Title: ERISA COMPLIANCE AND ERRORS Top Ten Mistakes
1ERISA 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
2Speaker 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.
3Speaker 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.
4Introduction
- 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.
5Top 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
61. Automatic Enrollment Automatic Escalation
7Automatic 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
8Automatic 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 -
9Audit 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
10Automatic 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
112. 403(b) Plan UniversalAvailability Problem
12403(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
13403(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.
14Audit 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
15403(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.
163. Shared and Leased Employees
17Shared 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
18Shared 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
19Shared 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
20Audit Implications
- Hum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Auditors need to be aware of the possibility that
plans have improperly excluded leased or
sharedemployees
214. Compensation Done Incorrectly
22Compensation 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
23Audit 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
24Compensation 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
25Compensation 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
265. Controlled Group Issues
27Controlled 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.
28Controlled 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.
29Audit 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
306. Bad Plan Documentation
31Bad 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
32Bad 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)
33Audit 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.
347. Prohibited Transactions
- A. Plan Services B. Bad 408(b)(2)
Disclosure
35Prohibited 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
36Bad 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
37Audit 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.
388. Illiquid Plan Assets
39Illiquid 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
40Illiquid 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.
41Audit 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
429. Late Elective Deferrals
43Late 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.
44Late 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
45Audit 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
4610. Bad Administration
47Bad 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.
48Bad 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.
49Bad 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
50Audit 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
51Questions