(a) General rule. Under this section, the amount of unfunded vested benefits allocable to an employer that withdraws from a merged plan after the initial plan year is the sum of the employer's proportional share, if any, of the unamortized amount of the plan's initial plan year unfunded vested benefits (determined under paragraph (b) of this section) and the employer's proportional share of the unamortized amount of the unfunded vested benefits arising after the initial plan year (determined under paragraph (c) of this section).

(b) Share of initial plan year unfunded vested benefits. An employer's proportional share, if any, of the unamortized amount of the plan's initial plan year unfunded vested benefits is the sum of the employer's share of its prior plan's liabilities, as determined under § 4211.32(b)(1), and the employer's share of the adjusted initial plan year unfunded vested benefits, as determined under § 4211.32(b)(2), with such sum reduced as if it were being fully amortized in level annual installments over fifteen years beginning with the first plan year after the initial plan year.

(c) Share of unfunded vested benefits arising after the initial plan year. An employer's proportional share of the amount of the plan's unfunded vested benefits arising after the initial plan year is the employer's proportional share (determined under paragraph (c)(2) of this section) of the plan's unfunded vested benefits as of the end of the plan year preceding the plan year in which the employer withdraws, reduced by the amount of the plan's unfunded vested benefits as of the close of the initial plan year (determined under paragraph (c)(1) of this section).

(1) Amount of unfunded vested benefits. The plan's unfunded vested benefits as of the end of the plan year preceding the plan year in which the employer withdraws shall be reduced by the sum of—

(i) The value as of that date of all outstanding claims for withdrawal liability that can reasonably be expected to be collected, with respect to employers that withdrew before that plan year; and

(ii) The sum of the amounts that would be allocable under paragraph (b) of this section to all employers that have an obligation to contribute in the plan year preceding the plan year in which the employer withdraws and that also had an obligation to contribute in the first plan year ending after the initial plan year.

(2) Employer's proportional share. An employer's proportional share of the amount determined under paragraph (c)(1) of this section is computed by multiplying that amount by a fraction—

(i) The numerator of which is the total amount required to be contributed under the plan (or under the employer's prior plan) by the employer for the last five full plan years ending before the date on which the employer withdraws; and

(ii) The denominator of which is the total amount contributed under the plan (or under each employer's prior plan) by all employers for the last five full plan years ending before the date on which the employer withdraws, increased by the amount of any employer contributions owed with respect to earlier periods that were collected in those plan years, and decreased by any amount contributed by an employer that withdrew from the plan (or prior plan) during those plan years.

(iii) In determining the numerator and the denominator in this paragraph (c), the rules under § 4211.4 (and permissible simplified methods under §§ 4211.14 and 4211.15) apply.

[61 FR 34097, July 1, 1996, as amended at 86 FR 1276, Jan. 8, 2021]