Last year, the IRS issued its long-anticipated final (and newly proposed) regulations to address SECURE 1.0 and 2.0 Act changes to the required minimum distribution (“RMD”) rules (Code section 401(a)(9)). The 2024 proposed...more
The IRS recently released an Issue Snapshot, Deductibility of employer contributions to a 401(k) plan made after the end of the tax year, to review the timing rules for employer contribution deductions under Code section...more
The wide-ranging SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”) radically altered the retirement plan landscape, and is likely to create a significant number of action items for sponsors of retirement plans for tax-exempt entities and...more
3/14/2023
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
457(b) Plans ,
Church Plans ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Exemptions
The IRS recently announced that substantially all of the key retirement plan and health and welfare plan limits will increase next year – some significantly due to higher inflation. Notice 2022-55 (Oct. 21, 2022); Rev. Proc....more
In June, the Senate committees with jurisdiction over retirement approved their versions of retirement reform legislation. The Senate bills are the Enhancing American Retirement Now Act (unnumbered, the “EARN Act”), which was...more
You may have changed the way hardship withdrawals are made from your 401(k) plan a couple of years ago to comply with changes in the law, but did you amend your plan? And for amendments to required minimum distributions that...more
As we approach the end of 2021, it’s again time for sponsors of 401(a) and 403(b) plans to review their plan documents and plan operations to ensure compliance with increasingly complex qualification requirements. While...more
The IRS recently announced (Notice 2021-61, Nov. 4, 2021) that many of the key pension limits will increase next year – some significantly due to higher inflation. The Social Security Administration and PBGC also recently...more
Background on the 403(b) Pre-Approved Plan Program -
In 2013, the IRS began accepting prototype and volume submitter 403(b) plans (now referred to collectively as “pre-approved” plans) in the first-ever 403(b) remedial...more
Groom has prepared a comparison here of the provisions in two key retirement bills being considered by the 117th Congress: the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021 (H.R. 2954, “SECURE 2.0”) and the Retirement Security &...more
Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021 as marked up by the House Ways and Means Committee on May 5, 2021....more
A recent decision by the Ninth Circuit upholds the enforceability of forum-selection clauses in ERISA plans. The case, In re Becker v. United States Dist. Court, No. 20-72805, 2021 WL 1219745 (9th Cir. Apr. 1, 2021), is in...more
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (“SECURE Act”) made several changes to the rules for certain safe harbor 401(k) plans. One change increased the cap on automatic enrollment safe harbor...more
IRS Notice 2020-68 (Notice) provides the first round of guidance on a number of provisions under the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act) and the Bipartisan American Miners Act of...more
9/22/2020
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
457(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Distribution Rules ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Contributions ,
IRS ,
Pensions ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Planning ,
Vesting
On June 29, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued Notice 2020-52, which provides guidance and temporary relief for employers who may choose to reduce contributions during 2020 to their safe harbor 401(k) or 403(b) plan....more
Effective March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) brings immediate changes and relief to 401(k) plans, similar to natural disaster relief issued in the past. ...more
The last two weeks have seen dramatic changes for communities and businesses as COVID-19 has spread to all parts of the world. Significant disruptions for businesses and individuals have become necessary as we work together...more
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the “SECURE Act”), the largest package of retirement system reforms in over a decade, was enacted on December 20, 2019. ...more
2/13/2020
/ 401k ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Form 5500 ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
New Legislation ,
Part-Time Employees ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Planning ,
Tax Rates
IRA providers were concerned with not being able to “stop the presses” when it came to notices being provided in January to IRA owners regarding the need to take 2020 minimum required distributions (“MRDs”)....more
1/30/2020
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
IRS ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
New Legislation ,
Pensions ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Planning
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the “SECURE Act”), the largest package of retirement system reforms in over a decade, was enacted on December 20, 2019. Many of the provisions in the...more
1/23/2020
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Contributions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Final Rules ,
Form 5500 ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
PCORI ,
QACA ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Planning ,
Unrelated Business Income Tax
On Thursday, December 19, the Senate passed two spending bills to fund the government through September 30, 2020, one of which (H.R. 1865, the “Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020” or the “Act”) contains the...more
1/10/2020
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
457(b) Plans ,
529 Plans ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Cadillac Tax ,
Church Plans ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Lifetime Income Disclosures ,
Medicare ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
Part-Time Employees ,
PBGC ,
Penalties ,
Plan Administrators ,
Pooled Registration Pension Plans ,
Portability ,
Prescription Drug Coverage ,
QACA ,
Repeal ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act ,
Small Employer Plans (SEPs)