Department of Labor reviewing timely remittance of participant contributions by Employee Benefit Plans.

• Position: Regulatory matters - Brief Article

The AICPA's Employee Benefit Plans Expert Panel has learned that the Department of Labor's focus on reviewing the timeliness of employee remittances has recently involved a review of the benefit plan administrator's ability to remit funds on a bimonthly basis. In this instance, the service provider would only accept the transfers on a monthly basis, which required the plan sponsor to hold onto the funds for several days. The DOL determined that the funds were deemed to be segregated within a few days after each payroll and therefore required the plan sponsor to make the participants whole for the entire time (5 years) that the plan utilized such service provider.

Both pre-tax (salary deferral) and after-tax contributions to qualified pension plans must be held in trust as soon as they are deemed to be plan assets. DOL regulations require that these contributions be considered plan assets as of the earliest date they can reasonably be segregated from the general assets of the company. That date can be no later...