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ERISA COMPLIANCE AND ERRORS Top Ten Mistakes

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ERISA COMPLIANCE AND ERRORSTop Ten Mistakes . Marcia S. Wagner, Esq. - President/Founder. The Wagner Law Group. Boston, MA. Marilee P. Lau, CPA. Retired Partner KPMG LLP – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: ERISA COMPLIANCE AND ERRORS Top Ten Mistakes


1
ERISA COMPLIANCE AND ERRORSTop Ten Mistakes
  • Marcia S. Wagner, Esq. - President/Founder
  • The Wagner Law Group
  • Boston, MA
  • Marilee P. Lau, CPA
  • Retired Partner KPMG LLP
  • San Francisco, CA

2
Speaker Biography Marcia S. Wagner

Marcia is a specialist in pension and employee
benefits law, and she is the principal of The
Wagner Law Group, one of the nations largest
boutique law firms, specializing in ERISA,
employee benefits and executive compensation,
which she founded over 18 years ago. A summa cum
laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Cornell
University and a graduate of Harvard Law School,
she has practiced law for over twenty-seven
years. Ms. Wagner was appointed to the IRS Tax
Exempt Government Entities Advisory Committee
and ended her three-year term as the Chair of its
Employee Plans subcommittee, and received the
IRS Commissioners Award. Ms. Wagner has also
been inducted as a Fellow of the American College
of Employee Benefits Counsel. For the past five
years, 401k Wire has listed Ms. Wagner as one of
its 100 Most Influential Persons in the 401(k)
industry, and she has received the Top Women of
Law Award in Massachusetts and is listed among
the Top 25 Attorneys in New England by Boston
Business Journal.
3
Speaker Biography - Marilee P. Lau
Marilee Lau provides consulting services and
teaches various educational programs on
accounting and auditing for employee benefit
plans. Before retiring in 2009, Marilee was the
National Partner in Charge of KPMGs Employee
Benefit Plan Audit Practice. She is a founding
member and a former Chair of the AICPA Employee
Benefit Plan Audit Quality Centers Executive
Committee which was established in 2004. Marilee
is currently the AICPAs representative to the
DOLs ERISA Advisory Council. She has served on
the AICPAs Employee Benefits Plans Experts Panel
and was the chair of the EBP Audit Guide
Overhaul Task Force. Marilee is also on the
Advisory Board for the Bureau of National Affairs
Pension Benefits Reporter which provides input
on various pension issues and has served on the
Accountants Committee for the International
Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. She is a
member of the AICPA, California Society of CPAs,
and the International Foundation of Employee
Benefit Plans and a frequent speaker for numerous
professional conferences and programs. She is a
graduate of Santa Clara University with a BS in
economics and an MBA in accounting.
4
Introduction
  • Auditors need to know what to focus on when they
    audit a plan.  They need to know the top ten
    errors, how they occur (usually people do not
    know the terms of the plans administration) and
    how they should be rectified.  For each of the
    top 10 problems, we discuss  (i) the issue,
    (ii) how it arises (iii) audit implications and
    (iv) how it can be fixed.

5
Top Ten Problems
  • 1. Automatic Enrollment Automatic Escalation
  • 2. 403(b) Plan Universal Availability
  • 3. Problem Shared and Leased Employees
  • 4. Compensation Done Incorrectly
  • 5. Controlled Group Issues
  • 6. Bad Plan Documentation
  • 7. Prohibited Transactions
  • A. Plan Services
  • B. Bad 408(b)(2) Disclosure
  • 8. Illiquid Plan Assets
  • 9. Late Elective Deferrals
  • 10. Bad Administration

