IRS 401(k) Savings Plan Checklist

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has published a brochure and checklist to assist 401(k) savings plan sponsors in conducting a “check-up” of their plans. The booklet, “Have you had your Check-up this year?” describes the 401(k) Plan Checklist, lists publications and forms that are helpful in operating a 401(k) savings plan, summarizes common mistakes and briefly describes the IRS’ correction programs.

The 401(k) Plan Checklist includes ten questions about the plan’s compliance with key IRS rules. The Web-based version of the Checklist has links to expanded explanations and IRS resources. For example, one can use links to detailed information about highly compensated employees, nondiscrimination testing and eligible employees.

The booklet, Publication 3066, can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/ye89au.

The 401(k) Plan Checklist, Publication 4531, can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/yk2mah.

Both can also be obtained by contacting the IRS at 800-829-3676.

Of course, one way to avoid issues that these types of “check-ups” tend to uncover is to work with a true discretionary fiduciary with a spotless client audit record. Did you know, that NO Client has ever failed a DOL or IRS audit of its qualified plan while Unified Trust served it? One of the reasons why? Unified conducts a rigorous “front-end fiduciary audit” of each plan it takes over. In this process, we attempt to uncover plan shortfalls, historical prohibited transactions or other possible fiduciary breaches and guide and assist the client in correcting these before they become an issue down the road. While no service provider can guaranty a clear audit, we are proud of our record and proud that our guidance has assisted clients remain compliant with DOL and IRS guidelines.