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Regulatory Compliance
Defined benefit plans, DC plans and 403(b) annuity arrangements, take note: July 31 is right around the corner. That’s the day by which most plans must file the dreaded and onerous Form 5500. The clock is ticking on filing the form that reports on 2013. The form must be filed by the end of the...
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Generally, federal law requires employee benefit plans with 100 or more participants to have an audit as part of their obligation to file a Form 5500. Note that some pension plans with fewer than 100 participants also may be required to have an audit if they fail to meet certain conditions relating...
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Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 412(d)(2) was originally enacted as part of ERISA over 40 years ago. (The language was moved to its current statutory location by the Pension Protection Act of 2006.) It provides that certain plan amendments adopted after the close of the plan year may be given...
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ASPPA has suggested ways in which the Department of Labor could improve the proposed amendment to the Section 408(b)(2) fee disclosure regulations. Click here to view ASPPA’s letter to John Canary, director of the Office of Regulations and Interpretations at the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security...
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Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) has asked Labor Secretary Tom Perez to look at potential conflicts of interest among pension consultants that recommend their own investments to clients, The Wall Street Journal reports. The trend is for consultants, whose margins are getting squeezed, to manage money...
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More than 90 percent of the plan sponsors that filed their final Form 5500 filings the IRS Employee Plans Compliance Unit (EPCU) examined in its “Final Return With Assets Project” had at least one error, the IRS reports. Final Forms 5500 are required even if a plan has been exempt from filing a...
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On May 15, the IRS issued Notice 2014-37 containing additional post-Windsor guidance for 401(k) or (m) safe harbor plans in response to an informal request by the ASPPA Government Affairs Committee. The guidance confirms that a mid-year amendment to a safe harbor plan will not affect the plan’s...
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The IRS will soon launch a new pilot program that will give relief to certain plan sponsors and administrators from penalties for filing the Form 5500 or Form 5500-EZ late. Only those who are not entitled to automatic relief under Title I of ERISA will be eligible under the pilot program. The IRS...
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Concerns about the impact and usefulness of the 408(b)(2) summary guide rule the DOL proposed in March are building and coalescing. Groups representing large plan sponsors and advisors have expressed concern about the proposal. And earlier this year, a coalition of industry groups that includes...
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Speaking at a Washington legislative update meeting on May 5, Assistant Labor Secretary for the Employee Benefits Security Administration Phyllis Borzi said that while there is no set date for issuing the rule that will redefine fiduciary, she will not wait forever. Most insiders predict that the...
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The Office of Management and Budget has approved revisions to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s standard termination, distress termination and missing participants forms and instructions. The new forms and instructions can be found on the Plan Terminations page of PBGC’s website. These new...
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The Office of Management and Budget has approved revisions to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s standard termination, distress termination and missing participants forms and instructions. The new forms and instructions can be found on the Plan Terminations page of PBGC’s website. These new...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has revised two schedules to be used with 2014 Form 5500 filings. The PBGC modified the Schedule MB (multiemployer defined benefit plan actuarial information) and the Schedule SB (single-employer defined benefit plan actuarial information) and related...
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Pension plans have a lot of adjustments to make in order to comply with the PBGC premium payment rules, which the PBGC amended for plan years beginning in 2014 and beyond. And even if a plan does not owe the PBGC a premium, it still must make a premium filing. Highlights of the changes the PBGC...
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Defined contribution plans that were rewritten between May 1, 2008 and April 30, 2010 and that the IRS pre-approved need to be restated with the IRS. The six-year restatement period begins May 1, 2014 and ends April 30, 2016. The IRS issued a reminder in Announcement 2014-16.Employers using pre-...
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In two recent pronouncements, the IRS issued plan document guidance for pre-approved defined contribution plans being restated for the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (Announcement 2014-16), as well as 403(b) arrangements (Revenue Procedure 2014-28). According to the latest ASPPA asap, written by...
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Qualified retirement plans offer employees significant tax savings and have become a mainstay of most group benefits. But to maintain their qualified status, they must comply with a set of comprehensive rules and regulations. Failure to comply can result in the immediate taxation of all...
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A majority of small businesses said in a recent study that the fee disclosure statements they receive from plan providers and vendors are more understandable than those they received in 2012. ShareBuilder 401(k) reports that 62 percent of small businesses in its recent nationwide study find the...
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New guidance from the IRS may make the plan-to-plan rollover process a little smoother. Revenue Ruling 2014-9, issued on April 3, is intended to make it easier for plan participants to consolidate their retirement savings accounts by making it easier for them to move assets from one employer plan...
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