6
1. Automatic Enrollment Automatic Escalation
7
Automatic Enrollment Automatic Escalation
  • Applies to any plan allowing elective salary
    deferrals
  • Employees enrolled in plan unless elect otherwise
  • Plan document specifies percentage
  • Employees can opt out or elect different percent
  • Default percentage must be uniformly applied
  • Qualified Automatic Contribution Arrangement
    (QACA)
  • Exemption from nondiscrimination testing
    conditioned on
  • Default deferral percentage
  • Starts at 3 and increases to 6 maximum 10
  • Matching Contribution (100 match up to 1 of
    compensation plus 50 between 1 and 6 of
    compensation) or 3 Nonelective Contribution
  • 100 vesting in matching or nonelective
    contribution after 2 YOS
  • No hardship distributions for required employer
    contributions

8
Automatic Enrollment Automatic Escalation
  • Eligible Automatic Contribution Arrangement
    (EACA)
  • Withdrawals allowed within 90 days of first
    auto contribution
  • Notice Requirements for QACA and EACA
  • Written explanation of rights not to have
    auto contributions or to elect
  • deferral percentage other than
    default percentage
  • Timing reasonable period before beginning of
    each plan year
  • Must give reasonable period of time after receipt
    to make alternative election and, in the case of
    a QACA, to make investment elections
  • Excess Deferrals
  • Participant must notify plan by April 15 of
    following year
  • Corrective distributions of excess deferrals to
    be reported on Form 1099
  • Potential double tax if excess not withdrawn by
    April 15

9
Audit Implications
  • Understand the nature of the enrollment process
  • Test that employees have been properly enrolled
    when plan provides for auto-enrollment
  • Opt out election
  • Specified deferral percentage
  • Proper refund if participant withdraws
  • Understanding regulatory requirements,
    correction process and accounting implications
    for the operational failure
  • Determine if amount is material
  • Book an employer contribution receivable
  • Amend tax status footnote

10
Automatic Enrollment Automatic Escalation
  • Failure 1
  • Plan sponsor fails to implement plans auto
    enrollment provisions by not deferring salary of
    an employee who did not make an election
  • Corrected by providing nonelective employer
    contribution. Missed deferral is the plans auto
    enrollment deferral percentage multiplied by
    employees compensation. Required corrective
    contribution under IRS VCP is 50 of this missed
    deferral
  • Failure 2
  • Employee never receives enrollment materials
    and is, therefore
  • treated as an excluded participant rather
    than a participant whose
  • deemed election has not been implemented
  • Corrected by making nonelective employer
    contribution equal to 50
  • of missed deferral which is the ADP for
    the employees group (NHCE
  • or HCE) multiplied by employees annual
    compensation

11
2. 403(b) Plan UniversalAvailability Problem
12
403(b) Plan Universal Availability Problem
  • Elective salary deferrals must be available to
    any employee
  • Exceptions
  • Employee who will contribute 200 or less
    annually
  • Employee eligible to make elective deferrals to
    457(b) or 401(k) plan or another 403(b) plan
  • Nonresident aliens
  • Students performing certain services and certain
    employees not meeting minimum age and service
    requirements
  • Employees normally working fewer than 20 hours
    per week
  • Exception conditioned on working less than 1,000
    hours in a 12-month period and subsequent
    12-month periods
  • No part-time exception
  • Universal availability applies separately to each
    501(c)(3) entity even if multiple entities
    participate in same plan

13
403(b) Plan Universal Availability Problem
  • Universal availability standard met only if at
    least once each plan year plan lets employee make
    or change a cash or deferred election
  • Universal availability requires meaningful notice
    of right to defer
  • Rule only applies to elective deferrals, not
    employer match or discretionary or mandatory
    employer contributions
  • Some plans are drafted so that the eligibility
    standard for these nonelective contributions is
    the same as universal availability. In these
    cases, operational failure occurs if universal
    availability not applied to nonelective
    contributions.

