Recently, the IRS announced phase two of its expansion of the Pre-Examination Compliance Pilot Program. Under the pilot program, an employer may limit or entirely avoid an impending IRS audit if they promptly correct any...more
On February 27, 2023, the IRS and the Department of Treasury published proposed regulations regarding the use of forfeitures in qualified retirement plans. If finalized, the proposed rule will be effective for plan years...more
6/12/2023
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Forfeiture ,
IRS ,
Pension Reform ,
Plan Administrators ,
Proposed Rules ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
U.S. Treasury
Under Internal Revenue Code (Code) Section 36B, individuals are eligible for an exchange subsidy (or premium tax credit) if their employer has not offered them affordable coverage that provides minimum value. The IRS recently...more
Under Internal Revenue Code (Code) Section 36B, individuals are eligible for an exchange subsidy (or premium tax credit) if their employer has not offered them affordable coverage that provides minimum value. The IRS recently...more
The IRS recently issued Notice 2022-27, providing a six-month extension of the temporary relief from the physical presence requirement for certain plan elections (including spousal consents) required to be witnessed by a plan...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act 2022 (“CAA 2022”), signed by President Biden on March 15, 2022, reinstated temporary relief for high deductible health plans (“HDHPs”) to provide pre-deductible coverage of telehealth...more
If employees are required to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a timely negative COVID-19 test, and/or wear a mask as a condition of employment (COVID-19 Policies), and an employee is terminated for violating a...more
9/22/2021
/ COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Executive Compensation ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Notice Requirements ,
Severance Agreements ,
Severance Pay ,
Vaccinations
The IRS recently issued Notice 2021-40, providing a one-year extension through June 30, 2022, of the temporary relief from the physical presence requirement for certain plan elections (including spousal consents) required to...more
As discussed in our prior blog post, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) requires employers that sponsor group health plans to provide a 100% COBRA subsidy for “Assistance Eligible Individuals” during the “Subsidy...more
As noted in our prior blog posts here and here, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (the “Act”) includes several types of relief for flexible spending accounts (“FSAs”), impacting both health and dependent care FSAs. ...more
As described in a prior blog post, last spring the Department of Labor and the Department of the Treasury (Agencies) issued COVID-19 pandemic relief that extended numerous deadlines under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code...more
3/2/2021
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Relief Measures ,
Retirement Plan ,
Time Extensions ,
U.S. Treasury
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, enacted on December 27, 2020 (the CAA), includes limited relief pertaining to the partial termination of a qualified retirement plan that may have been inadvertently triggered by...more
1/27/2021
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Former Employee ,
IRS ,
New Legislation ,
Plan Participants ,
Retirement Plan ,
Termination of Benefits
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act included several provisions related to lifetime income strategies under retirement plans, including a requirement that pension benefit statements for...more
On June 3, 2020, the Treasury Department issued Notice 2020-42 providing temporary relief from the requirement for a plan representative or notary public to be physically present to witness certain participant elections...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued final regulations that provide an additional safe harbor method of satisfying the ERISA electronic disclosure requirements for retirement plans (note, these rules do not apply to...more
HIPAA in the Time of Coronavirus -
Group health plans and other entities covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA) should consider the bulletin released by the Department of Health...more
As of March 20, 2020, there has been no legislation or IRS guidance allowing plan sponsors to permit cafeteria plan participants to make COVID-19 related mid-year election changes, other than those which also meet the current...more
The IRS Office of Chief Counsel recently issued a memorandum (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lafa/20200801f.pdf) that responded with a resounding “No” to the question of whether an employer shared responsibility payment (ESRP)...more