In Revenue Procedure 2019-19, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) significantly expanded the availability of the Self-Correction Program (SCP) that plan sponsors may use to self-correct failures in their qualified retirement...more
4/30/2019
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Voluntary Correction Program
As more fully described in our earlier newsletter, in Revenue Procedure 2016-37 the Internal Revenue System (IRS) made significant changes in the procedures governing the issuance of favorable determination letters to the...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued proposed amendments to the regulations governing hardship distributions under 401(k) and 403(b) plans. Many plan administrators of 401(k) and 403(b) plans permitting hardship...more
11/19/2018
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Employee Benefits ,
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Safe Harbors
Last year, in Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that a special type of “church plan,” intended to be exempt from Title I of ERISA and many Internal Revenue Code requirements, does not...more
9/14/2018
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Tax Exemptions
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
On June 21, 2018, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a mandate vacating the controversial fiduciary rule issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in 2016. The mandate follows the court’s opinion issued on March 15,...more
6/27/2018
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Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
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Department of Labor (DOL) ,
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Investment Management ,
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Vacated
The Internal Revenue Service originally announced in 2017 that the 2018 contribution limit for health savings accounts (HSAs) corresponding to family coverage under a high-deductible health plan would be $6,900. Then, in...more
The IRS previously announced that the 2018 contribution limit for health savings accounts (HSAs) corresponding to family coverage under a high-deductible health plan would be $6,900. However, now three months into 2018, the...more
The triumvirate of federal agencies (HHS, DOL, IRS) responsible for enforcing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the ACA, often called Obamacare) released final interim rules significantly expanding exceptions...more
In addition to Tennessee’s passage of the IMPROVE Act (Improving Manufacturing, Public Roads and Opportunities for a Vibrant Economy) also known as the “2017 Tax Cut Act,” 2017 Tenn. Pub. Acts 181, featured in our State and...more
6/27/2017
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Tax Credits
The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that employee benefit plans sponsored by certain church-affiliated organizations do not have to be established by a church to be considered a “church plan,” which is exempt...more
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam recently signed into law the “Improving Manufacturing, Public Roads and Opportunities for a Vibrant Economy (IMPROVE) Act” or the “2017 Tax Cut Act” (the “Improve Act”). ...more
With relatively few exceptions, administrators of employee benefit plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) have enjoyed success enforcing forum selection clauses in cases across the country. As...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released General Counsel Memorandum 201634021 (“Memorandum”) concluding that the employees of a disregarded single member limited liability company (SMLLC) (1) must be allowed to...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has recently issued detailed guidance on the new determination letter program for tax-qualified retirement plans. In 2015, the IRS announced that, due to budgetary constraints, the program...more
Until recently, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Department of Labor (DOL), and federal courts seemed to agree that a retirement plan established and maintained by a church-affiliated organization generally qualified...more