Type of plan |
457(b) Plan |
401(k) Plan |
403(b) Plan |
Deemed IRA |
May state or local governmental employer
maintain this type of plan? |
Yes. |
No, unless it has a grandfathered 401(k)
plan. |
Only if it is a public school or
university, or a portion of another agency that is
treated as an educational institution (e.g., an
educational program for convicts that is part of a state
prison system). |
Yes. |
Can a church employer that has not made
an election under I.R.C. § 410(d) to be subject to ERISA
("nonelecting church") maintain? |
A nonelecting church is exempt from
I.R.C. § 457(b). Thus, it can maintain an unfunded
deferred compensation plan, but is not subject to the
I.R.C. § 457(b) requirements and cannot maintain a
funded arrangement. |
Yes. |
Yes. |
Yes. |
Can a tax-exempt employer, other than a
government or nonelecting church, maintain? |
Only for highly compensated and
management employees. |
Yes. |
Only if it is a § 501(c)(3)
organization. |
Yes. |
Can the plan cover employees of related
taxable entities? |
No, although an unfunded deferred
compensation plan can be maintained for highly
compensated and management employees of taxable
affiliates. |
Yes. |
No. |
Yes. However, because a deemed IRA can be
part of another kind of plan (e.g., 401(a) or 403(b)), a
related taxable entity that also wishes to maintain a
deemed IRA may have to use a different plan for the
deemed IRA, if it is not eligible to maintain the plan
of which the deemed IRA is a part. |
Are there limits on elective
deferrals? |
Lesser of a dollar limit or 100% of
pre-plan compensation. The dollar limit is $14,000 in
2005 and $15,000 in 2006, after which indexing for
cost-of-living changes begins. 457(b) plans need no
longer be combined with other plans in applying
limits. |
Lesser of a dollar limit or 100% of
pre-plan compensation. The dollar limit is $14,000 in
2005 and $15,000 in 2006, after which indexing for
cost-of-living changes begins. 401(k) plans need to be
combined only with other 401(k) plans or 403(b) plans
(not 457(b) plans) in applying limits. |
Lesser of a dollar limit or 100% of
pre-plan compensation. The dollar limit is $14,000 in
2005 and $15,000 in 2006, after which indexing for
cost-of-living changes begins. Special catch-up
elections are available for certain long-service
employees or for the last three years of employment
prior to normal retirement date. 403(b) plans need only
be combined with other 403(b) plans or 401(k) plans (not
457(b) plans) in applying limits. |
$4,000 in any one year. (This limit will
rise to $5,000 for 2008, and will be subject to
cost-of-living adjustments for years after 2008.) To the
extent that an employee covered by a deemed IRA has
income in excess of certain specified levels, and also
participates in an employer plan, the deductability of
contributions may be limited. However, contributions are
not offset against other types of employer plans, but
only against other IRAs or deemed IRAs. |
Are catch-up provisions available to
increase the maximum elective deferrals? |
Catch-up available under 457(b)(3) for
one or more of the participant's last 3 taxable years
ending before he attains normal retirement age under the
plan. Catch-up available under 457(e)(18) and 414(v) for
governmental plans only, for participants age 50 or
over. If both catch-ups apply, only the higher of the
two, not both of the two, may be taken. |
Catch-up available under 402(g) and
414(v), for participants age 50 or over. |
Catch-up available under 402(g) and
414(v), for participants age 50 or over. Catch-up
available under 402(g)(7) for employees who have at
least 15 years of service with certain organizations. If
both catch-ups apply, the individual can take the sum of
the two. |
No. |
Are there limits on total contributions
? |
Same as the limit on elective
deferrals. |
Lesser of $42,000 (for 2005; as indexed
in later years) or 100% of pre-plan compensation. Other
qualified plans are combined in determining the limit.
403(b) and 457(b) plans do not count in determining the
limit for a governmental 401(k) plan. |
Lesser of $42,000 (for 2005; as indexed
in later years) or 100% of pre-plan compensation.
