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ERISA reporting for a shareholder-only retirement plan
Summary A requester asked whether any retirement plan covering only shareholders or their spouses avoided ERISA reporting. DOL said that was too broad: the rule excluded a plan with no employee participants only when the incorporated business was wholly owned by one individual or that person and spouse, and only they participated. Other shareholder-only arrangements were not approved by this letter.
Document
Federal opinion letter
Agency
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Document number
P/OPINION 76-67
Date issued
May 21, 1976
Status
Unknown
EBSA's index does not mark withdrawn or superseded opinions; still posted on dol.gov as of 2026-10-26.
Status last verified October 26, 2026
Topics
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About this page: The full text below is the official document from U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). Ezel adds the plain-English summary and tracks the document's status. The official source linked on this page is authoritative for any reliance.
P/OPINION 76-67
3(3)
May 21, 1976
Dear :
This is in reply to your letter dated January 9, 1976, in which you ask us to confirm your interpretation that if the only participants in a pension or profit sharing plan are shareholders or spouses of shareholders, qualified retirement plans need not comply with any of the reporting requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
For purposes of Title I of the ERISA, the term "employee benefit plan" does not include any plan, fund, or program, other than apprenticeship or other training program, under which no employee participants are covered under the plan (section 2510.3-3(b) of the enclosed regulation). According to section 2510.3-3(c)(1), an individual and his or her spouse are not employees with respect to an incorporated business if the business is wholly owned by the individual or by the individual and his or her spouse. Thus, your interpretation is correct only where the stock of the corporation is wholly owned by one shareholder and his or her spouse and the shareholder or the shareholder and his or her spouse are the only participants in the plan.
Sincerely,
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