14
Audit Implications
  • Understand who is eligible and who isnt
  • Test for proper inclusion/exclusion
  • Understanding correction process and accounting
    implications for the operational failure
  • Determine if amount is material
  • Book an employer contribution receivable
  • Amend tax status footnote

15
403(b) Plan Universal Availability Problem
  • Failure 1
  • Excluding employees based on a job classification
    which is not one of the classes excepted from
    universal availability rule, such as part-time
    workers
  • Corrected by making employer contribution under
    IRS VCP program of missed deferral Rev Proc
    2013-12 provides special rule for calculating
    403(b) corrective contribution which will
    generally be 1.5 of employees compensation
    adjusted for lost earnings and any match.
    Mistake may be eligible for self correction if
    error was insignificant and sufficient compliance
    procedures were in place
  • Failure 2
  • Failure to properly notify a group of employees
    of their right to make deferrals
  • Corrected by making employer contribution under
    same methodology as Failure 1.

16
3. Shared and Leased Employees
17
Shared and Leased Employees
  • Employee status controls application of plan
    rules
  • Control (over when, where and how to perform
    services) is key to determining whether worker is
    common law employee (1992 Supreme Court Darden
    case, Rev Rul 87-41
  • Shared employee definition a person working for
    ( and under control of) more than one business at
    a time
  • Example staff nurse working for several medical
    practices
  • Each practice is the employer simultaneously and
    credits all hours of service for purposes of plan
    eligibility
  • Pro rata share of shared employees compensation
    from each employer is allocated to the separate
    plans maintained by each employer
  • Failure
  • Violation of qualified plan rules to exclude
    nurse from participation in any retirement plans
    maintained by medical practices if nurse has
    1,000 hours of service overall
  • Correction require each plan to include nurse
    as participant

18
Shared and Leased Employees
  • Leased employee definition a person on the
    payroll of one company but working for another
    company
  • Example employee on payroll of PEO who actually
    performs services for PEOs client. If client
    controls the leased employees work, however,
    employee will be treated as employed by client,
    not as a shared employee (Rev. Proc. 2002-21)
  • For purposes of plan coverage, vesting,
    nondiscrimination and top heavy rules, a leased
    employee is treated as an employee of client
    organization, not PEO (Code 414(n)
  • Definition of leased employee
  • Full time 1 year
  • Contract between client organization and PEO for
    employee services
  • Primary control by client organization

19
Shared and Leased Employees
  • Safe Harbor exception to treatment of leased
    employee as employee of client if employee is
    covered by PEO plan, subject to
  • Leased employees no more than 20 of clients
    NHCE workforce
  • Money purchase plan
  • Minimum contribution(nonintegrated) - 10 of
    compensation
  • Full vesting
  • Immediate participation by the leased employees
  • Failure
  • IRS takes position that if leased employee
    is effectively a common law
  • employee of client, covering this
    employee under PEO plan violates exclusive
  • benefit rule
  • Correction Exclude employee from PEO plan. Also
    include leased employees as participants in
    client plan unless client plan specifically
    excludes them. If client maintains 401k) plan,
    inclusion of leased employees may require making
    nonelective contributions that compensate leased
    employee for missed deferral. Consider amending
    plan to exclude leased employees

20
Audit Implications
  • Hum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Auditors need to be aware of the possibility that
    plans have improperly excluded leased or
    sharedemployees

21
4. Compensation Done Incorrectly
22
Compensation Done Incorrectly
  • Amount of plan benefits or contributions
    frequently expressed as percent of compensation
  • Code 401(a)(17) limits annual compensation that
    can be taken into account
  • Limit in 2014 will be 260,000
  • Plan definition of compensation must be
    nondiscriminatory under Code 414(s)
  • Designed based safe harbors
  • Include regular or base salary or wages and
    commissions, tips, overtime, premium pay and
    bonuses
  • Exclude reimbursements, expense allowances,
    fringe benefits, moving expenses and deferred
    compensation
  • Reasonable formula not favoring HCEs
  • Examples Rate of pay vs. actual pay
  • Pay only while plan participant vs. pay for
    entire plan year
  • Plan that includes bonuses but excludes overtime
    might be treated as discriminatory
  • Test is whether average percentage of total
    compensation included under the definition for
    HCEs exceeds by more than de minimis amount the
    average percentage of total compensation included
    for NHCEs

