In Announcement 2017-11, the IRS relaxed standards for hardship distributions and loans from qualified retirement plans for those affected by Hurricane Harvey. This relief applies to employees or former employees and their...more
Imagine it’s March 31 and you are a retirement plan administrator. You have a participant who terminated employment 15 years ago. He turned 70½ last year and now you owe him his first required minimum distribution from the...more
The IRS has recently warned employers of another scam targeting employee information. The IRS has learned that scammers are posing as internal executives and are requesting Forms W-2 and Social Security Numbers from payroll...more
In a previous blog, we addressed an issue of Employee Plans News in which the IRS took the position that 401(k) plan administrators must maintain hardship distribution records and should not rely on electronic participant...more
In a previous blog, we discussed the IRS’ elimination of its five year staggered determination letter cycle for individually designed plans. The IRS recently provided guidance to help sponsors of individually designed plans...more
As 2016 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. Like last year, we are presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 of...more
11/16/2016
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
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Employee Benefits ,
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Qualified Retirement Plans ,
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Summary Plan Description ,
Year-End Compliance Checklist ,
Year-End Planning
As 2016 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. Like last year, we are presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 of...more
11/10/2016
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Business Associates ,
Cadillac Tax ,
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Employer Group Health Plans ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Form 1094 ,
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GINA ,
Grandfathered Status ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Healthcare Reform ,
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Mental Health Parity Rule ,
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Non-Discrimination Rules ,
OFCCP ,
PCORI ,
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Self-Insured Health Plans ,
Shared Responsibility Rule ,
Summary of Benefits and Coverage ,
Telemedicine ,
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Wellness Programs ,
Year-End Compliance Checklist
As 2016 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. Like last year, we are presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 of...more
11/7/2016
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Employee Stock Purchase Plans ,
Equity Compensation ,
Executive Compensation ,
FASB ,
Incentive Stock Options ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Section 162(m) ,
Section 409A ,
Shareholder Approval ,
Year-End Planning
Generally, distributions from a qualified retirement plan that are eligible for rollover must be rolled over within 60 days of the date on which the distribution occurs. If a taxpayer did not complete the rollover within 60...more
As was previously announced in 2015, effective as of January 1, 2017, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) is eliminating its five year staggered determination letter cycle for individually designed retirement plans. Plans in...more
As we previously discussed in our May 19, 2016 SW Benefits Update, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently issued final regulations on fiduciary conflicts of interest in retirement programs. Since 2010 when the DOL first...more
“Middle class economics means that Americans should be able to retire with dignity after a lifetime of hard work. But loopholes in the retirement advice rules have allowed some brokers and other advisers to recommend products...more
The 2015 Form 5500 added some new optional compliance questions for the 2015 Forms 5500 and 5500-SF. In December 2015, the IRS issued frequently asked questions on the new compliance questions and strongly encouraged plan...more
The Supreme Court has provided additional clarity on the Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer decision. In Dudenhoeffer, the Supreme Court held that a fiduciary decision to invest in employer stock is not deemed to be...more
As 2015 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 presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate Employee Benefits Updates....more
12/11/2015
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Executive Compensation ,
FASB ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Pay Ratio ,
Pay-for-Performance ,
Private Equity ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Section 409A ,
Year-End Planning
As 2015 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 presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate SW Benefits Updates. Part 1 of the series...more
The Treasury Department and the IRS recently issued final regulations (the “2015 Final Regulations”) relating to hybrid retirement plans, including cash balance pension plans.
The 2015 Final Regulations provide...more
As 2015 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. Like last year, we are presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 of...more
11/23/2015
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Cadillac Tax ,
Cafeteria Plans ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Large Employer ,
PCORI ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
Section 6055 ,
Section 6056 ,
Self-Insured Health Plans ,
Shared Responsibility Rule ,
Summary of Benefits and Coverage ,
W-2 ,
Wellness Programs ,
Year-End Planning
As a reminder, the annual Form 5500 deadline is quickly approaching. Calendar year employee benefit plans that applied for an extension must file Forms 5500 by Thursday, October 15, 2015.
The Form 5500 Annual...more
In Announcement 2015-19, the IRS announced the elimination of the five year remedial amendment cycle for individually designed retirement plans effective as of January 1, 2017. This means that after January 1, 2017,...more
In its April 1, 2015 Employee Plans News, the IRS stated that defined contribution plan sponsors must maintain hardship distribution records and that plan sponsors cannot rely on electronic participant self-certification for...more
The IRS recently announced changes that make it significantly easier to correct employee deferral mistakes (also known as elective deferrals) in qualified retirement plans. The changes make modifications to the IRS’ Employee...more
The Department of Labor recently issued final regulations implementing the annual funding notice that defined benefit plans are required to provide under Section 101(f) of ERISA. The final regulations are similar to the...more
As 2014 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 presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate SW Benefits Updates. Part 1 of the series...more
As 2014 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 presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate SW Benefits Updates. Part 1 of the series...more