The following checklist highlights key issues for general counsel with respect to employee benefit plans and executive compensation arrangements....more
If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a hundred times (ok, maybe just that one time) – recruiting and retaining top talent can be a headache for nonprofit organizations forced to compete against for-profit organizations...more
While the news cycle in the world of sports is ever changing, a few occurrences in the past several years deserve further discussion in the executive compensation community – Shohei Ohtani’s deferral of $680 million in salary...more
When the IRS published proposed regulations harmonizing key provisions of Code Sections 409A and 457(f) in 2016, executive compensation lawyers and consultants rejoiced. It was not just that a long wait was over (roughly nine...more
Collective investment trusts (“CITs”) have become an increasingly popular choice for 401(k) plan investment menus over the past decade, consistent with a trend toward lower-cost investment options that has been driven, in...more
The DOL published on July 27, 2022 a proposed change to the QPAM Exemption (“Proposed QPAM Amendment”) that may require retirement plan sponsors to update their collective trust agreements in order to satisfy the new DOL...more
The Treasury Department’s proposed regulations regarding the income tax treatment of “ineligible plans” of tax-exempt employers under Code Section 457(f), published in June 2016, were greeted with much fanfare. (You can...more
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed late last year and became effective as of January 1, 2018. The Act includes a new provision that subjects certain “excess compensation” paid by exempt organizations (organizations exempt from...more
In the spirit of accentuating the positive, there are a few bits of good news for colleges and universities in the Tax Act…as Mary Poppins might say, a spoonful (or three) of sugar to help the medicine go down. Unfortunately,...more
The 2016 proposed regulations significantly expanded 457(f) plan sponsors’ ability to permit elective deferrals, use noncompetition agreements and make larger severance payments than otherwise permitted under 409A without...more
Health system employers should make sure they are familiar with three key employee benefit issues: (1) the new Department of Labor (DOL) fiduciary rule that currently becomes effective April 10, 2017 (but may be delayed in...more
The Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") recently notified a major university that it is being audited, and as part of that audit requested copies of the employment agreements of the president of the university, the provost of...more
Authors: John A. Morrison (Atlanta), Taylor Bracewell (Atlanta) Published Date: October 11, 2016 Earlier this summer, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued proposed regulations under Sections 409A and 457 of the Internal...more
We're back with the second installment in our series on the IRS's Section 457 proposed rules. The first alert covered Section 457(f) basics and discussed the meaning of "deferred" compensation....more
On June 22, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published its long-awaited proposed regulations (the Proposed Regulations) under Section 457(f) of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code). Section 457(f) governs the taxation...more
The IRS recently issued proposed regulations under Internal Revenue Code Section 457 that address, among other things, the interplay between Code Section 457(f) and Code Section 409A. Additionally, the IRS issued clarifying...more
There has been a lot of buzz recently about the long-awaited proposed rules issued by the Internal Revenue Service under Internal Revenue Code Section 457. Section 457 only applies to non-profit and governmental employers and...more
After more than nine years of waiting, eligible tax-exempt, state government and local government employers (collectively, "Tax-Exempt and Governmental Employers") finally have received the guidance long promised by the...more
The Internal Revenue Service recently released long anticipated proposed regulations (the “Proposed Regulations”) governing deferred compensation arrangements maintained by tax-exempt organizations and governmental entities...more
On the TV show Futurama, the aged proprietor of the delivery company Planet Express, Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, had a habit of entering a room where the other characters were gathered and sharing his trademark line,...more
In June 2016, the IRS issued long-awaited proposed regulations under Section 457(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. While the proposed regulations will generally apply to compensation deferred under a plan...more
On June 21, 2016, after more than 15 years of ongoing deliberations, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (the Dept. of Treasury) issued proposed regulations under Section 457 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code),...more
On June 22, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Treasury Department issued proposed regulations under Section 457 of the Internal Revenue Code, fulfilling a nearly decade-old commitment to provide additional...more
On the same day it released proposed regulations under Section 457 — as reported in our "New 457 Regulations for Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans of Tax-Exempt and Government Employers" update —the IRS released...more
On June 21, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued proposed Internal Revenue Code (Code) section 409A regulations, modifying existing proposed and final section 409A regulations regarding...more