Now is the time to make sure your company’s retirement plan is in order and can sustain a rigorous Department of Labor or Internal Revenue Service review.
美国劳工部和国税局增加了退休计划审计的数量和频率. 尽管许多审计是由员工投诉引发的, 大多数是随机的，或者是由表格5500的问题引发的.
8个常见的审计发现，以及在审计之前识别计划中的问题可以采取的步骤.
1. 没有及时更新计划文件
如果任何与计划有关的规章制度发生了变化, 必须更改计划文档以反映这些变更. 许多计划供应商将向保荐人提供修改, 但正式采用它们是赞助商的责任.
2. 不遵循计划文件
The plan document serves as the foundation for plan operations; simply put, 这是计划的操作手册. 理解计划文件并在做决定时参考它们是很重要的. 如果操作发生了变化，则需要更新计划文档，使其保持最新和准确. 每隔几年进行一次文档/流程审核是个好主意. 不要想当然地认为，一直以来的做法都得到了管理计划的法律文件的支持.
3. 使用不正确的补偿定义来计算延迟
许多退休计划面临的一个大问题是如何正确应用计划的薪酬定义. 有许多工资系统和工资代码, 很容易出现编程错误, 反过来, 错误地计算延迟. 计划发起人需要确保在操作上发生的事情与计划文档一致. Read the document’s definition of eligible compensation and check it against a few employees’ payroll records to verify that all eligible compensation was included when calculating their deferrals. 如果存在差异，可能需要纠正分配或贡献.
4. 没有及时存入参与人供款
拖欠工资是最常见的DOL审计问题之一. The law requires that participant contributions be deposited in the plan as soon as it is reasonably possible to segregate them from the company’s assets. The word “reasonably” is not defined under federal law or guidance for purposes of determining whether a deposit of deferrals has been made timely. 通常对于大型企业来说, 及时存款很可能在工资扣缴后的几个工作日内发生.
小型企业安全港适用于参与者少于100人的企业. The safe harbor states that 401(k) deposits for a small business are timely if they are made within seven business days from the date the contributions were withheld from employee wages. We recommend that the plan sponsor examine the company’s payroll process to determine the date that contributions can reasonably be segregated from assets and use this date as the maximum deadline for remitting contributions.
5. 不符合资格要求
The plan document spells out employees’ rights to retirement benefits and the formulas for determining them based on the correct application of service and/or age requirements of the plan regarding eligibility for participation. 遵守这些要求, the plan sponsor needs to maintain accurate service records for all employees and have a process built into their system to inform them when the requisite hours are reached by each employee. 如果这些记录不正确或者系统不到位，那么所提供的利益可能是不正确的. 定期抽取有代表性的员工(新员工、新员工、新员工)进行抽样调查是一个很好的做法, 转移, 重新雇用和兼职员工)和审查资格程序.
6. 不正当的参与者贷款，困难的提款
计划文件规定，只有在某些非常具体的原因下才能获得艰苦条件分配, 贷款只有在符合一定标准的情况下才被允许. Failure to ensure that these legal requirements are met can result in a distribution that is not authorized under the terms of the plan document. We recommend that employers check to make sure that provisions in the plan document properly reflect how the plan is actually administered. The employer can check for compliance by picking a representative sampling of employees who have taken a hardship distribution or loan and reviewing the paperwork that relates to those loans to make sure everything is in order and complies with legal requirements.
7. 未进行ADP/ACP非歧视测试
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act requires testing to prove 401(k) plans do not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees. The IRS believes that one of the greatest failures for 401(k) plans is the failure to perform this required discrimination testing and correct any errors by the proper deadline. 非歧视测试通常由记录管理员或第三方管理员执行, 但计划发起人应该了解基本情况, 包括失败的后果. 雇主应该检查这些测试是否有错误, 例如被列为零薪酬的员工或名单上的延迟百分比大于计划限制的员工.
8. 忘记提交5500表
每年都要向美国劳工部提交5500表. 有时它可能会被忽视，尤其是在小公司. 对于更大的计划, failure to file the Form 5500 can occur when mandatory audits are not completed in time to be included with the Form 5500 as required. 计划发起人应制定一份年度合规检查表，包括填写和归档表格5500. 另一种选择是将表格5500的归档工作外包给可靠的第三方管理员.
通过持续监控和定期自我审计, 退休计划的发起人可以避免这里详述的许多问题. 至于不符合规定的计划, 美国国税局和美国劳工部有几个自愿自我纠正操作错误和违反信托行为的项目. 如果发现得足够早，许多问题可以很容易地被计划发起人修复.
内容由LBMC专业人员Jenny Merritt提供.
纠正退休计划错误
退休计划的管理非常复杂，而且, 即使尽了最大的努力, 失败可能会发生. 这些失败通常是无意的，可能看起来微不足道, 但它们可能会产生严重的后果(包括取消计划资格)。, 哪些会对计划发起人造成不利的税务后果. 幸运的是, the Department of Labor (DOL) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have established various programs intended to encourage sponsors to voluntarily correct plan failures before facing an audit.
