Employer or other sponsors of individually-designed cash balance plans who have pending Cycle C determination letter applications pending before the Internal Revenue Service (IRA) seeking approval of the qualification of their individually-designed plan who now prefer instead to adopt a pre-approved cash balance plan should act quickly to withdraw their pending application.  The IRS has announced that these parties can get a refund of the application fee paid for the individually-designed plan application by signing the Form 8905, Certification of Intent to Adopt a Pre-approved Plan , by March 31, 2014 and withdrawing their pending applications for individually designed cash balance plans by May 31, 2014 in accordance with the instructions set forth later in this article.

Background

Announcement 2014-4 extended the submission period for pre-approved defined benefit pension plans from January 31, 2014, to February 2, 2015, to allow time for the IRS to expand the pre-approved program to let plans with cash balance features. The announcement also allowed Cycle C plan sponsors who want to adopt a pre-approved cash balance plan to complete and sign a Form 8905, Certification of Intent to Adopt a Pre-approved Plan by March 31, 2014, instead of submitting determination letter applications for individually designed plans by the Cycle C deadline of January 31, 2014.

Withdrawals for Cycle C Applicants For Individually-Designed Cash Balance Plan Approval

Cycle C applicants who already submitted their applications for individually-designed cash balance plans during the second Cycle C remedial amendment cycle that ended January 31, 2014, and who instead wish to adopt a pre-approved cash balance plan, may sign the Form 8905, withdraw the application, and request a refund of the user fee by complying with the instructions below.

The IRS says that a request for return of A Cycle C determination letter application and a refund of the user fee must be made in writing and  postmarked (or faxed) by May 31, 2014 to:  Internal Revenue Service 550 Main Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 Attn:  Joyce Heinbuch.  Correspondence sent via Fax should be sent to the attention of Ms. Heinbuch at (513) 263-4699 (not a toll-free call).

The written request must include:

• the name of the plan sponsor
• plan number
• EIN
• the document locator number, if known (shown on your IRS acknowledgement letter)
• the following statement in bold letters: “Per Announcement 2014-4, we are withdrawing this application in order to submit under the pre-approved program.”

For additional information and resources, see   Deadline Extended For Pre-Approved Defined Benefit Plans and FAQs on Withdrawing Cycle C Applications or contact your preferred employee benefit attorney.

 For Representation, Training & Other Resources

If you need assistance monitoring or responding to these and other regulatory policy, enforcement, litigation or other developments, or to review or respond to these or other workforce, benefits and compensation, performance and risk management, compliance, enforcement or management concerns, the author of this update, attorney Cynthia Marcotte Stamer may be able to help.

Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law, Past Chair of the ABA RPTE Employee Benefit & Other Compensation Arrangements Group, Co-Chair and Past Chair of the ABA RPTE Welfare Plan Committee, Vice Chair of the ABA TIPS Employee Benefit Plans Committee, Vice President of the North Texas Health Care Compliance Professionals Association, Past Chair of the ABA Health Law Section Managed Care & Insurance Section and the former Board Compliance Chair of the National Kidney Foundation of North Texas, Ms. Stamer has more than 25 years’ experience advising health plan and employee benefit, insurance, financial services, employer and health industry clients about these and other matters. Ms. Stamer has extensive experience advising and assisting health care providers, health plans, their business associates and other health industry clients to establish and administer medical privacy and other compliance and risk management policies, to health care industry investigation, enforcement and other compliance, public policy, regulatory, staffing, and other operations and risk management concerns. The scribe for the ABA JCEB Annual Agency Meeting with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) for the past several years who has worked on medical and other privacy concerns throughout her career, she regularly designs and presents HIPAA and other risk management, compliance and other training for health plans, employers, health care providers, professional associations and others, defends covered entities and business associates against OCR, FTC and other privacy and data security investigations, serves as special counsel in litigation arising from these concerns and is the author of several highly regarded publications on HIPAA and other privacy and security concerns.

Ms. Stamer also regularly works with OCR, FTC, USSS, FBI and state and local law enforcement on privacy, data security, health care, benefits and insurance and other matters, publishes and speaks extensively on medical and other privacy and data security, health and managed care industry regulatory, staffing and human resources, compensation and benefits, technology, public policy, reimbursement and other operations and risk management concerns. Her publications and insights appear in the Health Care Compliance Association, Atlantic Information Service, Bureau of National Affairs, World At Work, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insurance, the Dallas Morning News, Modern Health Care, Managed Healthcare, Health Leaders, and a many other national and local publications. For instance, Ms. Stamer for the third year will serve as the appointed scribe for the ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits Agency meeting with OCR. Her insights on HIPAA risk management and compliance frequently appear in medical privacy related publications of a broad range of health care, health plan and other industry publications Among others, she has conducted privacy training for the Association of State & Territorial Health Plans (ASTHO), the Los Angeles Health Department, the American Bar Association, the Health Care Compliance Association, a multitude of health industry, health plan, insurance and financial services, education, employer employee benefit and other clients, trade and professional associations and others.  You can get more information about her HIPAA and other experience here.

You can review other recent human resources, employee benefits and internal controls publications and resources and additional information about the employment, employee benefits and other experience of the Cynthia Marcotte Stamer, PC here. If you or someone else you know would like to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns, please be sure that we have your current contact information – including your preferred e-mail – by creating or updating your profile www.cynthiastamer.com or by registering to participate in the distribution of these and other updates on our HR & Employee Benefits Update distributions here including:

• IRS Published Covered Compensation Table For 2014 
• J.P. Morgan Chase Hit For $461M For Madoff-Related Bank Secrecy Act Violations
• Dermatology Practice To Pay $150K To Settle Charges It Breached  HIPAA Breach Notice Rule
• Employer Faces $2M FLSA Lawsuit For Alleged Worker Misclassification
• Agencies Proposes To Treat Certain EAP, Dental and Vision Only Plans As ACA & HIPAA Excepted Benefits
• Businesses Performing Income, Payroll Tax Duties For Employers Confirm Compliance With Updated IRS Procedures
• IRS To Tax Health Insurers On Assessments To Cover ACA Section 9010 Annual Fee

If you or someone else you know would like to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns, please be sure that we have your current contact information including your preferred e-mail by creating or updating your profile here. For important information concerning this communication click here.  ©2014 Cynthia Marcotte Stamer. Limited, non-exclusive right to republished granted to Solutions Law Press, Inc. All other rights reserved.