The IRS has announced that it is reopening its determination letter program for cash balance plans on a temporary basis and for merged plans on an ongoing basis. The IRS determination letter program allows plan sponsors of...more
The IRS has published its Operational Compliance List for 2019, which reflects legislative or regulatory changes that may impact the administration of qualified retirement plans. Generally, plan amendments incorporating...more
In 2015, the IRS limited the de-risking options available to defined benefit pension plans by effectively prohibiting lump sum windows to retirees who are currently receiving annuity payments (known as “retiree lump sum...more
The IRS will begin accepting applications and payments under its Voluntary Correction Program (VCP) online through the www.pay.gov website beginning on January 1, 2019. Plan sponsors will continue to be permitted to file VCP...more
On August 31, 2018, President Trump issued an Executive Order on “Strengthening Retirement Security in America.” The Executive Order is intended to set the policy for the Department of Labor (DOL) and the IRS in three...more
PBGC staff have taken the position in informal guidance that plan sponsors that structure pension annuity purchases through spinoff and termination transactions should not be able to achieve the significant savings on PBGC...more
The IRS has issued final regulations allowing forfeitures under a 401(k) plan to be used to fund corrective contributions.
IRS rules require forfeitures under a plan to be used as soon as possible to pay administrative...more
The Fifth Circuit has issued a long-awaited mandate of its order vacating the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Fiduciary Rule in toto on June 21, 2018. In March, a panel majority of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an...more
The Fifth Circuit’s March decision vacating the Fiduciary Rule appears likely to stand. On May 22, 2018, the Fifth Circuit denied motions by the States of California, New York and Oregon to reconsider a denial of their prior...more
The IRS has revised its user fees for the Voluntary Correction Program (VCP) effective for submissions made on or after January 2, 2018. VCP is an IRS program that allows plan sponsors to correct failures involving a...more
While tax reform proposals considered by Congress were rumored to include major changes like significantly lower limits on pre-tax contributions to 401(k) plans, the separate bills passed by the House and Senate included more...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) finalized the Fiduciary Rule’s transition period extension from January 1, 2018 to July 1, 2019, as it had previously announced in August. The DOL reported that it has not yet completed the...more
House Republicans this week released much-anticipated legislation to reform individual and corporate income taxation. Titled the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” the legislation proposes substantial revisions to the Internal Revenue...more
On October 19th, the IRS released a memorandum titled “Missing Participants and Beneficiaries and Required Minimum Distributions” (the “Memo”) to its plan auditors that provides guidelines for when a plan’s efforts to locate...more
Retirement Plan Limits -
The IRS updated very few of the retirement plan limits effective for the plan year that begins on or after January 1, 2018.
Social Security Tax and Wage Base -
For calendar year 2018, the...more
We addressed hurricane relief for retirement plans offered by the IRS and other agencies in previous blog posts While the IRS relief allows for easier access to retirement funds on account of losses due to the recent...more
The IRS issued an announcement that may allow participants and beneficiaries of 401(k) plans or 403(b) plans that have been affected by Hurricane Harvey easier access to their retirement funds until January 31,...more
Transition Period Extension -
In an August 9th court filing, the DOL announced it will extend the transition period for three prohibited transaction exemptions relating to the fiduciary investment advice rule (the...more
8/10/2017
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On May 22, Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Alexander Acosta announced that, despite President Trump’s memorandum ordering further analysis of the fiduciary investment advice rule (Fiduciary Rule), there was no legal...more
The Presidential Memorandum directing the Department of Labor (the “Department”) to review the Fiduciary Rule (the “Rule”) produced its first significant regulatory impact for the investment advisor community yesterday as the...more