"A governmental 401(a) plan excludes part-time, temporary and seasonal employees, subject to a 12-month, 1000 hour fail-safe, which makes the exclusion inapplicable if satisfied. The only plan benefit is an employer contribution equal to 5% of plan compensation to the account of any participant who defers at least 3.5% of compensation under the employer's 457(b) plan. The 457(b) plan excludes part-time, temporary and seasonal employees but does not grant an exception for employees who complete 12 months of service and 1000 hours. The exclusion under the 457(b) plan, therefore, has the effect of depriving part-time, temporary and seasonal employees who meet the 401(a) plan's fail-safe from receiving any benefit under the 401(a) plan, as these employees are not able to defer under the 457(b) plan. This circumstance appears to me to present a tax qualification issue for the 401(a) plan. Any thoughts?"

"I'm having a hard time finding a good source for when a disaster is a Qualified Disaster for purposes of Qualified Disaster Recovery Distributions. I'm 99% sure that for prior disaster recoveries, it was limited to areas FEMA designated as eligible for individual assistance rather than only public assistance. Does anyone have a good source to confirm or refute that only areas designated for individual assistance qualify? I think this will come up rather frequently for those of us with clients in the southeast. Next hurdle is whether the participant is a qualified individual, but we can clear that through self certification."

"I have a plan situation one of the plan that got terminated back in 2021 has now received a small $ amount due to SDB earrings. Is it common to see SDB earrings getting posted into a terminated account? should these funds be even posted into a terminated plan? Also, since there is a posting of $83 into the terminated plan will the plan sponsor require to amended the 5500?"

"In mid August, the debit card tied to my HSA account began getting declined even though I have significant funds in my account. It remains non-functional almost two months later. The institution which provides this service was selected by my employer. Health benefits including HSA are part of my compensation. The HSA provider indicates that they experienced some kind of technical issue which is effecting my account. They change their story each time I call and cannot provide me an ETA for resolution. After two months, I'm concerned that I may never gain access to my funds. Are there specific compliance rules that pertain to this situation? Is this regulated by the FDIC? Can I report this? Should I speak with an attorney? Do I have the option to move the funds?"

"2 DC plans 001 & 333 are part of master trust (MT). No audit was done for MT but Form 5500 filed. Instead, each plan filed their own detailed Sch H with audit reports and auditor mentioned in 2022 audit notes about the plans being part of MT. Is this ok? In the past, I have filed the audit with MT Form 5500 and the plans would just list their $ in MT on Sch H. I'm also questioning the use of plan #333? this is a union 401(k) plan- no other employers."

"A 2023 BenefitsLink discussion aired some observations about whether an employment classification of intern is or isn't a classification sufficiently distinct from an age or service condition that a plan may exclude an intern who met age and service conditions for treatment as a long-term-part-time employee. Interpreting ERISA Section 202(c) for a situation that might involve some similarities, the IRS states: 'The student employee exclusion in section 403(b)(12)(A) of the [Internal Revenue] Code is a statutory exclusion based on a classification (students performing services described in [I.R.C.] section 3121(b)(10)), rather than on service.' And: 'Although [26 C.F.R.] Section 31.3121(b)(10)-2(d) provides that hours worked is a factor in determining whether an employee is a student, as well as providing an unsafe harbor if an employee normally works at least 40 hours per week (which is equivalent to 2,000 hours a year), the statutory student exclusion is not based principally on service.' Notice 2024-73, at A-5 & footnote 7 (emphasis added). Does this change our thinking about whether a for-profit employer's plan may exclude an intern from elective deferrals?"

"A 403(b) plan for a non-profit has only a single participant with an account balance. The participant terminated long time ago. No one else currently uses the plan and the organization wants to terminate it. The terminated participant does not reply to any contact requests. The account is held on a platform at a large national insurance company. Their instructions were for the non-profit to send a letter of instruction saying the plan is being terminated. The account would stay at the insurance company as a 403b account but would no longer require an employer signature. But if it is still considered a 403b account....can we really say that the plan is terminated? Could we file a final 5500 with $0 assets at EOY if the account is still a 403b account?"

"I need clarification on answering this question on Schedule R line 21a. If the employer has 2 plans- a DC plan and a DB plan. The DB plan was frozen a few years ago. Should the plan answer no or yes? Part VII IRS Compliance Questions 21a: Does the plan satisfy the coverage and nondiscrimination tests of Code sections 410(b) and 401(a)(4) by combining this plan with any other plans under the permissive aggregation rules?"