Despite ultimately finding in favor of a taxpayer surviving spouse, IRS Private Letter Ruling 2023-22-014 (the “PLR”) is chock-full of reasons to ensure proper planning is in place when it comes to IRAs....more
Additional Tools for Employers to Encourage Retirement Savings- Matching Contributions on Student Debt Payments- One of the most eagerly anticipated provisions of the “SECURE 2.0” legislation is the ability for...more
An employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) is a type of tax-qualified retirement plan. ESOPs are designed to invest primarily in qualifying employer securities, as defined in applicable tax rules....more
For the last several years, a hot topic for policymakers has been how to address the nation’s massive student loan debt. At the same time, the pressure remains to develop ways to encourage Americans to save for their own...more
A recently issued IRS private letter ruling may provide public agencies and their employees with another way to give employees more control over the types of retirement benefits they will eventually receive....more
Two bills have been introduced in the Senate that would allow employers to make matching contributions under 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b) and SIMPLE plans as if the participant’s student loan payments were salary...more
In December, the IRS/Treasury (“IRS”) published final rules addressing how employers that fund health and welfare benefits through a VEBA (i.e., a voluntary employees’ beneficiary association described in Section 501(c)(9) of...more
Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of November 4–8, 2019. November 4, 2019: The IRS posted a new Large Business and International...more
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) has reintroduced legislation that would permit 401(k), 403(b), SIMPLE and governmental 457(b) retirement plans to make matching contributions to workers as if their student loan payments were salary...more
Due to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) change in course published in Notice 2019-18, plan sponsors may now offer retirees lump-sum windows as another pension “de-risking” option. Plan sponsors considering pension de-risking...more
Your employees likely have more student loan debt than any other kind of consumer debt, except mortgage debt. If you run an internet search using “amount of student loan debt,” you will quickly learn that Americans owe more...more
One of the clear trends in employee benefits involves companies offering assistance with their workforce’s student loan repayments. The reasons are obvious. Student loan debt is now the largest source of consumer debt after...more
One of the clear trends in employee benefits involves companies offering assistance with their workforce's student loan repayments. The reasons are obvious. ...more
For many employees, contributing to a retirement plan is often easier said than done. This is especially true for employees who enter the workforce with significant student loan debt. ...more
On August 17, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (the “Service”) published a Private Letter Ruling (the “PLR”) describing a unique student loan repayment program in the context of a qualified retirement plan....more
Recent statistics show that approximately 70 percent of college graduates will leave college with an average of at least $30,000 in student loan debt. Cumulatively, the national student loan debt is approximately $1.5...more
According to a recent study, Americans currently owe approximately $1.4 trillion in student loan debt. With increasing pressure to pay off student loans, some employees choose not to contribute to retirement programs offered...more
The IRS recently updated its two model safe harbor explanations that can be used to satisfy the requirement under Section 402(f) to provide notices setting forth certain information to participants who are eligible for...more
• With growing student loan debt pushing employees to delay contributing to their employers' 401(k) plans, many employers have been looking for ways to help their employees save for retirement. • A recent Internal Revenue...more
On August 17, 2018 the IRS released a private letter ruling (PLR 201833012) addressing an employer’s proposal to amend its plan to include a student loan benefit program. Under the program, the employer would make a...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a private letter ruling which allowed an unnamed employer (some say it’s pharmaceutical giant Abbott) to make 401(k) contributions to participants who are repaying their student...more
On July 12, 2018, a previous alert entitled “Bullet Proofing Your Claims Process” discussed lessons learned from a recent 5th Circuit decision in White v. Life Insurance Company of North America, (5th Cir. June 13, 2018,...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a private letter ruling approving of an employer’s program to provide employees a retirement plan contribution conditioned on student loan repayments. Specifically, the IRS found...more
With the holidays upon us, we all can relate to how easy it is to mistakenly overlook important things amidst the cheery holiday hustle and bustle: leaving the Christmas ham in the oven a few hours too long, forgetting to...more
Generally, distributions from a qualified retirement plan that are eligible for rollover must be rolled over within 60 days of the date on which the distribution occurs. If a taxpayer did not complete the rollover within 60...more