Definition of Plan Assets—Participant Contributions

The Department's regulation at 29 CFR 2510.3-102 states that monies that a participant pays to, or has withheld by, an employer for contribution to an employee benefit plan become “plan assets” for purposes of Title I of ERISA and the related prohibited transaction provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) as of the earliest date on which such monies can be reasonably segregated from the employer's general assets. The regulation also establishes specific maximum time limits for contributions becoming plan assets that apply to employee pension benefit plans (with a special rule for SIMPLE IRA plans) and employee welfare benefit plans. The regulation sets a maximum time limit of 15 business days following the end of the month in which the participant contribution amounts are received or withheld by the employer. The regulation includes a procedure through which an employer receiving or withholding participant contributions for an employee pension benefit plan may obtain a 10-business-day extension of the 15-day maximum time period for contributions received or withheld in a single month if certain requirements, including information collection requirements, are met. The regulation requires, among other things, that the employer provide written notice to plan participants within five business days after the end of the extension period and the employer's transfer of the contributions to the plan, for which the employer elected to take the extension that month. The notice must explain why the employer could not transfer the participant contributions within the maximum time period, state that the participant contributions in question have in fact been transmitted to the plan, and provide the date on which this was done. The employer must also provide a copy of the participant notice to the Secretary, along with a certification that the notice was distributed to participants and that the other requirements under the extension procedure were met, within five business days after the end of the extension period.

The latest form for Definition of Plan Assets—Participant Contributions expires 2028-04-30 and can be found here.