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
The May Monthly Minute brings you up-to-date on mental health parity enforcement relief, as well as smoker surcharge and prohibited transaction litigation. Nonenforcement of 2024 Mental Health Parity Regulations - Earlier...more
The DOL recently updated the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP). The VFCP encourages employers to voluntarily correct certain violations of ERISA to avoid DOL civil enforcement penalties....more
The February Monthly Minute highlights a new online ACA reporting alternative, the DOL’s temporary policy regarding escheatment of small retirement benefits owed to missing participants, and new guidance clarifying the gag...more
The most recent wave of ERISA litigation is focused on the use of plan forfeitures in 401(k) plans, with the newest case, Armenta v. WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings Corp. being filed just last week. Although, for years, many...more
The DOL updated its voluntary fiduciary correction program (“VFCP”) which was introduced over 20 years ago to allow plan sponsors to corrected enumerated fiduciary breaches. The amended VFCP now allows for self-correction of...more
On Jan. 15, 2025, the Department of Labor (DOL) published updates to its Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP) to allow certain delinquent participant contributions, delinquent loan repayments and improper loans to be...more
On January 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released its long-awaited final rules regarding changes to the Voluntary Fiduciary Compliance Program (VFCP). The new...more
We are pleased to present our annual End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate SW Benefits Updates. This Part 1 covers year-end health and welfare plan issues. Parts 2,...more
During the next several weeks, we will publish a series of articles that dive deeply into “health plan hygiene” relating to health and welfare benefit plan fiduciary issues and how employers can protect themselves in this...more
From the 2010 outset of its project to extend ERISA fiduciary status broadly to financial intermediaries, including insurance agents, the US Department of Labor (DOL) has consistently relied on the evolution of the private...more
The June Monthly Minute highlights recent DOL guidance on annuity provider selection for defined benefit plans and IRS Q&As that provide details on SECURE 2.0’s optional emergency and domestic abuse victim distributions for...more
A recent rash of class action lawsuits in California claim that using forfeitures to reduce future employer contributions to tax-qualified retirement plans runs afoul of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)....more
All qualified retirement plans are subject to a myriad of requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is charged with enforcing the...more
One of the most basic duties of a defined contribution plan sponsor is to ensure that that there is no delay and participants’ salary deferral elections are correctly and timely deposited into the retirement plan. Not only is...more
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA") plaintiffs' bar has found a new way to allege that 401(k) plan sponsors have breached their fiduciary duty....more
In the context of mergers and acquisitions, an acquisition target’s qualified retirement plans, health plans, executive compensation arrangements, and benefit programs (referred to collectively as “benefit programs”) can all...more
When a participant terminates employment without being fully vested in their qualified retirement plan account, the non-vested portion of the account is a “forfeiture.” While forfeitures are a common element of most...more
The March Monthly Minute highlights new proposed deadlines for use of retirement plan forfeitures, unsuccessful efforts to overturn the final ESG rule, and ACA penalty increases for 2024. Sorry Not Sorry: Biden Vetoes...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
On November 21, 2022, the US Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released a proposed amendment and restatement of the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP), along with a...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) proposed changes to its Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (the “VFCP”) in November for the first time since 2006. The most significant change is the addition of a self-correction...more
People are scratching their heads, the Department of Labor (DOL) had grave concerns over offering crypto in 401(k) plans, and less than a week later, Fidelity announced their plan to offer Bitcoin as an option for plan...more
On July 26, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a proposed amendment to Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14, known as the Qualified Professional Asset “Manager” (QPAM) exemption. ...more
Cryptocurrencies and digital assets—such as bitcoin, ether and non-fungible tokens (NFTs)—have become some of the hottest investment products in recent years. The growing interest has inevitably led to retirement plan...more
I have been an ERISA attorney for 23 years, I have seen a lot of strange things that plan sponsors have done to risk the ire of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Labor (DOL). Many of these strange...more