Woodbury, NY (PRWEB) November 15, 2013
Gettry Marcus CPA, P.C., provides steps that businesses can take to correct errors in employee retirement plans.
Employee benefit plans are under great scrutiny by the Department of Labor (DOL). If a plan is not complying with plan provisions or just has errors in its operations, there are steps that can be taken to fix these problems. Generally, if a plan is not currently being audited by the IRS, a business can apply under the voluntary correction program ("VCP") with the IRS to correct the errors. If not corrected, these errors could result in penalty or even worse, loss of the plan's tax favored status. The VCP helps bring the plan back into compliance with federal tax law, protects tax deductions, insures that all participants' retirement savings continue to accumulate tax-free, prevents the business from paying larger penalties if uncovered by the IRS on audit, along with other advantages.
The VCP provides descriptions of the various categories of plan "failures" and their methods of correction. The plan must follow IRS procedures when applying under the VCP:
- Identify the error
- Follow the process for correcting the violation
- Calculate and restore any losses with interest and distribute to plan participants
- File an application with IRS showing evidence of the corrective action taken
- Receive compliance statement from IRS
The VCP is one of three programs offered by the IRS for correcting failures under the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS). The other two EPCRS programs are the Self-Correction Program, which can be used to correct certain operational failures, and the Audit Closing Agreement Program, for when a failure is discovered on audit by the IRS. The plan is entitled to preserve the tax benefits associated with the plan by complying with the terms of the Closing Agreement Program. Also, fiduciary violations such as delinquent participant contributions may be correctable under the Department of Labor's Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP).
Gettry Marcus CPA, P.C. is a Top 200 firm nationally with offices in Woodbury, Long Island and New York City. We provide accounting, tax, and consulting services to commercial businesses, high net worth individuals and various industries which include Real Estate and Health Care. We have one of the premier and most credentialed Business Valuation, Litigation and Forensic Accounting Groups in the New York Area. Our experience in diverse industries and a highly talented and experienced professional staff gives us the ability to share valuable insights into our clients’ businesses, to better understand their goals and problems and to help them attain the vision they have for their company.
Gettry Marcus is "Always Looking Deeper" to build value for our clients.
Media inquiries: Contact Fayellen Dietchweiler at 516-364-3390 ext. 225 or via email at fdietchweiler (at) gettrymarcus (dot) com.