Administering a retirement plan is a complicated task fraught with potential missteps. Fortunately, employers are now able to self-correct most errors and thereby avoid the considerable time and expense of filing an...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently published Notice 2024-2, which provides guidance on several sections of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. This article highlights some of the more significant changes affecting retirement...more
1/10/2024
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Automatic Enrollment ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
IRS ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act ,
U.S. Treasury
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced a two-year administrative transition period that delays until 2026 the new rule that catch-up contributions made by certain higher‑income participants in 401(k), 403(b), and...more
8/29/2023
/ Comment Period ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Compensation ,
IRS ,
New Rules ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Roth IRA ,
SECURE Act ,
U.S. Treasury
Under Notice 2022-33, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has extended the deadline for adopting amendments to qualified retirement plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) to reflect certain changes made by the Setting...more
In Notice 2021-31, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides broad guidance in a question-and-answer format on the application of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) regarding premium assistance under the...more
6/2/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
COBRA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
IRS ,
Notice Requirements ,
Premium Subsidies ,
Termination Clauses
Group health plans and insurers have been required since 2008 to ensure that any “nonquantitative treatment limitations” (NQTLs) imposed on mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits are comparable and no more...more
5/19/2021
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Compliance ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
IRS ,
Mental Health ,
Noncompliance ,
NQTLs ,
State Legislatures ,
State Regulators ,
Substance Abuse
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has published Notice 2021-26 to provide answers regarding the taxability of benefits received in 2021 and 2022 under a dependent care assistance program (DCAP) that permits carryovers or...more
5/13/2021
/ Cafeteria Plans ,
Carryover Basis ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
Grace Period ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Tax Code
In Notice 2021-15, the IRS provides many answers to questions regarding the temporary special rules introduced as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) for health flexible spending accounts (health FSAs) and...more
3/2/2021
/ Cafeteria Plans ,
Carry-Over Basis ,
COBRA ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
Grace Period ,
IRS
The recently enacted COVID-19 Related Tax Relief Act of 2020 and the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, both of which are part of the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021,” includes the following...more
1/4/2021
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
IRS ,
New Legislation ,
Relief Measures ,
Retirement Plan ,
Trump Administration
The president has signed into law the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, which includes several temporary special rules aimed at minimizing forfeitures and increasing the utility of health and dependent...more
12/30/2020
/ Carryover Basis ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
IRS ,
Relief Measures ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Trump Administration
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has recently published frequently asked questions addressing leave-sharing plans related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following IRS Notice 2006-59, the IRS has confirmed that employers may set...more
The Internal Revenue Service has issued Notice 2020-52 to clarify the requirements that apply to a mid-year amendment of a safe harbor 401(k) plan that reduces only contributions made on behalf of highly compensated employees...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued Notice 2020-50 to provide retirement plans with guidance under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The extensive guidance provides helpful...more
6/24/2020
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
Certifications ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
Popular ,
Repayment Options ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors
Under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, employers can now make nontaxable payments of up to $5,250 to employees as student loan repayment assistance, but only if the payments are made by December...more
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a notice providing temporary relief from the physical presence requirement for participant elections required to be witnessed by a plan...more
On May 12, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued two notices permitting employers to offer new opportunities for employees to change their salary reduction elections under a cafeteria plan and avoid forfeitures of...more
The nation’s lawmakers, government agencies, and insurance carriers are taking measures to remove financial barriers to testing and treatment for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Employers sponsoring health plans...more
3/19/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cost-Sharing ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
HDHPs ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
HSA ,
IRS ,
State and Local Government ,
Virus Testing
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has finalized revisions to the regulations governing hardship distributions under 401(k) and 403(b) plans. The final regulations make some subtle but important changes to the regulations...more
9/25/2019
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Benefits ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Natural Disasters ,
New Regulations ,
Notice Requirements ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
Tax Planning
Through Revenue Procedure 2018-52, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has updated its system of correction programs for retirement plans known as the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS). EPCRS permits plan...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has expanded the determination letter program for individually designed plans. Under Revenue Procedure 2019-20, the IRS will now accept determination letter applications for statutory hybrid...more
Through Revenue Procedure 2018-52, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has recently updated its system of correction programs for retirement plans known as the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS). EPCRS permits...more
10/2/2018
/ 403(b) Plans ,
457(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Benefits ,
EPCRS ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Filing Requirements ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Retirement Plan ,
Revenue Procedures ,
Tax Audits ,
Tax Penalties ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Voluntary Correction Program
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
Earlier this year, Congress passed, and the President signed into law, H.R. 1892, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. In addition to providing a continuing resolution to fund the federal government, the Act includes a change...more
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act includes a new provision that can delay the taxation of compensation paid to employees of “eligible corporations” in the form of “qualified stock” for up to five years. The provision is set forth in...more
1/5/2018
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Employee Benefits ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Income Taxes ,
IRC Section 83(b) ,
IRS ,
New Legislation ,
Qualified Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Deferral ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
401(k) plans may allow an employee to receive a distribution of elective contributions (employee deferrals) on account of a hardship. The regulations provide that a distribution is made on account of hardship only if the...more