Instructions for Form 5310-A (Rev. November 2010) Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service Notice of Plan Merger or Consolidation, Spinoff, or Transfer of Plan Assets or Liabilities; Notice of Qualified Separate Lines of Business Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless otherwise noted. What's New The form and instructions have undergone revisions in the format and the information required. Review these documents before completing the notice. General Instructions Purpose of Form Form 5310-A is used by employers to give notice of: � A plan merger or consolidation that is the combining of two or more plans into a single plan. � A plan spinoff that is the splitting of a single plan into two or more spinoff plans. � A plan transfer of plan assets or liabilities to another plan that is the splitting off of a portion of the assets or liabilities of the transferor plan and the concurrent acquisition or assumption of these split-off assets or liabilities by the transferee plan. � Qualified separate lines of business (QSLOBs). Note. An IRS determination letter will not be issued when a Form 5310-A is filed. merger. In the case of a plan spinoff, file Form 5310-A only for the plan in existence before the spinoff. � Qualified separate lines of business. The employer must file notice that it elects to be treated as operating QSLOBs or that it either modifies or revokes a previously filed notice. Only one notice per employer, within the meaning of sections 414(b), (c), and (m) is required. Examples Example One - Initial Notice Employer A is composed of four separate corporations that are treated as one employer within the meaning of section 414(b). Employer A treats each corporation as a separate line of business. The 2008 testing year is the first year for which Employer A elects to be treated as operating QSLOBs for the purpose of section 410(b) (see When To File for a definition of "testing year"). Employer A must file Form 5310-A and provide information on each of the four QSLOBs on or before the notification date for the 2008 testing year (see When To File for a definition of "notification date"). If the notice is not timely filed, Employer A is not treated as operating QSLOBs for purposes of the coverage rules for the 2008 testing year (see Part III ). filed a new notice for the 2009 testing year. During 2010, Employer A elects not to treat itself as operating QSLOBs for the 2010 testing year. Employer A must revoke the last notice it filed (that is, the notice for the 2009 testing year). Employer A must revoke the notice filed for the 2009 testing year by filing Form 5310-A for the 2010 testing year and indicating on line 9 of the Form 5310-A that it is revoking a previously filed notice and is no longer testing on a QSLOB basis. If such notice is not filed on or before the notification date for the 2010 testing year, the notice filed for the 2009 testing year will be treated as the only notice filed for the 2010 testing year (see Part III). Exceptions From Filing Notice of Plan Merger or Consolidation, Spinoff, or Transfer of Plan Assets or Liabilities Direct rollover. Do not file Form 5310-A for an eligible rollover distribution that is paid directly to an eligible retirement plan in a direct rollover as described in section 401(a)(31). Plan merger or consolidation or spinoff. Do not file Form 5310-A if the plan merger or consolidation or the spinoff complies with Regulations section 1.414(l)-1(d), (h), (m), or (n)(2). Generally, these requirements will be satisfied in the following four situations: 1. Two or more defined contribution plans are merged and all of the following conditions are met: a. The sum of the account balances in each plan prior to the merger (including unallocated forfeitures, an unallocated suspense account for excess annual additions, and an unallocated suspense account for an ESOP) equals the fair market value of the entire plan assets. Example. Neither plan has an outstanding section 412(d) waiver balance. American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com Example Two - Modification The facts are the same as in Example One. During the 2009 testing year, Employer A sold QSLOB four. Also, assume that Employer A timely filed Form 5310-A for the 2008 testing year. For the 2009 testing year, Employer A intends to treat QSLOBs one and two as a single QSLOB. Employer A must modify its initial notice by filing Form 5310-A on or before the notification date for the 2009 testing year, including a revised list of QSLOBs for line 11 of the form. If Employer A does not timely provide a new notice, the initial notice filed for the 2008 testing year will be treated as the only notice filed for the 2009 testing year (see Part III). Who Must File or other deferred compensation plan. Any sponsor or plan administrator of a pension, profit-sharing, or other deferred compensation plan (except a multi-employer plan covered by Public Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) insurance) should file this form for a plan merger or consolidation, a spinoff, or a transfer of plan assets or liabilities to another plan. See section 6058(b). Note. This form must be filed for each plan with a separate employer identification and plan number if that plan is involved in a merger or transfer of plan assets or liabilities. This includes plans that were not in existence before the plan merger and plans that cease to exist after the plan � Pension plan, profit-sharing plan, Example Three - Revocation The facts are the same as in Example Two. Assume that Employer A timely Cat. No. 12899J b. The assets of each plan are combined to form the assets of the plan as merged. c. Immediately after the merger, each participant in the plan has an account balance equal to the sum of the account balances the participant had in the plans immediately prior to the merger. 2. There is a spinoff of a defined contribution plan and all of the following conditions are met: a. The sum of the account balances in the plan prior to the spinoff equals the fair market value of the entire plan assets. Example. The plan does not have an outstanding section 412(d) waiver balance. b. The sum of the account balances for each of the participants in the resulting plan(s) equals the account balances of the participants in the plan before the spinoff. c. The assets in each of the plans immediately after the spinoff equal the sum of the account balances for all participants in that plan. Example. The plan does n