劳工部雇员福利保障局
劳工部雇员福利安全管理局(EBSA)负责管理和执行受托人, 1974年《明升app》(ERISA)第一章的报告和披露规定. 美国劳工部有两个自愿自我纠正项目，供需要帮助满足ERISA要求的计划发起人使用.
1. 自愿受托矫正计划
自愿受托纠正计划(VFCP)允许任何可能对ERISA下的受托违规行为负责的人, 包括员工福利计划发起人, 官员, 利益相关方, to voluntarily correct certain fiduciary violations and avoid certain penalties provided they comply with the criteria and satisfy the procedures outlined in the VFCP. VFCP对19类违规行为进行了描述, 包括拖欠的参与人供款, 参与者贷款违约, 以及基于不当的计划资产估值的福利支付, 以及他们的纠正方法. 下面列出的步骤将有助于全面纠正违规行为.
步骤1:识别任何违规行为，并确定它们是否属于VFCP所涵盖的交易.
步骤2遵循纠正特定违规行为的程序(例如.g.贷款不当或计划资产估值不正确).
步骤3:计算并恢复任何损失或利润，连本带利, 如果适用的话, 并向参与者分发任何额外福利.
步骤4: File an application with the appropriate EBSA regional office that includes documentation showing evidence of corrective action taken.
2. 违规者自愿合规计划
逾期申报者自愿合规计划(DFVCP)为福利计划发起人提供逾期申报的机会, 不完整或不正确的5500表年度报告和支付减少民事罚款. The DFVCP is only available to plan administrators with filing obligations under Title I of ERISA who comply with the provisions of the program and who have not been notified in writing by the DOL of a failure to file a timely form 5500. The basic penalty under the program is $10 per day for delinquent filings with a maximum penalty of $750 for a small plan and $2,为一份迟交的年度报告制定一个大计划. 对于多年未为计划提交年度报告的计划管理员, 最高罚款为1美元,小计划500美元，4美元,对于大型计划，无论同时为该计划提交的迟交年度报告的数量如何，都要支付000美元.
美国国税局员工计划合规决议系统
The IRS Employee Plans 合规 Resolution System (EPCRS) correction programs help plan sponsors of qualified retirement plans keep their plans in compliance with Internal Revenue Code requirements. EPCRS提供了三个纠正计划错误的程序.
自校正程序 – The 自校正程序 (SCP) allows a plan sponsor to correct insignificant operational errors at any time without contacting the IRS or paying any fee. 如果及时采取行动，重大操作故障仍可根据本计划得到纠正. 操作错误的一个例子是没有遵循计划的书面条款. 因为国税局没有备案, 在进行计划审核时，计划发起人应保留为纠正错误而采取的步骤的充分记录.
自愿矫正计划 -一些失败不符合SCP的资格，一些计划发起人更喜欢IRS的书面更正批准. 在这些情况下，失败可以根据自愿纠正计划(VCP)进行纠正。. 这个项目允许计划发起人, 审计前的任何时间, 支付费用并获得美国国税局的批准，以纠正计划失败. 获得国税局的批准, 计划发起人应提交用户费用和VCP提交, 描述了失败和纠正它们和防止它们再次发生的方法, 给国税局.
审计结束协议程序 – The 审计结束协议程序 (ACP) can be used by plan sponsors that have significant issues discovered as a result of an IRS audit of the plan. 计划发起人作出适当的更正，然后支付与国税局协商的制裁.
当面临违反信托或操作错误时, plan management should consult with their plan auditor and ERISA counsel to properly determine the overall impact of the deficiency and to assess the best available correction method.
有关DOL和IRS自愿更正计划的更多信息，请访问以下网站.
http://www.国Tax局.gov/retirement-plans/correcting-plan-errors
内容由LBMC审计员Mark Blackburn提供.
如果退休计划被取消怎么办?
税 law and administrative details that may seem trivial or irrelevant may actually be critical to maintaining a plan’s qualified status. 如果401(k)计划失去免税资格, 每位参加者须按其在取消资格当日的既得利益价值缴税. 这可能会给参与者带来巨额的税收负担.
此外，在取消资格日期之后发生的捐款和收入不是免税的. 它们必须包括在参与者的应税收入中. 雇主对计划缴款的税收减免也面临风险. 还有处罚和费用，这对企业来说可能是毁灭性的.
Withdrawals made after the disqualification date cannot be rolled over into other tax-favored retirement plans or accounts (such as IRAs).
退休计划的错误可以自愿纠正
好消息是，401(k)计划的错误通常可以自愿纠正. 我们可以帮助确定是否需要对贵公司的合格计划进行更改，以实现并保持合规性.
如果你有问题，我们可以帮助你.