23
Audit Implications
  • Probably No. 1 issue detected by the
    auditorwrong definition of compensation
  • Usually found in contribution test work
  • Could result in a material impact on the
    financial statements
  • FinRec Recommendations on booking excess and
    corrective contributions
  • Determination of correction amount can be very
    time consuming

24
Compensation Done Incorrectly
  • Failure 1 Plan allocation is based on
    compensation that exceeds the limit
  • Correction (two alternative methods)
  • Reduce account balance of affected employee by
    improperly allocated amount (adjusted for
    earnings) if excess amount would have been
    allocated to other employees in year of failure,
    it must be reallocated to those employees after
    adjusting it for earnings
  • Alternative fix adopt plan amendment increasing
    maximum percentage of compensation and contribute
    additional amount for each other employee who
    received an allocation in failure year
  • Example plan contribution rate equals 5 of
    compensation
  • 5 applied to Employee Xs 300K comp. In 2012
    when limit was 250,000 - reduce Xs account by
    2,500 excess and reallocate
  • Alternatively, retroactively amend plan to raise
    rate to 6

25
Compensation Done Incorrectly
  • Failure 2 improper exclusion of bonuses,
    overtime, commissions or another element of
    compensation from base on which employees may
    make elective deferrals
  • Correction employer contribution equal to 50
    of missed deferral opportunity which would be the
    employees elected percentage of compensation
    that would have been deferred from the excluded
    compensation element. Also contribute any
    applicable match and lost earnings
  • Failure 3 Improper deferral on items not
    included in plan definition of compensation
  • Correction Distribute excess elective
    deferrals plus earnings to participant. Forfeit
    match related to excess deferrals and either
    reallocate or use to offset future employer
    contributions

26
5. Controlled Group Issues
27
Controlled Group Issues
  • Rules apply as if all controlled group employees
    worked for employer adopting the plan
  • Applies to eligibility, vesting, minimum
    participation, determining contributions and
    benefits, nondiscrimination, compensation limits,
    top heavy rules and simplified employee pension
    and simple retirement accounts
  • Minimum Participation Example
  • Failure Company A maintains a qualified plan
    with a one year service requirement only for its
    employees but is a member of a controlled group
    of corporations that includes Company B.
    Employee X completes 3 years of service with
    Company B and then transfers to Company A.
  • Correction The plan must recognize Xs service
    with Company B and admit her as a participant
    immediately.
  • Highly Compensated Employee Example
  • Failure Company C and Company D are controlled
    group members each of which pay Employee Y a
    salary of 60,000 for 2013.
  • Correction For purposes of nondiscrimination
    testing, Employee Y will be considered highly
    compensated, since the HCE limit for 2013 is
    115,000 and Employee Ys aggregate compensation
    is 120,000.

28
Controlled Group Issues
  • Discrimination Testing Example
  • Failure Company E maintains a 401(k) plan for
    its employees that has never been extended to its
    wholly-owned subsidiary F Company. When the
    minimum coverage test is run, including the
    employees of F Company, the 401(k) plan fails to
    satisfy Code 410(b) and, as a result ceases to
    be tax-qualified.
  • Correction NHCEs of Company F must be included
    as participants on a retroactive basis and
    receive a QNEC sufficient to pass ADP/ACP test
  • SIMPLE IRA Example
  • Failure SIMPLE IRAs can be established only by
    an employer which had no more than 100 employees
    who made at least 5,000 for the preceding year.
    Company G maintains a SIMPLE IRA for its 80
    employees (all whom made more than 5,000 last
    year). Company G has a brother/sister affiliate,
    Company H, which is a member of the same
    controlled group as Company G and has 40
    employees who made over 5,000. Because
    Companies G and H must be treated as a single
    employer, Company G is ineligible to maintain the
    SIMPLE plan.
  • Correction Stop employer and employee
    contributions. File VCP application requesting
    that contributions made for previous years remain
    in the employees SIMPLE IRAs.

