Seyfarth Synopsis: The SECURE Act, passed just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of 2019 (“SECURE 1.0”), significantly altered the retirement plan landscape. For a reminder on how the SECURE Act changed the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The SECURE Act, passed just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of 2019, significantly altered the retirement plan landscape. For a reminder on how the SECURE Act changed the retirement...more
On July 16, 2021, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2021-30, updating its Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS”), which permits retirement plan sponsors and administrators to correct compliance failures that may...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The IRS has extended its relief from the physical presence requirement related to certain plan elections through June 30, 2022....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Retirement plans hold millions (sometimes, hundreds of millions) of dollars in assets, and participants’ personal information is increasingly maintained and accessible online. With such large amounts of...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ("ARPA"), the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. ARPA includes various forms of multiemployer and single employer...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Electronic signatures may be the wave of the future for the IRS, and are more necessary now as a result of the remote work environment. The IRS issued some recent guidance, allowing two authorization forms...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Unpublished U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) proposed regulations regarding incentives offered under wellness programs are set to be withdrawn and reviewed after the Biden White House...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The IRS issued Notice 2020-86, which provides guidance on the rules that apply to safe harbor plans that were changed by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the “SECURE...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The IRS has announced that the due date for contributions to a single-employer defined benefit pension plan due in 2020, previously extended to January 1, 2021 by the CARES Act, will be considered timely if...more
On December 20th, before the outbreak of COVID-19 and the resulting pandemic, President Trump signed into law the Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the “SECURE Act”) and the Bipartisan...more
9/10/2020
/ Automatic Enrollment ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Distribution Rules ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Mining ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Planning ,
Vesting
Seyfarth Synopsis: The IRS published guidance in its Employee Plans newsletter on August 24, 2020, allowing incomplete determination letter applications to be filed by August 31, 2020, with an opportunity to supplement the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On Tuesday, August 18, 2020, the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released an interim final rule related to a new disclosure that will need to be provided as a part of...more
8/25/2020
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EBSA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SECURE Act
Seyfarth Synopsis: With the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, the PBGC published unofficial guidance for plan sponsors of single-employer plans on certain reportable events, PBGC premium payments and plan termination...more
After a long process, which stretched on for over a decade, on May 27, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) published final regulations regarding the electronic delivery of required disclosures under the Employee Retirement...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The IRS has issued some initial guidance on the coronavirus-related relief for retirement plans (and IRAs) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) in the form of Q&As on...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The IRS has issued some initial guidance on the coronavirus-related relief for retirement plans (and IRAs) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) in the form of Q&As on...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On April 9, 2020, the IRS issued Notice 2020-23, extending federal tax filing deadlines and payment obligations to July 15, 2020 for certain items otherwise due to be performed from April 1, 2020 through...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On March 27, 2020, the House of Representatives followed the Senate’s lead in voting overwhelmingly to pass the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (the “Act”), which the President...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has declared several disaster areas around the United States as a result of the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19)....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Recently a “whistleblower” leaked that the IRS had internally announced an upcoming modification to the very popular voluntary correction program (“VCP”) that would have been a significant disincentive for...more
On October 22, 2019, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued proposed regulations providing guidance for retirement plan administrators using electronic delivery for required disclosures, including a new safe harbor....more
11/1/2019
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Electronic Communications ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Plan Administrators ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Safe Harbors
Synopsis: The Department of Labor (“DOL”) just issued proposed rule changes governing the disclosure of ERISA-required notices via an electronic format (e.g., emails, intranet sites, etc.). These proposed rules update final...more
On August 14, 2019, the IRS issued Revenue Ruling 2019-19, providing guidance to both tax-qualified plan administrators and participants on the tax treatment of plan distribution checks that are not cashed. ...more
8/25/2019
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Distribution Rules ,
Employee Benefits ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
Plan Administrators ,
Plan Participants ,
Qualified Retirement Plans ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Planning ,
Uncashed Checks
In an unpublished decision dated May 16, 2019, the Ninth Circuit held that a plan administrator abused its discretion by denying surviving spouse benefits under an ERISA retirement benefit plan to a participant’s domestic...more
6/7/2019
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Annuities ,
DOMA ,
Domestic Partnership ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Life Insurance ,
Plan Administrators ,
Remand ,
Surviving Spouse ,
Survivor Benefits