Last week, the IRS issued Notice 2023-54 (“Notice”) that provides a variety of relief for both plan sponsors and IRA providers, along with participants/IRA owners and their beneficiaries, while we await the final Code section...more
Continuing a recent trend to more closely align 403(b) plans with tax-qualified 401(k) plans, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) recently issued Revenue Procedure 2022-40 (November 7, 2022) to create a limited determination...more
The IRS provided welcome relief from Code section 401(a)(9) RMD compliance for 2021 and 2022 for post-death distributions to beneficiaries under IRAs and defined contribution plans. IRS Notice 2022-53 (“Notice”). In short –...more
The IRS recently issued an updated Listing of Required Modifications and Information Package (known as the “LRMs”) for 403(b) plans. These LRMs contain quite a few changes, from simple clarifications and explanatory notes,...more
Another development has arisen in the ongoing concerns regarding whether local tax rules in EU countries unfairly favor investment by local pension funds over those established outside the EU. The general theory is that...more
The IRS recently announced (in Announcement 2022-6) that effective as of March 14, 2022, and until further notice, the IRS will not accept applications — IRS Forms 5306 and 5306-A — for IRA opinion letters. This includes...more
Background -
Back in 2013, the IRS opened its first 6-year cycle of reviewing and issuing opinion letters on 403(b) pre-approved documents. Most of the approval letters for that first set of plans were issued to the...more
Update (January 4, 2022)
The updated 2022 Forms W-4P and W-4R have been released...more
Over the years, tax shelter ideas have occasionally arisen in connection with the interpretation of some of the pension provisions found in US tax treaties, encouraged, perhaps, by the lack of guidance on many treaty...more
If you thought that church plan litigation was effectively over after the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the traditional interpretation of the ERISA church plan definition in its 2017 decision in Advocate Health Care...more
In a recent decision, the U.S. Tax Court reached the not surprising conclusion that an individual who purchased American Eagle gold coins using her IRA received a de facto distribution of those coins when she took physical...more
Earlier this year, the IRS released draft versions of 2022 Forms W-4P and W-4R for pension and IRA withholding on payments, to be used beginning on or after January 1, 2022. In short, the draft forms split the existing W-4P...more
As we approach the end of 2021, it’s again time for sponsors of 401(a) and 403(b) plans to review their plan documents and plan operations to ensure compliance with increasingly complex qualification requirements. While...more
The IRS recently announced (Notice 2021-61, Nov. 4, 2021) that many of the key pension limits will increase next year – some significantly due to higher inflation. The Social Security Administration and PBGC also recently...more
On October 14, 2021, the Department of Labor (the “DOL”) published a proposed regulation, “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights” (86 Fed. Reg. 57272, the “Proposed Rule”). The...more
Background on the 403(b) Pre-Approved Plan Program -
In 2013, the IRS began accepting prototype and volume submitter 403(b) plans (now referred to collectively as “pre-approved” plans) in the first-ever 403(b) remedial...more
On July 16, 2021, IRS issued a new version of the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS”), set forth in Revenue Procedure 2021-30. The new EPCRS provides qualified plan sponsors with the opportunity to correct...more
The IRS recently updated its Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Audit Techniques Guide. The updated June 2021 Guide (the “2021 Guide”) replaces the previous version published in June 2015 (the “2015 Guide”), and provides a...more
The U.S. has issued an announcement with guidance on how the 2009 amendment to the tax treaty between the U.S. and Switzerland applies to pension and retirement arrangements of both countries....more
On January 27, 2021, the United Kingdom’s Department for Work and Pensions (“DWP”) issued the draft regulation, The Occupational Pension Schemes (Climate Change Governance and Reporting) Regulations 2021 (the “Regulation”). ...more
Notwithstanding the pandemic, or perhaps accelerated by the financial and social implications of it, some countries are continuing apace with making significant changes to their pension systems. One that is accelerating is...more
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) provided employers valuable relief from the economic stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, by creating access to loans under the Paycheck Protection...more
On November 10, 2020, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) released proposed rules describing the conditions that entities subject to the European Union’s (“EU”) General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) can transfer...more
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (“SECURE Act”), directed that guidance be issued providing that a section 403(b)(7) custodial account could make distributions in kind upon a plan...more
On November 5, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released final regulations under section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”). 85 Fed. Reg. 72472 (Nov. 12, 2020). The final regulations, which closely...more