The CARES Act provides for special federal tax treatment for “coronavirus-related distributions” from most types of tax-qualified retirement plans and IRAs. The distribution must be made between January 1, 2020 and December...more
As employers prepare their workforces for issues related to COVID-19, they should also take steps to ensure that their benefit plans are prepared. The impact of the virus will put a financial and logistical strain on many...more
3/12/2020
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disability Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Flexible Savings Accounts (FSAs) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HSA ,
PHI ,
Summary of Benefits and Coverage
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on February 26, 2020 that ERISA plaintiffs do not gain “actual knowledge” of fiduciary misconduct merely by receiving financial disclosures from the plan. The unanimous opinion in Intel Corp....more
3/3/2020
/ Actual or Constructive Knowledge ,
Appeals ,
Breach of Duty ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee v. Sulyma ,
Material Disclosures ,
Question of Fact ,
Reaffirmation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Beneficiaries ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Summary Judgment
On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (the “Appropriations Act”), a comprehensive government funding bill that includes substantial employee benefits-related...more
1/3/2020
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Appropriations Bill ,
Beneficiaries ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act ,
TPAs ,
U.S. Treasury
On December 16, 2019, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released long-awaited proposed regulations under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code implementing changes...more
12/23/2019
/ Corporate Officers ,
Covered Employees ,
Executive Compensation ,
GAAP ,
Grandfathered Status ,
Interim Guidance ,
IRS ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Section 162(m) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Deductions ,
U.S. Treasury
On October 23, 2019, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) published proposed regulations that would add a new safe harbor for the use of electronic disclosures by retirement plans subject to the Employee Retirement...more
In Rev. Rul. 2019-19, which was issued on August 14, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) took another small step in its undertaking to address tax issues raised by missing or unresponsive retirement plan participants. The...more
In order to support the District of Columbia’s new Universal Paid Leave Act (the Act), covered employers will be required to contribute to the Universal Paid Leave Implementation Fund (the Fund), by way of a payroll tax of...more
On June 4, 2019, the US Supreme Court granted the petition for writ of certiorari of the defendant fiduciaries in Retirement Plans Committee of IBM, et al. v. Larry W. Jander, No. 18-1165. The justices will review the Second...more
6/13/2019
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Failure To Disclose ,
FIfth Third Bancorp v Dudenhoeffer ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Pleading Standards ,
Retirement Plan ,
Stock Drop Litigation
On April 19, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Revenue Procedure 2019-19, which updates its Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS). The new EPCRS significantly expands the use of retroactive plan...more
On March 6, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2019-18 (Notice), announcing that it is retracting its previous position that prohibited pension plan sponsors from offering lump-sum cashouts to retirees who...more
There is some debate about the intended scope of Regulation Best Interest (Regulation BI) as proposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the case of retirement investors.
Generally, proposed Regulation BI...more
On December 31, 2018, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2019-09 (Notice) providing comprehensive interim guidance under section 4960 of the Internal...more
1/21/2019
/ Comment Period ,
Excise Tax ,
Executive Compensation ,
Golden Parachutes ,
Interim Guidance ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Remuneration ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
U.S. Treasury
On October 3, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2018-76 (the Notice) to address the deductibility of business meals under section 274(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the TCJA) made...more
On March 5, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Rev. Proc. 2018-18, which changes the family limit on annual contributions to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). The Revenue Procedure announced that the HSA limit...more
Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce that it has published a paper—“DC Plans in the US and the UK: Lessons From Across the Pond”—which addresses the differences between defined contribution (DC) plans in the US and the...more
2/14/2018
/ 401k ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Contributions ,
Investment Controls ,
Pensions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Trustees ,
UK
On December 15, the House and Senate conference committee reached an agreement on the terms of a final tax bill, which likely will be voted on this week. The final bill largely reflects the Senate’s legislative language, with...more
With the US poised to decrease regulation and the outcome of Brexit unknown, multinational institutions face a great deal of unpredictability in the regulatory landscape. In this edition of Partnering Perspectives, we look at...more
On November 2, House Republicans released their sweeping tax reform legislation, which contains numerous provisions that will have significant impacts on employee benefits and executive compensation. The bill is expected to...more
In conjunction with the start of the Supreme Court’s new term, Eversheds Sutherland took a look back at the Court’s work in employee benefit cases since the enactment of ERISA. We found an astonishing 128 decisions, spanning...more
10/23/2017
/ Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Tax ,
Income Taxes ,
Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA) ,
Military Service Members ,
NLRA ,
SCOTUS ,
Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act
On August 1, 2017, the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio held that insurance agents working under independent contractor agreements with an insurer were employees for purposes of pursuing pension and other...more
8/10/2017
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Definition ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Insurance Agents ,
Insurance Industry ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Service Contracts
In an internal memorandum to its examination agents dated February 23, 2017, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidance regarding the types of documentation that agents should request in verifying hardship withdrawals...more
On June 21, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued proposed Internal Revenue Code (Code) section 409A regulations, modifying existing proposed and final section 409A regulations regarding...more
In 2014, the Department of Labor (DOL) maintained a diminished program of advance guidance under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), in response to requests from the regulated community....more
On December 30, the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services published a joint notice of proposed rulemaking modifying the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) final regulations issued in 2012. In...more