PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - SECURE 2.0 Act Relief for Plan Corrections
The DOL recently updated the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP). The VFCP encourages employers to voluntarily correct certain violations of ERISA to avoid DOL civil enforcement penalties....more
The DOL updated its voluntary fiduciary correction program (“VFCP”) which was introduced over 20 years ago to allow plan sponsors to corrected enumerated fiduciary breaches. The amended VFCP now allows for self-correction of...more
On January 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released its long-awaited final rules regarding changes to the Voluntary Fiduciary Compliance Program (VFCP). The new...more
Section 305 of SECURE 2.0 added rules for self-correcting a new category of retirement plan errors under the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“ECPRS”). Specifically, Section 305 allows an “eligible inadvertent...more
Earlier this week, the IRS released Notice 2024-77, which provides much-anticipated guidance related to the handling of so-called “inadvertent benefit overpayments” from qualified retirement plans under the SECURE 2.0 Act. ...more
Administering a retirement plan is a complicated task fraught with potential missteps. Fortunately, employers are now able to self-correct most errors and thereby avoid the considerable time and expense of filing an...more
This post examines excess deferrals under non-governmental 457(b) plans, including the approved method for correcting them and the penalty for failing to correct them, to make the case for a change in IRS policy on correcting...more
The Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS”), as set forth in Revenue Procedure 2021-30, allows plan sponsors to correct “Qualification Failures,” which are defined as any plan document, operational, demographic...more
Employers that sponsor retirement plans continue to have a lot on their plate. With SECURE Act 2.0 requirements now in play, this legislation continues to add more and more to your (already) overflowing plate. However, as is...more
On February 7, 2024, the IRS announced the second phase of its Pre-Examination Retirement Compliance Program... Under this program, sponsors will be notified that their plan is selected for examination and will have 90 days...more
Errors in retirement plans happen even to the most well-intentioned plan sponsors. Several decades ago, the IRS published the first version of the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution Program (EPCRS), which outlines...more
Years ago, any volume submitter plan or non-standardized prototype plan would apply for its own determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Then one day, the IRS tried to cut back on their agent’s workload...more
Effective December 29, 2022, Section 305 of SECURE 2.0 expands the ability for plan sponsors to self-correct certain plan failures under the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS”). Section 305 of SECURE 2.0...more
The IRS recently issued Notice 2023-43 providing new interim guidance for self-correction of plan errors. This guidance applies to corrections made prior to the anticipated issuance of revisions to the Employee Plans...more
Recently, the IRS released Notice 2023-43, providing interim guidance on Section 305 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, which expanded the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS), the system through which plan...more
The IRS has issued interim guidance to address the changes made by section 305 of SECURE 2.0 to the self-correction program under the IRS Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (commonly referred to as “EPCRS”). While...more
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”) greatly expands the availability of self-correction of compliance failures involving employer retirement plans and IRAs. On May 25, 2023, the IRS issued Notice 2023-43, which...more
Since 1998 the Internal Revenue Services (the “IRS”) has had a comprehensive employees plans correction program with three components: self-correction (SCP), voluntary correction with IRS approval including related user fee...more
In its June 3, 2022 Employee Plans Newsletter, the IRS announced a pilot pre-examination retirement plan compliance program beginning in June 2022. Under the pilot program, the IRS will notify a qualified plan sponsor by...more
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has announced a pilot program that begins this month in which they will send letters to employers letting them know that their retirement plan has been selected for examination. Under...more
On June 3, 2022, the IRS announced it is launching a pilot pre-examination retirement plan compliance program, which generally will be effective immediately (June 2022). This pilot program essentially gives plan sponsors a...more
On July 16, 2021, IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2021-30 to update the Employee Plans Compliance Resolutions System (the “EPCRS”). The update in part expands the opportunities for plan sponsors to self-correct failures under...more
The IRS has updated the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) with the release of Revenue Procedure 2021-30. The EPCRS is used to correct certain plan qualification failures. EPCRS contains the Self-Correction...more
The IRS recently updated its “Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System” (EPCRS). By way of background, EPCRS is a correction program administered by the IRS for plan sponsors to correct certain retirement plan errors. ...more
On July 16, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) published an updated version of its correction procedures for qualified retirement plans, Revenue Procedure 2021-30, the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System...more