Qualified plans, other than a plan maintained by a
business the employee controls, do not count in
determining the limit for 403(b) plans. 457(b) plans do
not count in determining the limit for a governmental
403(b) plan. Other 403(b) plans are combined in
determining the limit. |
Same as the limit on elective
contributions. |
Is there an excise tax on excess
contributions? |
No. |
Governmental plans are exempt. |
Only if the 403(b) contract is a
custodial account described in Code Section 403(b)(7),
as opposed to an annuity contract. |
Yes. |
Can the plan provide for participant
loans? |
Yes, in the case of a governmental 457(b)
plan, subject to maximum limits under 72(p) to avoid
taxation of the participant; loans from other 457(b)
plans will give rise to participant taxation. |
Yes, subject to maximum limits under
72(p) to avoid taxation of the participant. |
Yes, subject to maximum limits under
72(p) to avoid taxation of the participant. |
No. A loan is always taxed as if it were
a distribution. |
What are other effects of violating
limits on total contributions ? |
In the case of a governmental plan that
includes the limits in the plan but violates them
administratively, the plan continues to be considered a
457(b) plan until the first day of the first plan year
that begins more than 180 days after the date the IRS
notifies the employer of the problem and will continue
to be a 457(b) plan then if the employer has fixed the
problem. |
Disqualification of the plan. |
Only amount in excess of the limits is
taxable. |
If the deemed IRA is a free-standing
plan, only the amount in excess of the limits is
taxable. However, if the deemed IRA is part of another
plan (e.g., a 401(a) plan), a violation on the part of
the deemed IRA can jeopardize the qualification of the
entire 401(a) plan. |
What is the effect of the vesting
schedule on contribution limits? |
No effect. |
No effect. |
Contributions count for Section 415(c)
purposes only when they vest. |
N/A. Contributions must be fully
vested. |
Can money be rolled in from a 401(k) or
other qualified plan? |
Yes, for a governmental 457(b) plan; no
for nongovernmental plans. |
Yes. |
Yes. |
Yes. |
Can money be rolled in from a 403(b)
plan? |
Yes, for a governmental 457(b) plan; no
for nongovernmental plans. |
Yes. |
Yes. |
Yes. |
Can money be rolled in from a 457(b)
plan? |
Yes, for a governmental 457(b) plan. For
a nongovernmental 457(b) plan, similar results may in
some instances be available through a plan-to-plan
transfer. |
Yes. |
Yes. |
Yes. |
Can tax on distributions be deferred by
rolling them into another plan or an IRA? |
No for nongovernmental plans; yes for
governmental plans. For nongovernmental plans, can defer
taxes only by direct transfer to another 457(b) plan. |
Yes. |
Yes. |
Yes. |
Is there a trust requirement? |
A governmental 457(b) plan must be funded
by assets insulated from the claims of the employer's
creditors, such as a trust or an insurance contract. A
nongovernmental plan may not be funded, except by an
investment that is subject to the claims of the
employer's general creditors. |
Yes, unless plan is fully insured. |
No, but must have annuity contracts or
custodial accounts. |
No, but must have a custodial account.
However, a governmental employer can itself be the
custodian. |
Are funds protected from creditors of
employees? |
Probably yes. See Rousey v. Jacoway, __
U.S. ___ (April 4, 2005), holding that an individual
retirement account, although not subject to ERISA, was
nevertheless exempt from the claims of creditors under
11 U. S. C. §522(d)(10)(E). Similar reasoning should
apply to a 457(b) plan. |
Probably yes. See Rousey v. Jacoway, __
U.S. ___ (April 4, 2005), holding that an individual
retirement account, although not subject to ERISA, was
nevertheless exempt from the claims of creditors under
11 U. S. C. §522(d)(10)(E). Similar reasoning should
apply to a 401(k) plan. |
Probably yes. See Rousey v. Jacoway, __
U.S. ___ (April 4, 2005), holding that an individual
retirement account, although not subject to ERISA, was
nevertheless exempt from the claims of creditors under
11 U. S. C. §522(d)(10)(E). Similar reasoning should
apply to a 403(b) plan. |
Probably yes. See Rousey v. Jacoway, __
U.S. ___ (April 4, 2005), holding that an individual
retirement account, although not subject to ERISA, was
nevertheless exempt from the claims of creditors under
11 U. S. C. §522(d)(10)(E). Similar reasoning should
apply to a deemed IRA. |
Is there a prohibition on discrimination
in favor of highly compensated employees? |
No. In fact, a nongovernmental 457(b)
plan must be limited to a select group of management or
highly compensated employees, in order to prevent the
prohibition on funding under section 457(b) from
conflicting with the normal ERISA requirement that a
plan be funded. |
Yes, except in the case of a plan of a
state or local government. However, IRS Notice 2003-6
003-3 I.R.B. 298 (January 21, 2003) delayed the
application of these rules in the case of a governmental
entity other than a state or local government (e.g., a
federal government agency or an international
organization) until the first day of the first plan year
beginning on or after the date final regulations
describing the application of these provisions to such
plans are issued, and delayed the application of these
rules until at least 2005 in the case of a church. These
rules include restrictions on the actual level of
contributions as well as on the opportunity to
contribute. The rules do not apply, however, if no
highly compensated employees participate in the plan. |
In the case of salary reduction
contributions, simplified rules measure only
availability of the right to make contributions, not
actual contribution levels. In the case of other
contributions, state and local governments and
nonelecting church plans are not subject to
nondiscrimination requirements, but other governmental
employers are. For this purpose, a church-controlled
organization is not a church. IRS Notice 2003-6 003-3
I.R.B. 298 (January 21, 2003) delayed the application of
these rules in the case of a governmental entity other
than a state or local government (e.g., an educational
institution operated by a federal government agency) )
until the first day of the first plan year beginning on
or after the date final regulations describing the
application of these provisions to such plans are
issued. |
Yes, as to availability. However, no
testing need be performed on the amounts actually
deferred by employees. |
Are there salary reduction distribution
restrictions? |
Yes. |
Yes. |
Apply to elective deferrals made after
December 31, 1988, and to earnings accrued after
December 31, 1988 on both pre-1989 and post-1988
deferrals. |
There are penalties on early withdrawal,
but not prohibitions. |
Is there an exception to salary reduction
distribution restrictions for hardships? |
Only if the hardship represents an
"unforeseeable emergency." |
Yes. |
Yes, but the exception applies only to
the salary reduction contributions themselves, not to
income on them. |
NA |
Is there an exception to salary reduction
distribution restrictions for plan terminations? |
Yes. |
Yes. |
Yes, at least under proposed regulations.
