Under the final rule published by the US Department of Labor on May 21, 2020, retirement plan administrators can choose to deliver required disclosures electronically by complying with the conditions of a new safe harbor. The...more
The Internal Revenue Service recently issued questions and answers regarding the special distribution, rollover and loan provisions for tax-qualified retirement plans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security...more
For 2020, legislation enacted in December of 2019 dramatically increases penalties imposed by the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) for late filing of certain employee benefit plan notices and reports. In addition, a final...more
1/31/2020
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
New Legislation ,
Notice Requirements ,
Penalties ,
Reporting Requirements ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Revenues
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) expanded the temporary relief for frozen defined benefit plans to include nondiscrimination requirements relating to benefits, rights and features, available for plan years beginning before...more
12/9/2019
/ 401k ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
IRS ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
Pensions ,
Popular ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tax Relief ,
Year-End Tax Planning
The Department of Labor (DOL) issued a proposed rule that, if finalized, would expand its existing guidance and liberalize rules for electronic disclosure of retirement plan notices under ERISA. The proposed rule, which sets...more
10/31/2019
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Electronic Disclosure ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Notice Requirements ,
Plan Administrators ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has once again extended the temporary nondiscrimination relief for frozen defined benefit plans, now through 2020. Frozen pension plans are pension plans that have been closed to new...more
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) adopted changes to the required financial statement disclosures of employee benefit plans with investments in master trusts. The changes will standardize the content and...more
The IRS recently issued proposed amendments to regulations concerning 401(k) plan hardship distributions. The proposed regulations address changes to hardship distribution rules from the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 and...more
The Internal Revenue Service and the Security Summit partners recently issued a news release outlining the “Security Six,” a list of essential steps to protect stored employee information on networks and computers. Employee...more
Last month, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published Revenue Procedure 2018-4, which modified the user fee schedule for submissions under the IRS’s Voluntary Correction Program (VCP)....more
On Saturday, the Senate passed its version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The process of reconciling the House and Senate versions of the bill has already begun in earnest. Currently, the retirement-plan-related changes...more
The new Disaster Tax Relief and Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2017 provides additional relief and flexibility for retirement plan participants impacted by recent hurricanes, including relaxed rules for plan...more
The Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service issued final regulations addressing the minimum present value requirements for pension benefits payable partly as an annuity and partly in an accelerated form, usually a...more
Under the Federal Civil Monetary Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (2015 Inflation Adjustment Act), the US Department of Labor (DOL) increased the penalties for specified violations of the Employee...more
The Internal Revenue Service (the IRS) recently issued Notice 2016-03 (the Notice) addressing three topics and expanding on its earlier announcement of major changes in the determination letter program for individually...more
Regarding multiemployer pension plans, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has long held that a purchaser can incur withdrawal liability in an asset transaction because of the federal successor liability...more
On July 21, 2015, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Announcement 2015-19 (the Announcement), which ends the five year remedial amendment cycles for individually designed plans effective January 1, 2017. For remedial...more
8/4/2015
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Comment Period ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Determination Letter ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
Retirement Plan ,
Section 401 ,
U.S. Treasury
Reflecting comments it requested, and others it received, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued two updates which modify the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS), which is the comprehensive system...more