29
Audit Implications
  • Understand what other plans a company has
  • Parent-subsidiary
  • Brother/sister companies
  • Compliance issues
  • Book receivable for QNEC contribution
  • Inquire or test correction for other issues

30
6. Bad Plan Documentation
31
Bad Plan Documentation
  • IRS definition of plan document failure
  • A plan provision (or absence of a plan provision)
    that violates Code qualification requirements
  • Arises under 2 scenarios
  • New law passes or regulations issued and plan not
    timely amended to meet new rules
  • Plan not timely amended during remedial amendment
    period for adopting good faith or interim
    amendments
  • Interim amendments are required to keep a plan up
    to date between remedial amendment cycles
  • Examples of recent law changes with expired
    deadline
  • Conversion of 401(k) accounts to Roth without
    distribution
  • Allowing nonspouse beneficiary distributions via
    rollover
  • Allowing suspension of required distributions for
    2009
  • Special benefits for participants w/qualified
    military service
  • Faster vesting of employer contributions under
    PPA 2006

32
Bad Plan Documentation
  • Correcting Amendment Failures
  • Adopt amendments for missed tax law changes
  • Look for IRS sample language in model amendments
    and List of Required Modifications
  • Effective date of amendment should be retroactive
    to conform plan terms to legislative requirement
  • File VCP submission with IRS
  • Submission is expected to include the executed
    amendments that will correct the failure
  • Issuance of compliance statement by IRS results
    in amendments being treated as if they had been
    adopted timely
  • Avoiding Future Failures
  • Do annual review of plan document
  • Designate person responsible for identifying
    time-sensitive amendments
  • Use annual cumulative list published by IRS
    (e.g., see Notice 2012-76)

33
Audit Implications
  • Determine whether plan amendments have been made
    that are required as a result of changes in the
    laws and regulations
  • Inquire of the plan administrator whether plan
    operations have been revised to comply with
    current law changes, even if plan amendments are
    not yet required
  • Review correspondence from plans legal counsel,
    third party administrator, or other ERISA or tax
    advisor
  • Review corrective action to determine if
    compliance issues were corrected in accordance
    with prescribed procedures and properly recorded
    and disclosed in the financial statements.

34
7. Prohibited Transactions
  • A. Plan Services B. Bad 408(b)(2)
    Disclosure

35
Prohibited Transaction and Plan Services
  • Furnishing goods, services or facilities to plan
    is a prohibited transaction unless arrangement
    qualifies for exemption
  • Violation results in 15 excise tax and100 tax
    if not corrected
  • Four requirements for exemption
  • Service must be necessary to establish or operate
    plan
  • Necessary means appropriate or helpful
  • Service contract must be reasonable
  • Plan must be able to terminate contract without
    penalty on short notice
  • Plan should not be locked into an arrangement
    that becomes unfavorable
  • Long-term lease is acceptable only if it can be
    terminated before expiration
  • Minimal early termination fee to allow recoupment
    of start-up costs is acceptable
  • Plan should pay no more than reasonable
    compensation
  • Management Evaluates reasonableness of fees by
    market rate for comparable services
  • Disclosure by service provider

36
Bad 408(b)(2) Disclosure
  • Regulation effective in 2012 requires plan
    service provider to make written disclosures to
    plan
  • Description of services
  • Whether services to be performed as fiduciary
  • Compensation to be received from plan and from
    third parties
  • Bad disclosure makes service arrangement a
    prohibited transaction by plan fiduciary and
    service provider
  • Failures can be cured
  • Plan must make written request for information
    and provider must respond within 90 days
  • Service provider refusal or inability to comply
    with request for information requires plan
    fiduciary to notify DOL
  • Plan fiduciary must decide whether to terminate
    services
  • Presumption is termination
  • Services to be continued only if prudent
  • Good faith mistakes must be corrected no more
    than 30 days after provider knows of error or
    omission

