Many years ago, I was contacted by a bank that had an issue. For 20 years, they didn’t include bonuses as part of their plan’s compensation, even though it was supposed to be included. I told them that the only option was an...more
In the past 35 years, it changed on who had to take out a required minimum distribution (RMD) from a qualified retirement plan. Thankfully, it hasn’t changed since 1997. So a person who is a 5% owner has to take out an RMD...more
Great 401(k) Participant Features That Can Land You In Plan Sponsor Hot Water. It can get you in a bad spot. A 401(k) plan is one of the great employee benefits. Within a 401(k) Plan, some options are truly beneficial to...more
As a plan sponsor being investigated by an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent, there is one thing you might not be aware of. The IRS agent is there to ensure there has been voluntary compliance by you to the provisions of...more
Washington employers are likely aware of Washington Paid Family & Medical Leave Act ("PFMLA") and the recently passed amendments, but they may have some lingering questions. This post seeks to answer those questions to ensure...more
The IRS has once again confirmed that an employee benefit plan maintained by a church or church-affiliated organization is not subject to ERISA unless the plan sponsor makes an affirmative written election to have ERISA apply...more
In a February 2018 article, my colleague Kathleen Dreyfus Bardunias encouraged retirement plan sponsors to implement annual “operational checkups” in order to ensure their plans were administered in compliance with the plan’s...more
This alert is intended to provide you with an update on the following employee benefit developments that we thought would be of interest: Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduces the health savings account limit for 2018....more
I used to have this recurring dream that I was back in college and it was my last semester. The dream was that there was this one class that I didn’t attend all semester and the finals were around the corner. Someone pointe...more
On January 2, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service(IRS) issued Internal Revenue Bulletin 2018-1, containing Internal Revenue Procedure 2018-4, which includes new user fees for submissions under the Voluntary Correction Program...more
The IRS has announced that it has made substantial modifications to the fee structure applicable to voluntary compliance program (VCP) applications for the correction of compliance defects in tax-qualified retirement plans,...more