Advisory Opinions

Requests for interpretations and other rulings under Title 1 of ERISA are handled by the Office of Regulations and Interpretations under the provisions established by ERISA Procedure 76-1. The office answers inquiries from individuals and organizations in the form of advisory opinions, which apply the law to a specific set of facts, or information letters, which merely call attention to well established principles or interpretations.

Data Dictionary

Start Date

Select Reference

**1982**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1982-26A 06/09/1982 408(b)(2)	Mr. Larry R. Linhart Murphey, Young & Smith 250 East Broad Street Columbus, Ohio 43215	Whether the provision of trust services, including investment management, and brokerage services by the Ohio Company to employee benefit plans under contracts with the plan sponsors where all costs for the services will be paid directly by the plan sponsors is prohibited under ERISA.
1982-25A 06/08/1982 3(1) 3(4)	Mr. Kendrick King Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Prosecuting Attorney of McDowell County Post Office Drawer AE Welch, West Virginia 24801	Whether the Jacobs Fork Operation Burial Fund Association, a voluntary association of employees at a coal mine site in McDowell County, West Virginia that provides death benefits in the event of the death of a member or of certain dependents of a member, is covered by ERISA.
1982-24A 06/04/1982	Mary L. Burton, Assistant Vice President Tax Benefit Account Manager Home Federal Savings and Loan Association Post Office Box 2871 Tucson, Arizona 85702	Whether the offering by Home Federal Savings and Loan Association of its High Yield Plan as an investment alternative to individual retirement account plans and Keogh plans for which it serves as trustee would cause the plans to be disqualified under section 4975 of the Code.
1982-23A 05/21/1982 3(2) 403(c )(1) 404(a)(1) 514	Honorable Jose Enrique Arraras President, Treasury Committee House of Representatives Capitol San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901	Whether a bill amending the Puerto Rico income tax law by authorizing the establishment of Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) in Puerto Rico and establishing the conditions under which IRA contributions will be deductible under the Puerto Rican income tax law would be preempted by ERISA.
1982-22A 05/12/1982 3(21)(A) 406(b) 408(b)(2) 408(b)(8)	Mr. Ben E. Benjamin O'Melveny & Myers 1800 M Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036	Whether the provision of investment management services by SPNB and/or its affiliates in connection with the maintenance of a common or collective trust fund violates the prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA? Whether it would be exempt from the prohibitions of section 406 of ERISA if the conditions of section 408(b)(8) are met?
1982-21A 04/21/1982 104(b)(4) 404(a)(1)(D)	Gerald S. Clay, Esq. Stanton and Clay Suite 1655 Pioneer Plaza 900 Fort Street Honolulu, Hawaii 96813	Whether the Trustees of the Glass/Metal Association of Hawaii and Glaziers and Glassworkers Training, Vacation, Health and Welfare, and Pension Funds (the Trustees) are required under ERISA to provide minutes of the Trustees' meetings, the treasurer's reports, audited reports by Certified Public Accountants, and reports submitted to the State and Federal governments to "contributing employers who are not participants or beneficiary parties" in the Funds.
1982-20A 04/15/1982	Mr. C.W. Crumpecker, Jr. Swanson, Midgley, Gangwere, Clarke & Kitchin 1500 Commerce Bank Building Kansas City, Missouri 64106	Whether the proposed sale of employer stock between two plans (the Yellow Freight Profit-Sharing Trust and the Yellow Freight System, Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Trust) with the same plan sponsor is exempt from the prohibited transaction provisions of section 406 of ERISA and from the taxes imposed by section 4975 of the Code by reason of section 408(e) of ERISA. Whether the method of determining the purchase price of the common stock is permissible under section 408(e) of ERISA.
1982-19A 03/26/1982 407(d)(3)	R. F. Sharpe, Jr., Esq. R. J. Reynolds Industries, Inc. World Headquarters Winston-Salem, NC 27102	Whether the R. J. Reynolds Industries, Inc. Individual Retirement Account Plan is a "savings plan" and, as amended, is an "eligible individual account plan" under section 407(d)(3) of ERISA.
1982-18A 03/22/1982 3(2)	Ms. Sheila E. Schlitter Chapman and Cutler 111 West Monroe Street Chicago, Illinois 60603	Whether an individual retirement account (IRA) payroll deduction program would be treated as an employee pension benefit plan under title I of ERISA solely because of a payment by the employer of an administrative fee to be charged by the IRA sponsor to offset the expenses of payroll deduction which are incurred by the IRA sponsor.
1982-17A 03/10/1982	Ms. Char A. Short Manager of Client Services A.S. Hansen, Inc. Suite 1000, Pennzoil Place 711 Louisiana Street Houston, Texas 77002	Whether Revenue Ruling 81-137 impacts the reporting and disclosure requirements under Part 1 of Title I of ERISA.