REFRESH Five Tax Traps for Business Lawyers Advising Nonprofit Organizations
Navigating Contractor vs. Employee Classification
Insider Transaction Traps for the Unwary
Multijurisdictional Employers, Part 1: Independent Contractors vs. Employees
The Presumption of Innocence Podcast: Episode 60 - Enforcement Priorities of the Second Trump Administration: Employee Retention Tax Credit
REFRESH Steps for Launching a New Charitable Corporation
The Presumption of Innocence Podcast: Episode 58 - Enforcement Priorities of the Second Trump Administration: IRS Investigations
Are Overtime Wages and Tips Exempt From Income Tax? What Employers Need to Know to Prepare
Nonprofit Basics: IRS 10-Course Charity Workshop
Nonprofit Basics: Unrelated Business Income Tax: Debt Financed Income - Part 3
The Demystification of Employee Retention Credits for Private Equity Deals — PE Pathways Podcast
Nonprofit Basics: Unrelated Business Income Tax: Modifications and Exceptions - Part 2
Navigating the Inflation Reduction Act: Insights on Brownfield Energy Community Credits - Energy Law Insights
4 Key Takeaways | Analyzing the Top Income Tax Cases in 2024
REFRESH Nonprofit Basics: Year-End Thoughts and New Year To-Do List
What's the Best Transaction Structure for My Sale?
Year-End and Trending Tax Considerations for Health Care Practices
Nonprofit Basics: International Grantmaking – Part 2 Income Tax Withholding Rules
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Tax Relief and Possible Retirement Plan Resources for Hurricane Victims
The Presumption of Innocence Podcast: Episode 44 - A Recipe for Litigation: The Simmering Conflict Surrounding ERC Claims
I love Las Vegas. Great restaurants, great shows, and five trips in a row without dropping a nickel into a slot machine. Why? Because I hate gambling. I hate losing even more. Honestly, just getting out of bed every morning...more
Baseball season has just started, and retirement plan auditing season will soon kick into high gear. Many plan sponsors don’t see the value of a good auditor; they just see the audit as a cost of doing business. That’s too...more
One question that often comes up is whether an expense related to an ERISA plan can be paid with plan assets. The decision of whether to use ERISA plan assets to pay an expense is an ERISA fiduciary decision. With the recent...more
As part of our ongoing series on SECURE 2.0, this post discusses three significant changes to corrections of common retirement plan errors: (1) New rules for correcting overpayments, (2) expansion of the Self-Correction...more
In January of 2021, we published two blog posts regarding Department of Labor (“DOL”) guidance on missing retirement plan participants. The first post describes DOL guidance on best practices for locating missing retirement...more
The worst thing you can do is to handle things that you can’t. The one thing that plan sponsors can’t handle and shouldn’t is when they are contacted by the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor for an audit of...more
In response to a request by U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (Oregon), Bernie Sanders (Vermont) and Patty Murray (Washington), the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) earlier this year completed a study and published a report...more
With calendar year-end Form 5500s due on July 31, or October 15 with an extension (and still no COVID-19 filing relief as of the date this blog was published), it’s that time of year where plan sponsors begin thinking about...more
The last two times I was in Las Vegas, I didn’t gamble a penny. I didn’t gamble because I hate to lose. Yet I see so many plan sponsors and plan providers gamble by not correcting a glaring compliance issue and play that...more
The recent U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour (WHD) investigation outcome of leading thoroughbred trainer Chad Brown has rocked the racing industry with the assessment of over $1.6 million in back wages and Civil Money...more
When you get pulled over by the police while driving, the best way to handle is to be pleasant and not be argumentative. You listen to the officer as to why he pulled over. Being belligerent and non-cooperative will only lead...more
Overview of Benefit Plan Audits (Agencies Conducting Audits) - ..Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – Reviews both health and welfare plans and qualified retirement plans – Primary jurisdiction over qualified status of retirement...more
Use of Forfeitures for Safe Harbor Contributions, QNECS and QMACS - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued final regulations allowing forfeitures in 401(k) plans to be used to fund safe harbor contributions,...more
In July 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), the Internal Revenue Service, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation released proposed revisions to the Form 5500 Annual Return required for certain ERISA-covered...more
When you’re filing that Form 5500, just notice that certain answers may likely lead you to an Internal Revenue Service or Department of Labor audit....more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) conduct different types of benefit plan audits, such as retirement plans and health and welfare plans, and for various reasons. In a presentation, Jeffrey...more
In a recent presentation, McDermott attorneys discussed how to prepare responses for a Department of Labor (DOL) investigative audit of a company’s health and welfare plan, including required documentation and procedures, DOL...more
Defined contribution plans such as 401(k) plans have a forfeiture provision if there are contribution in the plan that are not immediately vested. The problem with the forfeiture provision is that they are usually neglected...more
Editor's Overview - This month, we look at the implications of the two federal district court cases from California that applied the ban on discretionary clauses typically found in ERISA plans to self-insured plans. The...more
Even though the first year of the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate is in effect and fully phased-in, it has been our experience that few employers have bothered to review their employee handbooks to reflect the ACA. ...more
The Complete And Total Worthlessness Of The 401(k) Fiduciary Warranty - I am a firm believer in the idea that what you see is what you should get. If you’re promised the moon, anything short of it is wrong. Some of the...more
The IRS Employee Plans Compliance Unit (EPCU) recently announced two new projects and updated two others. In each case EPCU is using compliance checks as a tool to increase IRS enforcement presence and ensure compliance....more
Retirement Plans - IRS Issues Guidance on Benefit Suspension Voting under MPRA - As we have written in prior alerts, the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA) permits trustees of financially troubled...more
The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently released “Assessing the Quality of Employee Benefit Plan Audits,” a comprehensive report reviewing the quality of audit work...more
It’s unfortunate, but the facts are that most people don’t respond to a complaint until there is a letter from an attorney. Service providers and companies hate correspondence from attorneys because that suggests litigation....more