37
Audit Implications
  • AU-C 250 Consideration of Laws and Regulations in
    an Audit of Financial Statements applies to
    prohibited transactions
  • Inquire whether plan is in compliance with laws
    and regulations
  • Understand who are parties in interest and what
    is deemed a prohibited transaction
  • Understand plan fee arrangements
  • Inquire as to compliance with applicable
    reporting and disclosure requirements for fees.

38
8. Illiquid Plan Assets
39
Illiquid Plan Assets
  • Holding illiquid assets is problematic for an
    ERISA plan if
  • Purchased in non-exempt prohibited transaction
    involving party in interest
  • Purchase was an imprudent decision or
  • It is imprudent for plan to continue to hold the
    asset
  • Examples of illiquid assets
  • Restricted and thinly traded stock
  • Limited partnership interest
  • Real estate
  • Collectibles
  • Plan fiduciary must determine that asset is
    illiquid because
  • Asset failed to appreciate, provide reasonable
    rate of return or caused loss
  • Sale is in plans best interest
  • Asset cannot be sold for its original purchase
    price or FMV (if greater) to a person other than
    person who is a party in interest to the plan
  • May correct by selling to related party subject
    to conditions

40
Illiquid Plan Assets
  • Conditions of correction by selling to party in
    interest
  • Purchase price on sale to party in interest must
    be greater of
  • FMV of asset at time of resale (unreduced by sale
    costs)
  • Original purchase price plus lost earnings under
    DOL calculator
  • Qualified independent appraiser must report on
    Assets FMV
  • Application to DOL
  • Documentation of original purchase price to be
    included in submission
  • DOL no action letter
  • Allows correction or assets original acquisition
  • Permits sale of asset in transaction that
    otherwise might be prohibited
  • Example
  • Plan buys real property from party in interest in
    1999 for 60,000. Plan official makes illiquid
    asset determination in 2004. In 2004, appraiser
    values property at 20,000. Plan sponsor pays
    plan 60,000 plus lost earnings and plan
    transfers real estate to plan sponsor.

41
Audit Implications
  • Review any plan assets purchased from a related
    party
  • If determined that asset is illiquid
  • Perform appropriate audit procedures
  • Record and disclose fix in financial statements

42
9. Late Elective Deferrals
43
Late Elective Deferrals
  • When participant funds become plan assets
  • Amounts that a participant pays to an employer or
    amounts that a participant has withheld from
    wages must be paid to the plan trust on earliest
    date they can be segregated from employers
    general assets
  • Safe harbor for plans with fewer than 100
    participants deadline for remittance to trust is
    7th business day following day on which the
    amount is received by the employer or would have
    been payable to the participant in cash
  • IRS Failure
  • Employer fails to remit participant elective
    deferrals by the earliest date employer can
    reasonably segregate deferral deposits from
    general assets. This will not be an operational
    failure for VCP purposes if plan does not have
    language relating to time contributions are
    deposited. If plan has timing language, there
    will be a qualification failure for failing to
    follow plan terms.
  • Correction Employer makes contributions with
    earnings up to date of correction. VCP
    submission should describe new procedural
    safeguards adopted to ensure that deposits will
    be timely made.

