Since the coronavirus (COVID-19) first emerged as a serious health emergency, Congress has moved quickly to pass three major pieces of legislation designed to address the public economic and health crises caused by the pandemic. According to reports, House Democrats have prioritized multiemployer pension reform in previous negotiations regarding coronavirus... Read More
On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which addresses the public economic and health crisis related to the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The CARES Act includes a temporary provision that allows employers to make tax-free student loan payments... Read More
On March 11, the IRS issued Notice 2020-15. The new guidance permits high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) to pay for 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing and treatment without a deductible (or with a deductible below the minimum annual deductible otherwise required), and without jeopardizing the plan’s status as an HDHP. This... Read More
COBRA notices may not be something employers spend a lot of time reviewing or worrying about. However, a recent increase in litigation involving COBRA notice deficiencies is good reason for employers to start taking a closer look at notices. What may seem like a minor or technical deficiency can amount... Read More
On December 19, 2019, the President signed the SECURE Act. SECURE includes, among other things, provisions that are intended to make retirement plans more accessible, especially to smaller employers, address changing workforce demographics, address nondiscrimination issues facing defined benefit plans, encourage guaranteed income options under defined contribution plans, and increase... Read More
Generally, for a tax qualified retirement plan to be adopted, the plan document must be signed and dated by the sponsoring employer and retained. However, in Val Lanes Recreation Center Corp. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, T.C. Memo 2018-92, the Tax Court found that the employer’s failure to produce a... Read More
On November 6, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2019-59, which sets forth the 2020 cost-of-living adjustments affecting dollar limits on benefits and contributions for qualified retirement plans. The IRS also announced the health savings account (HSA) and high deductible health plan (HDHP) annual deductible and out-of-pocket expense... Read More
On September 23, 2019 the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued final regulations amending the rules for hardship distributions from 401(k) and 403(b) plans (the “Final Regulations”). The Final Regulations modify the hardship requirements to reflect statutory changes and directives introduced by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, the Tax Cuts and... Read More
Participants and beneficiaries are sometimes slow to cash qualified retirement plan distribution checks, especially when the checks are relatively small. This may result in the check being cashed in a year after the year the check was received. Sometimes it is not cashed at all. In this situation, a common... Read More
The Department of Labor’s Veterans Employment and Training Services (“VETS”) issued a new fact sheet (“Fact Sheet”) to help employers better manage their pension obligations under the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (“USERRA”). USERRA creates certain rights and protections for uniformed service members. For example, under USERRA, service... Read More