution on top of the match. Other than changing the employer type on the 2024 Form 5500 and adding the MEP addendum, is there anything else required on the government reporting side or the plan document side?"

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"If an individual has two plans, a 401(k) and a defined benefit plan, and the defined benefit plan exceeds $250,000 in assets, but the 401(k) has not been funded, is it required to file a Form 5500-EZ for the 401(k) showing one participant and $0 in assets?"

"An individual is a sole proprietor and also is a partner in a partnership with 51% ownership and one other partner at 49%. I think this is a brother sister controlled group. Does this mean that the minority partner must be covered in the defined benefit plan of the sole proprietor to satisfy the 2 participant floor of 401(a)(26) considering the controlled group? If so, could a solution be for the spouse to become a W-2 employee of the sole proprietor and then cover the spouse to satisfy 401(a)(26)?"

"Employee is terminated on 11/1. Group Health benefits terminate at the end of the month (11/30). Employer uses a third-party administrator for COBRA and sends termination information over to COBRA administrator on 11/14. What is the deadline for the third-party administrator to send out the COBRA election notice - 11/29 (14 days from notice) or 12/14 (14 days after benefits termination) or some other date? I believe COBRA rules state that employers have 30 days to provide notice to plan administrator and 14 days for the plan admin to send election notices. Employers only get 44 days to send notices if they send out their own COBRA letters directly, correct?"

"We have an ESOP where a participant can take a distribution after termination and they can sell the shares to the company. Unfortunately, this is no longer sustainable, as we are having to repurchase shares at such a rate that it isn't feasible for budgetary reasons. We want have been advised we should revise our distribution policy. This makes sense -- if we can delay distributions, we can delay repurchases.

1. We want to do this for all non-terminated participants -- is that okay? I found some guidance saying this works, and even some that says it might even work for terminated (non-payment status) participants, but that's unsettled.
2. I think the best option is to set a 'lump-sum threshold,' but I can't find any guidance regarding how to set that dollar amount. Are there limits, or can we just set it at any amount we want? I am aware that we are limited to five years of installments (unless over that ESOP threshold, but we don't have balances in excess of $1m), but are there any limits on how low we set the lump-sum threshold to be able to pay over the five years?

Is there anything else I'm missing? Is there a better way to fix our repurchase obligation issues?"

"We have an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) that includes two offering periods each year, with purchase dates at the end of June and December. My question is whether we should carry over any unused funds to the next purchase period or refund them to the employee. I would prefer to carry over the excess funds to the next period. However, what happens if an employee withdraws from the plan or chooses not to contribute in the next offering period? Are there any potential issues with carrying over the funds in that case? Thank you."

"Prior to USERRA, please describe the stipulations on veterans' reemployment conformity and the associated impact on vesting/benefit accrual. Please provide a diachronic survey."

"For all you folks who may be impacted, here's hoping you come through it with minimal effects. Best of luck!!"

"My company is implementing voluntary layoffs due to short work. They are allowing us to keep our medical insurance but we are required to pay our premiums during the layoff period. Do I still receive my section 125 tax benefit for premiums paid? I want to ensure my W2 will be correct at year-end. Thank you for your help."

"If you hope for or fear tax and ERISA legislation nearing the end of the 118th Congress, watch in mid-December. Based on Congress's continuing resolution many expect they will enact by September 30, the next end of appropriations would be December 20. That's the Friday before Christmas Day. In the remaining session after 2024 elections, look for Congress to turn to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2025, and to some effort to avoid or invoke a government shutdown. Those efforts might include an appropriations or budget-reconciliation bill, which could include law changes the Senate could not vote on under a regular-order procedure."