44
Late Elective Deferrals
  • DOL Failure
  • Regardless of plan language, failure to make
    timely remittance will be a prohibited
    transaction for DOL purposes.
  • Correction employer required to make delinquent
    contributions plus greater of
  • Lost earnings or
  • Restoration of profits resulting from employers
    use of the delinquent funds prior to making
    contribution
  • DOL Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program
    requires extensive documentation
  • Narrative of remittance practices and
    certification by plan official of earliest date
    when remittance possible
  • Copy of payroll documents showing date / amount
    of each withholding
  • Relief from submission of documentary evidence if
    amount is below 50,000 or delinquency is less
    than 180 days

45
Audit Implications
  • Inquire of plan sponsor what their normal
    timeframe is from paycheck to remittance date
  • Obtain contribution remittance schedule from plan
    sponsor detailing dates withheld, date deposited,
    and date received by trustee
  • Test schedule and inquire about contributions
    remitted outside the normal timeframe
  • Late deposits are a legal determination
  • Disclose on supplemental schedule

46
10. Bad Administration
47
Bad Administration Loans
  • Loans - In order for a plan loan to not be
    considered a taxable distribution, it must meet
    certain IRC requirements
  • Maximum amount of loan
  • Repayable within 5 years with exception for
    certain home loans
  • Level amortization and not less than quarterly
    payments
  • Failure 1 - Plan sponsor permits loan in excess
    of Code limit
  • Failure - Loan is more than lesser of (a) 50 of
    vested account balance (but not less than
    10,000) or (b) 50,000 reduced by highest amount
    owed on other loans by the participant during
    prior one-year period
  • Correction Participant repays excess amount to
    plan. Principal balance of loan reamortized over
    5 years from date of original loan
  • Failure 2 Loan repayment period more than 5
    years
  • Failure Loan provides 6-year term
  • Correction Plan sponsor can avoid treating loan
    as taxable distribution by filing VCP
    application. Remaining balance of loan at time
    of submission would be reamortized so that loan
    is fully paid by end of 5 years measured from
    loan date.

48
Bad Administration Loans HardshipWithdrawals
  • Loan Failure 3 Repayment Failure
  • Failure Employee fails to make loan repayments
    according to repayment schedule (e.g., employees
    loan information not forwarded to payroll dept.
    which would have implemented repayment by payroll
    deductions.
  • Correction - Two alternatives under VCP provide
    relief from reporting loan as distribution
  • Participant to repay missed payments plus accrued
    interest in lump sum and repay loan balance over
    remaining loan term or
  • Loan may be reamortized over remaining term
  • If plan provides that a loan does not become
    deemed distribution until end of calendar quarter
    following quarter in which payment was missed,
    the cure period may allow administrator to fix
    problem without VCP or other negative
    consequences
  • Failure 1 Due to Financial Hardship Withdrawal
  • Failure - Elective deferrals not suspended for
    6-month period following financial hardship
    withdrawal, as required by the Code and plan
    terms
  • Correction 6 months of improper deferrals
    treated as current taxable distribution. File
    VCP application and distribute deferrals plus
    earnings.

49
Bad Administration Hardship Withdrawals
Eligibility
  • Failure 2 Due to Financial Hardship Withdrawal
  • Failure Employer permits participant to take
    hardship withdrawal from a 401(k) plan that does
    not provide for such withdrawals
  • Correction File VCP application requesting
    authorization to amend plan retroactively to
    permit hardship distributions
  • Eligibility Failures
  • In general, employees must be allowed to
    participate in a qualified plan if
  • They have attained age 21 and
  • They have at least 1 year of service
  • Failure - Employer permits employees who have not
    met its 401(k) plans eligibility conditions to
    become participants
  • Correction Two alternatives
  • If prematurely included employees are primarily
    NHCE, employer may file VCP submission requesting
    that plan be retroactively amended to permit
    their participation. Impact of amendment must
    not be discriminatory
  • Distribute improper employee deferrals and notify
    them of their taxability
  • A107290.pptx

50
Audit Implications
  • Testing of participant loans receivable and
    hardship withdrawals
  • When transactions are not administered in
    accordance with the plan document or IRC
    requirements
  • Book repayment to participant
  • Book receivable for participant catch up loan
    repayments

51
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