PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New Hardship Distribution Regulations for 401(k) Plans
In the past week, devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, California, have caused unprecedented destruction across the region, leading to loss of life and displacing tens of thousands. While still ongoing, the fires already...more
The IRS recently issued final regulations to standardize the administration of hardship distributions. Plans that permit hardship distributions must implement operational changes for hardship distributions by January 1, 2020,...more
Not all 401(K) and other qualified plans allow hardship withdrawals, but if your plan does allow hardship withdrawals, make sure it is compliant with the new rules finalized in September. All of the changes are optional for...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has finalized revisions to the regulations governing hardship distributions under 401(k) and 403(b) plans. The final regulations make some subtle but important changes to the regulations...more
Retirement plan sponsors that implemented hardship distribution changes and other disaster relief in 2018 and 2019 probably have to amend their plan documents by the end of this year if they haven’t done so already. We...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
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has issued proposed regulations that would change the rules for hardship distributions from 401(k) and 403(b) plans. The hardship distribution rules allow participants in these plans who...more
The tax bill enacted late last year (Public Law No. 115-97) and the budget bill enacted earlier this month (the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018) included a handful of changes to the rules applicable to tax-qualified retirement...more
When tax reform proposals were floating around in the fall of 2017, several early proposals to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”) included changes to the hardship distribution rules for qualified retirement plans. However,...more
On Friday, February 9, 2018, Congress passed, and the President signed, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (the “Budget Act”). The Budget Act contains a number of provisions that affect qualified retirement plans. Plan...more
Consider two fact situations. In one, relatively modest damage occurs to a 401(k) plan participant's principal residence attributable to a hurricane in a federally declared disaster area. In the other situation, lightning...more
As 2017 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we are publishing our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 covered...more
This advisory reminds plan sponsors of deadlines for amending qualified retirement plans and certain year-end legal updates. Plan sponsors who have added optional features to a retirement plan during 2017 (e.g., a plan...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 is providing several types of tax relief for those affected by hurricanes hitting Texas, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. We’re monitoring the situation closely to resolve potential tax...more
The IRS announced (through the two announcements 2017-11 and 2017-13) relief for victims of Hurricane Harvey, which struck Texas and surrounding areas in August 2017, and victims of Hurricane Irma, which struck Florida and...more
Thanks to the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of Labor (DOL), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) have granted extensions of certain...more
While Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have subsided, recovery efforts have just begun. In an effort to help bring timely assistance to beleaguered residents of areas hard hit by the storms, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has...more
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, the IRS provided some employee benefits-related relief to plan sponsors and participants. That relief was then extended to the victims of Hurricane Irma....more
In the period following natural disasters such as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, employer plan sponsors will be faced with any number of hardship-related employee benefit plan administration issues. Many of these involve...more
On September 12, 2017, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Announcement 2017-13, which provides guidance on the ability of qualified plans to provide plan loans and hardship distributions to people in Florida affected...more
Announcement 2017-11 (Announcement) provides that a tax-qualified employer retirement plan may treat a distribution to a current or former employee covered by the Announcement as on account of hardship or an unforeseeable...more
Employers seeking to ease the hardships faced by employees in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey may be looking for ways to provide aid to their own workforces. Qualified Disaster Relief Payments - Generally, a payment...more
Following Hurricane Harvey and its resulting destruction, many employees are in need of financial assistance and/or early access to retirement funds. We will highlight how employers can make direct financial assistance...more
Last week the IRS announced that 401(k) plans and certain similar employer-sponsored retirement plans can make loans and hardship distributions to help victims of Hurricane Harvey....more