The IRS recently published its final regulations addressing changes to Tax Code Section 401(a)(9), relating to required minimum distributions (RMDs), under the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019...more
8/20/2024
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Final Rules ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Popular ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act
As we’ve previously discussed, the IRS started issuing Letters 226J in late 2017. It continues to send these letters to employers each year proposing that the employer owes an Employer Shared Responsibility Payment (ESRP) for...more
The IRS recently issued Notice 2024-2, which provides Q&A guidance on many provisions of the SECURE 2.0 Act, which had left employers and practitioners asking questions. We previously summarized several of the key changes...more
While amendments for the following changes under the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 Act are not yet required, retirement plan sponsors (especially 401(k) and 403(b) plan sponsors) need to be aware of the following operational...more
11/21/2023
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Distribution Rules ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Contributions ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Roth IRA ,
SECURE Act ,
Student Loans
On December 29, 2022, as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, President Biden signed into law the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”). SECURE 2.0 makes many significant changes to the employer sponsored...more
2/7/2023
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Contribution Limits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Natural Disasters ,
Relief Measures ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Roth IRA ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act ,
Student Loans
While many in the U.S. have attempted to resume a sense of normalcy despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, for employer-sponsored health plans, special “emergency” pandemic rules and extensions remain in effect. As previously...more
With each new year, new legal obligations for employers sponsoring group health plans seem to arrive. This article provides a brief overview and reminder of some of the new key requirements for 2022, many of which we have...more
As we previously reported in 2020, the IRS granted temporary relief from the physical presence requirement under regulations governing participant elections and spousal consents for certain retirement plans. Generally, those...more
As we previously reported, the recently enacted American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) includes a six-month COBRA premium subsidy whereby the federal government subsidizes 100% of the COBRA premium during the period of April...more
5/26/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Biden Administration ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Health Insurance ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
Premium Subsidies ,
Premiums ,
Relief Measures ,
Tax Credits
The DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) recently issued its annual inflationary adjustments to penalties that apply for violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA)....more
We recently highlighted the employee benefits provisions that accompanied the latest COVID-19 relief law as part of our summary of that Act. This article addresses some of the other recent employee benefits-related changes...more
1/12/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
CARES Act ,
Comment Period ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act
Retirement plan fiduciaries and participants with the ability to direct the investment of their retirement accounts increasingly have considered environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors important to their...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued Notice 2020-29 and Notice 2020-33 to provide relief for employees participating in a Section 125 cafeteria plan. Although temporary, the changes will provide employees...more
As employers grapple with the many issues related to responding to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their businesses and employees, employee benefit issues can sometimes fall through the cracks. The information below is...more
On December 20, 2019, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act) was signed into law. The SECURE Act is one of the most significant pieces of legislation impacting retirement plans in...more
2/21/2020
/ 401k ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Planning
A number of changes and new legislation will be impacting your company’s employee benefit plans in 2020. Here is a summary of the highlights of what is to come in the new year....more
12/27/2019
/ 401k ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Amended Legislation ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Health Insurance ,
HRA ,
New Legislation ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act
Earlier this year, we summarized proposed Treasury regulations and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, which made changes to the rules governing hardship distributions from 401(k) and 403(b) plans....more
10/14/2019
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Bipartisan Budget Act ,
Employee Benefits ,
Final Rules ,
Hardship Distributions ,
IRS ,
New Rules ,
Plan Documents ,
Qualified Retirement Plans ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
U.S. Treasury
In its latest iteration of the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS”), in Revenue Procedure 2019-19, the IRS opened the self-correction window a bit wider by allowing qualified retirement plans that meet...more
Some employee benefits enjoy a tax-favored status under the Tax Code, but such favorable tax treatment applies with respect to certain highly compensated individuals only if the plans satisfy applicable nondiscrimination...more