34 Tex. Admin. Code § 25.173 - Correction of Ineligible Participation in TRS
(a) Except as provided in subsection (e) of
this section, a person who elected to participate in ORP and participated in
ORP for at least one year and who was reported to TRS in error as described in
§
830.108, Government
Code, must be restored to participation in ORP and may not receive a
distribution of benefits from TRS based on the ineligible
participation.
(b) Each employer
that reported the person in error to TRS must, within 30 calendar days of
receiving the request from TRS, certify on a form prescribed by TRS that the
person was reported in error to TRS; the amount of the person's compensation
that was creditable for ORP purposes and the amount of participant
contributions that should have been contributed to ORP for each school year
that the person was employed by that employer and reported in error to TRS; and
the amount, if any, of employer contributions made to TRS under §§
825.4041,
825.406,
825.407, or
825.4071, Government
Code, based on the employment of the person reported to TRS in error.
(c) The person reported to TRS in error must
provide information required by TRS to make a direct trustee-to-trustee
transfer to the trustee of the person's ORP plan account of authorized amounts
and complete any forms prescribed and required by TRS to make the direct
trustee-to-trustee transfer of funds, including the agreement of the trustee of
the person's ORP plan account to accept the transfer in accordance with §
830.108(d)(2)(B), Government Code. The trustee must also agree to separately
account for any after-tax funds that are part of the direct trustee-to-trustee
transfer. Authorized amounts include the amount of participant contributions
that should have been made to ORP plus an amount representing earnings
authorized by §830.108. If the amount of ineligible member contributions
received by TRS is less than the amount of participant contributions that
should have been made to ORP, then TRS may only make a direct
trustee-to-trustee transfer of an amount equal to the amount of ineligible TRS
member contributions plus authorized earnings. TRS may not pay or transfer any
amount of required ORP participant contributions that exceed the amount of
ineligible member contributions received by TRS.
(d) Each employer that reported the person in
error to TRS and that made employer contributions in error to TRS under
§§
825.4041,
825.406,
825.407, or
825.4071, Government
Code, must provide the certification required in subsection (b) and receive the
approval of TRS before taking a credit for the employer contributions through
the TRS employer reporting system. Earnings on the employer contributions paid
in error to TRS are not authorized for payment by TRS and may not be taken as a
credit through the employer reporting system.
(e) If within 180 days of notice by TRS of
the reporting error, the person does not have or cannot establish an ORP
account; cannot obtain the required certification from the employer(s) that
reported the person in error to TRS; cannot obtain the approval of the trustee
of the person's ORP plan account to receive the direct trustee-to-trustee
transfer of funds from TRS; or does not provide the forms required for TRS to
make the direct trustee-to-trustee transfer of funds to the person's ORP plan
account, TRS is authorized to pay directly to the person reported in error to
TRS the ineligible TRS member contributions equal to the amount of ORP member
contributions received by TRS that should have been contributed to ORP plus the
amount representing earnings on amounts authorized by §830.108.
(f) TRS must make a direct payment to the
person of the amount of ineligible TRS member contributions deposited in error
with TRS that exceed the amount of ORP participant contributions that should
have been paid to the person's ORP account and any amounts paid by the person
to purchase TRS service credit while ineligible to participate in TRS. The
amount of direct payment to the person reported in error to TRS under this
subsection does not include earnings that are authorized on amounts transferred
to the person's ORP account by §830.108 or paid directly to the person
pursuant to subsection (e).
(g) An
employer of a person who elected ORP but was reported in error to TRS may not
take a credit through the TRS employer reporting system of any member or
employer contributions authorized in §830.108(c)(2) without the knowledge
and express approval of TRS.
Notes
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