Prop. Treas. Reg 1.403(b)-10 (November 14, 2004). |
NA |
Do the minimum distribution requirements
of section 401(a)(9) apply? |
Yes. |
Yes. |
Yes, for elective deferrals made after
December 31, 1988, and to earnings accrued after
December 31, 1988 on both pre-1989 and post-1988
deferrals. Pre-1987 account balances are subject to less
stringent rules under which distributions need not
commence until the later of termination of employment or
the date on which the employee attains (or in the case
of a deceased employee, would have attained) age 75. |
Yes. |
Does Title I of ERISA apply? |
Governmental Section 457(b) plans are
exempt from Title I of ERISA.
Nongovernmental
plans must limit coverage to a select group of
management or highly compensated employees in order to
avoid ERISA Title I coverage, which would require
funding incompatible with a nongovernmental 457(b)
plan. |
Yes, except in the case of a governmental
or church plan. |
No, in the case of a
salary-reduction-only plan that meets certain
requirements, or a governmental or church plan; yes in
other instances. |
No. |
Do prohibited transaction rules apply? |
Cross-reference to Code Section 401(a) in
Code Section 457(g) may make Section 503(b) prohibited
transaction rules applicable to governmental 457(b)
plans. Nongovernmental 457(b) plans are not covered by
prohibited transaction rules. |
Strict prohibited transaction rules under
I.R.C. § 4975 apply to plans other than governmental or
nonelecting church plans. Looser prohibited transaction
rules under I.R.C. § 503(b) apply to governmental plans.
In addition, some states apply prohibited transaction
rules to governmental plans. |
No, unless imposed by state or local
law. |
Yes, under Code section 408. |
Are IRS determination letters
available? |
Only possible through National Office
private letter ruling; no prototype submissions. |
Yes. |
Only possible through National Office
private letter ruling; no prototype submissions. |
No. |
Is there IRS audit activity? |
IRS is targeting 457(b) plans for
audit. |
No specific focus on 401(k) plans. |
IRS is targeting 403(b) plans for
audit. |
No specific focus on deemed IRAs. |
Are correction programs available? |
The IRS will accept submissions relating
to governmental 457(b) plans on a provisional basis
outside of EPCRS. No corrections program is available
for nongovernmental 457(b) plans. |
EPCRS. |
EPCRS. |
No. |
What state income tax considerations
apply? |
A few states have not brought their rules
regarding 457(b) plans into conformity with federal law,
which may lead to more restrictive rules in those
states. |
Typically none. |
Some states (e.g., New Jersey and
Pennsylvania) impose income taxes on all 403(b)
contributions. |
Typically none. |
What practical considerations apply? |
- 457(b) plans are not really understood as a 401(k)
equivalent.
- Fewer entities provide services to 457(b) plans
than to 401(k) or 403(b) plans. In many instances, the
investment choices readily available are much less
favorable.
- 457(b) plans have become quite attractive as a
supplement to 401(k) or 403(b) plans, if an employer
wishes to provide for larger tax deferred
contributions.
|
- Determination letters available; prototype
submissions possible.
- Overwhelming popularity makes 401(k) plans a
recognizable commodity to most individuals.
- Good software and support materials are available.
- Better understanding in vendor
community
|
- 403(b) plans are not really understood as a 401(k)
equivalent.
- Good 403(b) software not as available.
- Vendor understanding of 403(b) plans more
limited.
|
- These plans do not provide a tax advantage over
independently owned IRAs. Rather, they are designed to
allow an employer to facilitate IRA ownership by
employees.
|