Errors Recently the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS) posted what it finds as common Form 5500 errors and how to avoid them and IRS Scrutiny. In many Employee Plans Compliance Unit (EPCU) projects, the IRS find mistakes when plan sponsors enter incorrect information on their Form 5500 series returns or information reports. The IRS use information
We get this question a lot. The instructions to the Form 5500 give the technical answer. However, below is a quick summary of those requirements. Every situation is unique and for 2023 Form 5500s, the DOL just updated the rules. If you have specific questions, please feel free to give us a call or contact us to see
The AICPA Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center just released its sixth Plan Advisory, EBPAQC-Importance-of-Hiring-Plan-Advisory, which is intended to provide plan sponsors, plan administrators, and trustees with an understanding of the importance of hiring a quality auditor to perform their employee benefit plan financial statement audit, and information to help them select a quality auditor.
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation on November 17, 2014 released its Annual Report, which showed that PBGC’s deficit increased to about $62 billion in Fiscal Year 2014, largely due to the declining condition of a few multiemployer plans. The financial condition of the single-employer program improved with a deficit of about $19.3 billion, down from $27.4
The Internal Revenue Service announced October 23, 2014 the cost‑of‑living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2015. Many of the pension plan limitations will change for 2015 because the increase in the cost-of-living index met the statutory thresholds that trigger their adjustment. However, other limitations will remain unchanged
As detailed in an article by Greg Stohr, 401(k) Fees at Issue as Court Takes Edison Worker Appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider giving 401(k) participants more power to sue their plans over investments that impose excessive fees, accepting an appeal tied to a wave of suits against employers. The appeal, filed by Edison International
The DOL recently issued Field Assistance Bulletin 2014-01 which details procedures fiduciaries should take to find missing participants and properly distribute account balances. The Bulletin suggests that fiduciaries use certified mail, check related plan and employment records, ask the designated plan beneficiary, and search the Internet to find missing participants. Fiduciaries should consider more expensive approaches