Illinois Administrative Code › Title 74 - PUBLIC FINANCE › Part 760 - REVISED UNIFORM UNCLAIMED PROPERTY ACT › Subpart B - PRESUMPTION OF ABANDONMENT › Section 760.200 - Tax-Deferred and Tax-Exempt Accounts

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) Sections 15-202 and 15-203 of the Act
				indicate when "tax deferred" and "tax exempt" accounts are presumptively
				abandoned. Section 15-202 prescribes the rules for tax deferred and tax exempt
				retirement accounts and Section 15-203 prescribes the rules for other tax
				deferred accounts. These rules for tax deferred and tax exempt accounts
				generally have longer periods of abandonment than accounts covered by Section
				15-201 of the Act.
b) A Roth IRA is
				covered under Section 15-202.
c) In
				some cases, federal law, specifically ERISA (29 U.S.C.
				1001 et seq.), may preempt the Act and
				prevent reporting and remitting retirement accounts or other property
				representing a retirement plan asset that would otherwise be reportable under
				the Act. Concerning ERISA preemption and unclaimed property statutes, see
				Commonwealth Edison Co. v. Vega, 174 F.3d 870 (7th
				Cir. 1999). Nonqualified, government and church plans are not subject to an
				ERISA preemption, nor are uncashed plan distribution checks issued by a
				qualified plan that lacks, or has failed to exercise, a forfeiture or other
				reversionary interest.
d) If a
				holder is uncertain whether an account qualifies as tax deferred or tax exempt
				under the Act (i.e., whether the account is covered by Section 15-201 or by
				Sections 15-202 and 15-203), whether ERISA preempts the Act for a retirement
				account, or whether an account is covered by Section 15-202 or Section 15-203,
				the holder may specifically identify the property in a report filed with the
				administrator or give express notice to the administrator of a potential
				dispute regarding the property. Specifically identifying the property in a
				report or providing express notice to the administrator both ensures that the
				property will be covered by the limitations period of Section 15-610 of the Act
				and demonstrates that the holder is attempting to comply with the Act in good
				faith and without negligence. Specifically identifying the property in a report
				filed with the administrator indicating that the property is not being remitted
				because ERISA preemption allows a holder to satisfy both its fiduciary
				obligation under ERISA, which would generally prohibit remitting the property
				to the administrator, and any obligation under the Act.
e) Pursuant to Section 15-405 of the Act
				(property reportable and payable or deliverable absent owner demand provision)
				and Section 15-610(a) of the Act (anti-limitations provision) a nonqualified
				plan or plan not otherwise subject to preemption under ERISA is prohibited from
				forfeiting an account or other property.
f) The administrator will accept missing
				participants' account balances reported and remitted by an ERISA plan fiduciary
				for a terminated defined contribution plan. See United States Department of
				Labor Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2014-01 (available at
www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/employers-and-advisers/guidance/field-assistance-bulletins
),
				which indicates that, despite the ERISA preemption for ongoing plans, a plan
				fiduciary may report and remit "missing participants' account balances under a
				state's unclaimed property statute to complete the plan termination
				process".