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Regulatory Compliance
The IRS on Dec. 20, 2023, issued the 2023 cumulative list of changes in plan qualification requirements for pre-approved defined contribution plans. The changes are contained in Notice 2024-03.
The 2023 Cumulative List is intended to assist providers applying to the IRS for opinion letters for the...
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The IRS on Dec. 18 issued tables of covered compensation under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 401(l)(5)(E) and the Income Tax Regulations thereunder for the 2024 plan year. The tables are contained in Revenue Ruling (Rev. Rul.) 2024-01.
Rev. Rul. 2024-01 states that for purposes of...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) intends to ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval to extend its collection of information contained in the regulation on special financial assistance (SFA).
The OMB’s approval of the collection of information expires May 31, 2024...
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When participants earn benefits in a defined benefit plan (DB plan), they can also earn the permanent legal right to receive those benefits in the future. This can occur after a participant reaches certain milestones, such as attaining a certain age, or working for a specified number of years. This...
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We see it happen on a regular basis. Usually as the result of a miscommunication, a retirement plan sponsor makes an erroneous contribution to the plan. This can cause unintended and unwanted consequences, often including nondeductible and/or disallowed amounts. What can be done?
Contributions to...
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Happy mid-December, all. Hope your Holiday Season is full of mirth!
I signed up for the 2024 virtual ASEA Actuarial Insights conference in January. Typically, I prefer in-person conferences and sit in one of the front rows to stop myself from checking work emails. But the agenda included topics I...
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The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is concerned about the ability of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) to exercise oversight and protect the integrity of benefit plans, particularly concerning audits. The OIG for the U.S. Department of Labor...
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Electronic filing of the Form 5558, Application for Extension of Time to File Certain Employee Plan Returns, for form year 2023 may not be available starting Jan. 1, 2024 after all.
It appears that the Department of Labor (DOL) has communicated to third-party software developers that the...
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Proposed guidance implementing the SECURE 2.0 Act’s provision providing an exemption for certain automatic portability transactions has moved one step closer to being publicly released.
The Department of Labor on Dec. 5 submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review a...
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American Retirement Association (ARA) CEO Brian Graff is scheduled to testify on the first day of a public hearing hosted by the Department of Labor (DOL) titled “Retirement Security Rule: Definition of an Investment Advice Fiduciary.”
Graff will follow opening remarks from Assistant Secretary...
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A key theme that has emerged from Alight’s annual “hot topics” survey is that employers need more guidance on key provisions in the SECURE 2.0 Act before fully embracing them.
In looking at changes employers intend to make to their retirement and financial wellbeing plans in the coming year, the...
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The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has released the Fall 2023 Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) regulatory agenda, an update that enumerates proposed rules as well as those in final form.
Valuation Assumptions Rule
A highlight of the fall update is the movement of the rule on...
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The IRS on Dec. 8 announced that there will be no changes to the Required Amendments (RA) List for individually designed plans qualified under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Sections 401(a) and 403(b) for 2023. The IRS made the announcement in Notice 2023-79.
The RA List establishes the end of the...
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If you’re confused—and overwhelmed—about the Department of Labor’s (DOL) latest proposed rule defining who is an investment advice fiduciary for purposes of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), you’re not alone.
The Biden Administration officially unveiled the Retirement Security...
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If you missed the live broadcast of the ASPPA Webcast, “Update on Long-Term Part-Time Employees - Insights from the Proposed Regulations,” it is still available! You can access it on demand through Dec. 1, 2024.
On Nov. 24, 2023, the Department of Treasury and IRS released a proposed regulation...
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The IRS has issued 2024 versions of Form 1099-R and 5498, as well as their instructions. These forms are used to report information concerning contributions and distributions, including those involving IRAs.
The IRS issued the forms as drafts—they are informational and not to be used for filing...
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In a positive sign that lawmakers are committed to fixing several errors contained in the SECURE 2.0 Act, the House and Senate have just released a draft technical corrections bill, including changes to allow catch-up contributions and provide parity for Starter 401(k)s championed by the American...
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The parties in an excessive fee suit have come to terms—on at least one aspect of the litigation, though the bulk remains to be appealed.
The suit in question involves Genentech’s $7.6 billion (33,693 participant) 401(k) plan. The plaintiff is one Matthew Wehner (represented by Shepherd, Finkelman...
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Like many of you, I have spent a fair amount of time over the past couple of weeks reading and analyzing the impact and import of the new fiduciary rule proposal—not to mention the legal pundits who seek to tell us what they think it means, or might mean, regardless of what the proposal actually...
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On Nov. 3, the Department of Labor published its proposal to (1) redefine an “investment advice fiduciary” under ERISA and (2) also modify the prohibited transaction exemptions available to such fiduciaries. That is, the proposal would (1) change who is an ERISA fiduciary and (2) the conditions...
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