A loan agreement provides that upon termination of employment, the balance of an outstanding loan will be offset. After the offset, if the participant's remaining account balance is $5,000 or less, can this remaining amount be cashed out?
The answer could be "Yes", because the look-back rule for determining cashouts is gone. Do the offset in May and then pay the cashout in June.
The answer could be "No" because under Reg. 1.72(p)-1, Q&A-13(b), an offset is an actual distribution for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code. If that is the case, then the participant can't be forced to take out a distribution which is less than $5,000.
Any thoughts (please!!) on which is the correct answer?