105-1 Qualified Plan Requirements & Regulatory Plan Considerations Flashcards
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Carries out the administrative duties of the qualified plan system (and, to a lesser extent, the non-q plan system) by:
A) supervising creation of new retirement plans and monitoring and auditing the operation of existing plans
B) interpreting federal legislation, especially w/ regard to the tax consequences of certain plan designs
C) administering the qualified plan system
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)
Federal law that governs the non-tax aspects of private retirement plans and other employee benefits such as health and welfare plans
Qualified plans must meet ERISA requirements:
- coverage
- participation
- vesting
- reporting and disclosure
- fiduciary requirements
Department of Labor (DOL)
Ensures compliance with ERISA’s plan reporting and disclosure rules and oversees compliance w/ the prohibited transaction rules
Issues prohibited transaction exemptions (PTEs)
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
Created under ERISA
Responsible for insuring plan participants against loss of benefits from plan termination
PBGC can terminated a defined benefti plan if:
- minimum funding standards are not met
- benefits can’t be paid when due
- the long-run liability of the company to the PBGC is expected to increase unreasonably
3 General Categories of Retirement Plans
- Qualified Plans
- Tax-Advantaged Plans
- Non-Qualified Plans
Mandatory vs non-mandatory contributions
Mandatory annual contributions means plan is a pension plan
Non-mandatory contributions means plan is a profit-sharing plan
Defined benefit plan = pension plans
Defined contribution plans = either pension plan or profit-sharing plan
Qualified Plans
Retirement plans that meet a # of requirements
In return for meeting the requirements, the employer-sponsor of the plan is afforded a major tax advantage, namely, the immediate deductibility of all contributions made to the plan
Tax-advantaged plan
Does not meet all of the requirements to be classified as a qualified plan but often operates very similarly to a qualified plan w/ tax-deferred earnings and perhaps pretax (or tax-deductible) contributions
Nonqualified plans
One advantage: they do not have to meet the nondiscrimination requirements of qualified plans
Merely a promise by the employer to pay the employee benefits
Qualified Plan Eligibility
Any employee who has attained age of 21 and 1 year of service must be permitted to enter the plan within 6 months
Year of service means a 12-month period during which the employee has worked at least 1,000 hrs
As an alternative to the 21-and-1 rule, the waiting period to enter the plan may be increased to 2 years of service
Most plans adopt 2 entrance dates: Jan 1 and July 1
Highly compensated employee (HCE)
An employee who meets 1 of the following criteria:
- Was a > 5% owner of the employer at any time during the current year or preceding year
- For the preceding year, had compensation greater than $125k (2019) from the employer
Percentage Test
Applies to qualified plans Section 410(b) of the Tax Code requires the employer-sponsor of the qualified plan must cover at least 70% of the nonhighly compensated employees
Covered means employee is benefiting under the plan
Active participation
Employee must be contributing to the plan, having employer contributions or forfeitures allocated on his behalf, or accruing a benefit in a defined benefit plan before he is considered an active participant in a qualified plan for IRA purposes
Plans that do not meet the % test must satisfy either (to be a qualified plan):
- ratio test: the % of non-HCE’s covered by the plan must be at least 70% of the % of HCEs who are covered
- average benefits % test: the avg benefits % accrued for non-HCEs as a group must be greater than or equal to 70% of the avg benefits % accrued for the HCEs
Qualified plan discrimination rules
Qualified plan may discriminate against HCEs without risking plan disqualification, but it may not discriminate in favor of HCEs
If the employer wishes to discriminate in favor of an HCE (typically an executive or officer of the corporation), it may implement a non-q plan
50/40 Test
Defined benefit pension plans must meet the 50/40 test
Mandates that all defined benefit pension plans must benefit no fewer than the lesser of:
- 50 employees
- 40% of all eligible employees
Remember “people before percentages” (50 people of 40%)