The Department of Labor (DOL), joined and coordinated in part by the Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, and Department of Health and Human Services, has released several documents providing deadline extensions...more
The President recently signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or “CARES Act.” The CARES Act is primarily a stimulus package that addresses the current coronavirus crisis, and it includes...more
The nation’s lawmakers, government agencies, and insurance carriers are taking measures to remove financial barriers to testing and treatment for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Employers sponsoring health plans...more
3/19/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cost-Sharing ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
HDHPs ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
HSA ,
IRS ,
State and Local Government ,
Virus Testing
Earlier this week, the House of Representatives passed a budget bill, HR 1158, and a related bill, HR 1865, to enact the "Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act," referred to as the “SECURE Act.” The SECURE...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has finalized revisions to the regulations governing hardship distributions under 401(k) and 403(b) plans. The final regulations make some subtle but important changes to the regulations...more
9/25/2019
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Benefits ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Natural Disasters ,
New Regulations ,
Notice Requirements ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
Tax Planning
A federal trial court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a participant in an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) claiming that fiduciaries of the ESOP caused it to overpay for stock of the company in a leveraged transaction....more
In Revenue Procedure 2019-19, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) significantly expanded the availability of the Self-Correction Program (SCP) that plan sponsors may use to self-correct failures in their qualified retirement...more
4/30/2019
/ 403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Benefits ,
EPCRS ,
Filing Requirements ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Retirement Plan ,
Revenue Procedures ,
Tax Audits ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Voluntary Correction Program
As more fully described in our earlier newsletter, in Revenue Procedure 2016-37 the Internal Revenue System (IRS) made significant changes in the procedures governing the issuance of favorable determination letters to the...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued proposed amendments to the regulations governing hardship distributions under 401(k) and 403(b) plans. Many plan administrators of 401(k) and 403(b) plans permitting hardship...more
11/19/2018
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Benefits ,
Hardship Distributions ,
IRS ,
Plan Administrators ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors
Last year, in Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that a special type of “church plan,” intended to be exempt from Title I of ERISA and many Internal Revenue Code requirements, does not...more
9/14/2018
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Church Plans ,
Churches ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Religious Institutions ,
Tax Exemptions
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a private letter ruling approving of an employer’s program to provide employees a retirement plan contribution conditioned on student loan repayments. Specifically, the IRS found...more
The Internal Revenue Service originally announced in 2017 that the 2018 contribution limit for health savings accounts (HSAs) corresponding to family coverage under a high-deductible health plan would be $6,900. Then, in...more
The IRS previously announced that the 2018 contribution limit for health savings accounts (HSAs) corresponding to family coverage under a high-deductible health plan would be $6,900. However, now three months into 2018, the...more
The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that employee benefit plans sponsored by certain church-affiliated organizations do not have to be established by a church to be considered a “church plan,” which is exempt...more
With relatively few exceptions, administrators of employee benefit plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) have enjoyed success enforcing forum selection clauses in cases across the country. As...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released General Counsel Memorandum 201634021 (“Memorandum”) concluding that the employees of a disregarded single member limited liability company (SMLLC) (1) must be allowed to...more