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Guidance Document Database
The documents listed below are PBGC’s guidance documents. The contents of these documents do not have the force and effect of law, unless expressly authorized by statute or incorporated into a contract, and are not meant to bind the public in any way. These documents are intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.
If you would like to comment on an existing guidance document, please submit your comment, including your contact information, to the General Counsel at GuidanceComments@pbgc.gov or at Regulatory Affairs Division, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Office of the General Counsel, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024-2101.
Title | Issuance Date | Agency Identifier (indexed field) | Topics | Summary | Posted Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Opinion Letter 75-104 | 7-8-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-104 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Licensed veterinarians are “licensed practitioners of the healing arts” for purposes of the Professional Service Employer plan exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 94-06 | 9-28-1994 | PBGC Op Let 94-6 | Plan administrator, Premiums | Discusses the conditions under which a plan administrator would be subject to personal liability to cover unpaid premiums. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 79-15 | 11-15-1979 | PBGC Op Let 79-15 | Coverage; Guarantee phase-in | A successor plan’s tax-qualified status cannot be attributed to another, non-qualified plan, and the phase-in of PBGC’s guarantee begins only when the plan is covered. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 83-13 | 6-10-1983 | PBGC Op Let 83-13 | Construction industry, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses the definition of the term "building and construction industry" for purposes of the construction industry exception to withdrawal. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 86-09 | 4-10-1986 | PBGC Op Let 86-9 | Successor liability, Plans covered, Benefit guarantee | Plans found not to be successor plans where there is a clear delineation of separate plans maintained by separate employers with the phase-in of guaranteed benefits beginning at the later of the adoption date or effective date of each plan. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 83-11 | 5-16-1983 | PBGC Op Let 83-11 | Withdrawal, Multiemployer | Addresses whether an employer who contributes to a multiemployer plan withdraws from the plan as a consequence of forming a wholly owned subsidiary which assumes all of its obligations to the plan. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-23 | 8-14-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-23 | Governmental plan, Coverage | Plan meets the Governmental plan coverage exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 85-21 | 8-26-1985 | PBGC Op Let 85-21 | Implementation Guidelines, Termination | Implementation Guidelines do not apply to split-up of pension plan, with subsequent termination of one plan and reversion of excess assets. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-86 | 6-25-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-86 | Individual account plan, Coverage | Plan is not an Individual account. Plan is not exempt from Title IV coverage. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 74-10 | 11-8-1974 | PBGC Op Let 74-10 | Premiums | Premiums may be paid from the plan's assets or the employer's assets. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 84-06 | 10-25-1984 | PBGC Op Let 84-6 | Termination | Denies a Notice of Intent to Terminate on the basis that the plan did not intend to provide for annuity purchase for actives, instead spinning them off into a new plan. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 82-09 | 3-26-1982 | PBGC Op Let 82-09 | Construction industry, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses the definition of the term "building and construction industry" for purposes of the construction industry exception to withdrawal. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-23 | 3-11-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-23 | Benefit guarantee | Addresses ambiguities and how PBGC will resolve them in the application of the phase-in of guaranteed benefits. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-63 | 5-6-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-63 | tax qualification, Coverage | Plan is a pay as you go plan. Plan is not tax qualified and thus is not covered under Title IV. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-61 | 4-30-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-61 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | A physician-owned company is a professional service employer plan. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-40 | 12-9-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-40 | Governmental plan, Coverage | Plan does not meet the Governmental plan coverage exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-24 | 8-21-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-24 | Residual assets | Addresses the distribution of residual assets to an employer. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-13 | 1-6-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-13 | Individual account plan, Coverage | Individual account plan is exempt from coverage |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 77-160 | 8-30-1977 | PBGC Op Let 77-160 | Allocation of assets | Following plan terms, the plan may be charged for reasonable termination-related expenses for which the plan is responsible. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 85-27 | 12-2-1985 | PBGC Op Let 85-27 | Pre-MPPAA withdrawals, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Discusses how pre-MPPAA withdrawals affect the calculation of the annual withdrawal liability payment. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 88-08 | 5-2-1988 | PBGC Op Let 88-08 | Withdrawal, Construction industry, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses determining the date of a construction industry employer's withdrawal from a multiemployer plan in the context of a labor dispute. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-117 | 11-3-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-117 | Termination | No plan termination occurred when subsidiaries ended plan participation. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-15 | 1-24-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-15 | defined contribution plans, Coverage | Defined contribution plans are not covered plans under Title IV. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 94-05 | 9-27-1994 | PBGC Op Let 94-05 | Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability, Unfunded vested benefits | Addresses whether the amount of a multiemployer plan’s unfunded vested benefits may be retroactively corrected when a computational error resulted in overassessment and overpayment of withdrawal liability. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 74-27 | 12-13-1974 | PBGC Op Let 74-27 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | PBGC could not determine that an employer engaged in services different than those specified in 4021(c) was a professional service employer. |
2-28-2020 |