One great about the Internal Revenue Service is that they tell us what they’re up to. They will tell us what their priorities are, so we will know what they will concentrate on. It’s best as a retirement plan provider to see when it’s coming.
Their 2019-2020 Guidance Plan has some retirement plan-related issues on it. One of the top issues on the list is student loan payments in conjunction with 401(k) plans and 403(b) plans. Employers have individually requested IRS approval of benefit arrangements that link student loan repayment and retirement plans. There have been calls for the IRS to issue guidance that other employers could avail themselves of without seeking IRS guidance or approval individually. Also, there are proposed bills that will do the linking without IRS action.
Other retirement benefit-related items on the 2019-2020 PGP are either new or carryovers from prior years’ lists, including the following.
- Revisions to the IRS Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System program for correcting retirement arrangement defects
- Broad updated guidance on Traditional and Roth IRAs
- Revised life expectancy tables used to calculate required minimum distributions, taking into account that people live longer
- Guidance on retirement plans of affiliated service groups
- Guidance on church retirement plans
