It’s no secret. Lots of people made poor decisions about their eligibility for the employee retention credit (“ERC”), which was passed by Congress to help businesses weather the pandemic-induced economic downturn. Apart from...more
In a decision that will come as potentially bad news to many private equity and hedge funds, on November 28, 2023, the U. S. Tax Court opined in Soroban Capital Partners LP versus Comm’r that limited partners in a limited...more
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) announced today (October 21, 2022) the following dollar limits applicable to tax-qualified plans for 2023: Additional information regarding benefit plan dollar limits can be obtained in...more
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has announced a pilot program that begins this month in which they will send letters to employers letting them know that their retirement plan has been selected for examination.
Under...more
Compensating employees with cryptocurrency raises many of the same tax issues as compensating employees with employer stock and, therefore, requires thoughtful planning on the part of both the employer and the employee, says...more
It is common for executives to be compensated by giving them the right to receive employer stock. This right can take different forms, including direct stock grants, stock options, and restricted stock units. Equity awards...more
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) announced yesterday (November 4, 2021) the following dollar limits applicable to tax-qualified plans for 2022...more
The great majority of 401(k) plans allow participants to borrow against their plan benefits. These loans are secured by the borrowing participant’s plan account and are typically repaid by withholding amounts from the...more
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) announced yesterday (October 26, 2020) the following dollar limits applicable to tax-qualified plans for 2021...more
In a Memorandum to the Secretary of the Treasury, President Trump directed that the Secretary use his authority to defer the withholding and payment of the employee’s share of certain Social Security taxes for the period...more
The Covid-19 pandemic and its shock to the country’s economy have been felt particularly hard by small employers, who are also likely to face a number of looming problems with their 401(k) plans. This article discusses three...more
The Internal Revenue Code mandates that individuals receive annual required minimum distributions (“RMDs”) from employer tax-qualified retirement plans and IRAs. Until recently, RMDs had to begin by the April 1st following...more
In a recent announcement (Notice 2020-46), the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) provided guidance to employers for how to exchange employee elections to forego vacation, sick, or personal leave for cash payments that the...more
Under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), eligible employers are permitted to claim a retention payroll tax credit if they pay qualified wages after March 12, 2020, and before January 1,...more
On May 4, 2020, as part of a broader set of extensions intended to provide relief during the pandemic, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) moved back deadlines applicable to the election...more
In order to make tax-deductible contributions to a health savings account, an individual must be covered under a high deductible health plan and have no disqualifying health coverage....more
The final installment of this blog series discussing changes made by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2020 (“the SECURE Act”) focuses on modifications to the required minimum distributions...more
This third installment of summaries of some of the key provisions of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2020 (“the SECURE Act”) discusses an extension of the date for adopting a new employer...more
In this second of a four-part series providing an overview of some key provisions of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (“SECURE”) Act of 2019, I summarize the Act’s liberalization of the 401(k) plan...more
One of the spending bills signed by President Trump to avert a government shutdown late last year had attached to it the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019, or as it’s known by its acronym, the...more
For many individuals, one of the most significant assets that gets transferred when they die is their benefits under an employer-sponsored retirement plan. A case recently decided by the Alabama Supreme Court, Moore v. Estate...more
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) announced today (November 6, 2019) the following dollar limits applicable to tax-qualified plans for 2020:
The limit on the maximum amount of elective contributions that a person may make...more
The Bankruptcy Code contains a number of exemptions that an individual who has filed for bankruptcy can use to exclude property from the individual’s bankruptcy estate and shelter the property from the individual’s creditors....more
A problem faced by the administrators of 401(k) and other retirement plans is what to do about plan participants who fail to cash distribution checks. This problem arises most commonly in connection with a plan that is...more
Section 409A was added to the Tax Code in 2004 to, among other things, limit the ability of companies and their executives to optimize tax outcomes by controlling the timing of deferred compensation payments. Although this...more