On November 9, 2023, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2023-34 and an accompanying News Release announcing the annual inflation adjustments for more than 60 tax provisions for tax year 2024....more
On November 1, 2023, the IRS issued Notice 2023-75 and an accompanying news release, announcing retirement plan dollar limits and thresholds for 2024. Selected dollar limits and thresholds are summarized here, with references...more
A recent Social Security Administration news release announced that, for 2024, Social Security benefits will increase by 3.2%, and the Social Security taxable wage base will increase to $168,600 from $160,200.
The...more
The IRS periodically issues tax-related “Issue Snapshots” that can be of interest to employers and practitioners alike.
A recent “Issue Snapshot” discusses the timing rules that govern the deductibility of retroactive...more
10/31/2023
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Deadlines ,
Deferred Contributions ,
Employer Contributions ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
New Rules ,
Plan Documents ,
Profit Sharing ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Deductions
Many employees who have had to resume repaying their federal student loans this month may find it harder to continue contributing to their employers’ retirement plans. For some employees, there simply is no room in the family...more
10/11/2023
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
457(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Contributions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act ,
Student Loans
The IRS recently issued a “Tax Tip” reminding that employers that offer IRC Section 127 educational assistance programs can use those programs until December 31, 2025, to pay principal or interest on any “qualified education...more
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0), enacted on December 29, 2022, as Division T of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law No. 117-328), included a broad array of provisions affecting retirement plans and...more
The IRS’s Office of Chief Counsel recently released Chief Counsel Advice Memorandum Number 202317020, which reiterates the longstanding substantiation requirements that apply to claims for payment or reimbursement of expenses...more
5/12/2023
/ Benefit Plan Reimbursements ,
Cafeteria Plans ,
Documentation ,
Employee Benefits ,
Flexible Savings Accounts (FSAs) ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
IRS ,
Medical Reimbursement ,
Out-of-Pocket Expenses ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Required Documentation ,
Self-Certification
The IRS recently issued Proposed Regulations that clarify and update existing rules governing how and when forfeitures must be used in qualified defined contribution (e.g., 401(k)) and defined benefit retirement plans. ...more
4/19/2023
/ Comment Period ,
Deadlines ,
Effective Date ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Contributions ,
Forfeiture ,
IRS ,
Plan Administrators ,
Proposed Rules ,
Qualified Retirement Plans ,
Retirement Plan ,
Vesting
On April 10, 2023, President Biden signed H.J. Res. 7, ending the COVID-19 National Emergency on that same day. Earlier in the day on April 10, 2023, we had issued a News Alert reporting that the President intended to end...more
Earlier this year, the Biden Administration announced its intention to end the COVID-19 National Emergency (and the related nationwide Public Health Emergency) at the end of the day on May 11, 2023. On March 29, 2023, the...more
4/12/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Deadlines ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Public Health Emergency
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”), enacted on December 29, 2022, as Division T of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law No. 117-328), builds upon many changes made earlier by the Setting Every...more
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”) was enacted on December 29, 2022, as Division T of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, the U.S. federal government’s spending bill for fiscal year 2023. SECURE 2.0 builds upon...more
2/3/2023
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Contributions ,
Excise Tax ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act
On December 9, our Labor and Employment Group will present its annual full-day webinar on updates and developments in labor and employment law.
Topics to be discussed include state legislative updates, conduct and behavior...more
11/11/2022
/ Age Discrimination ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Free Speech ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Paid Leave ,
Pay Transparency ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Webinars
On May 19, 2022, the IRS issued Notice 2022-28 (available at here), which provides guidance under the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) on the federal income and employment tax treatment of cash payments made by employers to...more
5/26/2022
/ Charitable Donations ,
Charitable Organizations ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Tax ,
IRS ,
Military Conflict ,
New Guidance ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Leave Tax ,
Refugees ,
Russia ,
Ukraine
On May 13, 2022, the IRS issued Notice 2022-27 (available here), which further extends, by six months, from July 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, the IRS’s previously-granted temporary relief from the “physical presence...more
5/24/2022
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
IRS ,
Notarization ,
Physical Presence Test ,
Plan Participants ,
Relief Measures ,
Remote Notarization ,
Retirement Plan ,
Signatures ,
Time Extensions
On March 10, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 (the “Release”, available here) which cautions ERISA plan fiduciaries to exercise “extreme care” before they consider...more
4/29/2022
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Bitcoin ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Digital Assets ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Plan Participants ,
Risk Alert ,
Stablecoins ,
Token Sales
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) information reporting deadlines for calendar year 2021 health coverage will soon be here.
Late last year, the IRS issued proposed regulations which made permanent an automatic 30-day extension...more
On January 24, 2022, in Hughes v. Northwestern University, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously affirmed its 2015 decision in Tibble v. Edison International, holding that fiduciaries of ERISA-subject defined contribution...more
On December 2, 2021, President Biden announced that the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Treasury (the “Departments”) would issue guidance by January 15, 2022 to clarify that individuals who...more
1/14/2022
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Biden Administration ,
CARES Act ,
Compliance Dates ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Health Insurance ,
New Guidance ,
Reimbursements ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Virus Testing
The IRS recently released two Information Letters addressing the substantiation rules that apply to health flexible spending account (FSA) debit cards. (As an aside, IRS Information Letters call attention to a...more
On July 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued Temporary Implementing Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the Interim Final Rule (IFR) which the EBSA had...more
8/5/2021
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EBSA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Lifetime Income Disclosures ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the ARP, enacted on March 11, 2021) provides a temporary 100% COBRA premium subsidy to any assistance eligible individual (AEI) who loses employer-sponsored group health coverage due to a...more
On July 26, 2021, the IRS issued Notice 2021-46, which provides additional Q&A guidance on the temporary 100% COBRA premium subsidy (and the related tax credit) provided by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the ARP,...more
On July 16, 2021, the IRS issued an updated version of the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS), set forth in Revenue Procedure 2021-30. The new EPCRS modifies and supersedes the previous EPCRS, set forth in...more