Retirement Plans Archives - Page 5 of 70

DOL Proposes Significant Changes to VFCP Program

by Jennifer Hill, Jacob Mattinson and Patrick Ryan | Dec 22, 2022 | Employee Benefits, Retirement Plans

On November 21, 2022, the US Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released a proposed amendment and restatement of the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP), along with a proposed amendment to the Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 2002-51.

The VFCP allows plan sponsors to voluntarily correct certain fiduciary breaches to avoid civil enforcement actions and civil penalties imposed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and its accompanying regulations. The most relevant components of the proposed changes for plan sponsors relate to delinquent contributions of participant deferrals and loan repayments as these tend to occur more frequently than other issues corrected through the VFCP. Importantly, the proposed amended and restated VFCP would add a new self-correction feature, clarify existing transactions currently eligible for correction and simplify certain administrative or procedural requirements for participation in and correction of transactions under the VFCP. This would be the first time the DOL has allowed self-correction under VFCP. The proposed changes are intended to encourage greater VFCP participation by providing for more efficient and less costly corrections.

Access the full article.

Reminder: New Tax Forms for Retirement Plan Payment Withholding Effective January 1, 2023

by Jeffrey Holdvogt and Diane Morgenthaler | Dec 14, 2022 | Retirement Plans, Uncategorized

Retirement plan sponsors need to utilize updated Form W-4P (for periodic pension and annuity payments) and new Form W-4R (for nonperiodic payments and eligible rollover distributions) for income tax withholding elections beginning January 1, 2023. As we near the end of 2022, plan sponsors should ensure that their retirement plan systems and vendors are on track to implement the new federal tax withholding election forms no later than January 1, 2023.

As background, in 2017, changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) required the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to revise the withholding tables and develop new forms to use to withhold taxes from periodic payments. These forms are used by qualified and non-qualified retirement plans for participants to request withholding on benefit payments that commence in 2023 or later. In 2021, the IRS revised the Form W-4P into the two forms noted above: revised Form W-4P, which is now used only to request withholding on periodic pension and annuity payments, and new Form W-4R, which is used to request additional withholding on nonperiodic payments and eligible rollover distributions. The US Department of the Treasury and the IRS received numerous questions on the new forms, which caused the IRS to delay the implementation until January 1, 2023.

Recipients of periodic retirement payments can give payers a Form W-4P to make or change a withholding election or to elect not to have withholding apply. A Form W-4P stays in effect until the payment recipient changes or revokes it. Form W-4R is required for all nonperiodic retirement payments, such as a lump sum payment, if the recipient wants to increase or decrease withholding from the applicable default withholding percentage.

The revised Form W-4P has a few changes. The significant changes include updates to the marital category, modifications to the reporting of other sources of income, replacement of allowances with dependent credits and addition of a calculation to report a new withholding amount. The new Form W-4R allows a payee to choose a different rate of withholding by entering a rate between 0% and 100%. However, if no amount is selected, plan sponsors must withhold at a flat 10% rate (or 20% if eligible) from nonperiodic payments.

For more information on these tax and employment benefits issues, please contact your McDermott lawyer or the authors listed below.

Marchan Clark, a law clerk in the Washington, DC, office, also contributed to this article.

Access original article.

Employer Group Urges Justices To Hear Seattle Benefits Row

by Michael B. Kimberly, Sarah P. Hogarth and Andrew Liazos | Nov 16, 2022 | Benefit Controversies, Retirement Plans

An employer group says the federal government erred in arguing that a Seattle benefits mandate for hotel workers doesn’t conflict with federal law. According to this Law360 article, the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) asked the US Supreme Court to review a US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decision that backed the Seattle ordinance despite arguments from the US Department of Labor that the law doesn’t contradict the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. McDermott’s Michael B. Kimberly, Sarah P. Hogarth and Andrew C. Liazos represent ERIC.

Access the article.

The Silver Tsunami Is Coming – Here’s How ESOPs Can Help

by Ted Becker | Nov 15, 2022 | Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Retirement Plans

How can employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) help business owners ensure their businesses remain locally owned? In this article published in The Gazette, McDermott Partner Ted Becker provides insight into this popular type of employee benefit plan.

“The most important thing to do is to get an adviser who understands ESOPs,” Becker said.

Access the article (pg.7).

IRS Announces 2023 Employee Benefit Plan Limits

by Jeffrey Holdvogt and Jacob Mattinson | Oct 21, 2022 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Retirement Plans

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Social Security Administration announced the cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits on various employer-sponsored retirement and welfare plans and the Social Security wage base for 2023. The table below compares the applicable dollar limits for certain employee benefit programs and the Social Security wage base for 2022 and 2023.*

RETIREMENT PLAN LIMITS (guidance link) 2022 Δ 2023 Annual compensation limit $305,000 ↑ $330,000 401(k), 403(b) & 457(b) before-tax contributions $20,500 ↑ $22,500 Catch-up contributions (if age 50 or older) $6,500 ↑ $7,500 Highly compensated employee threshold $135,000 ↑ $150,000 Key employee officer compensation threshold $200,000 ↑ $215,000 Defined benefit plan annual benefit and accrual limit $245,000 ↑ $265,000 Defined contribution plan annual contribution limit $61,000 ↑ $66,000 Employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) limit for determining the lengthening of the general five-year distribution period $245,000 ↑ $265,000 ESOP limit for determining the maximum account balance subject to the general five-year distribution period $1,230,000 ↑ $1,330,000 HEALTH AND WELFARE PLAN LIMITS (guidance links here and here) 2022 Δ 2023 Health Flexible Spending Accounts Maximum salary reduction limit $2,850 ↑ $3,050 Health FSA Carryover Limit $570 ↑ $610 Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts± If employee is married and filing a joint return or if the employee is a single parent $5,000 = $5,000 In employee is married but filing separately $2,500 = $2,500 Excepted Benefit Health Reimbursement Arrangements (EBHRAs) $1,800 ↑ $1,950± Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefit and Qualified Parking (monthly limit) $280 ↑ $300 High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) HDHP – Maximum annual out-of-pocket limit (excluding premiums): Self-only coverage $7,050 ↑ $7,500 Family coverage $14,100 ↑ $15,000 HDHP – Minimum annual deductible: Self-only coverage $1,400 ↑ $1,500 Family coverage $2,800 ↑ $3,000 HSA – Annual contribution limit: Self-only coverage $3,650 ↑ $3,850 Family coverage $7,300 ↑ $7,750 Catch-up contributions (age 55 or older)± $1,000 ═ $1,000 SOCIAL SECURITY WAGE BASE (guidance link) 2022 Δ 2023 Social Security Maximum Taxable Earnings $147,000 ↑ $160,200

Plan sponsors should update payroll and plan administration systems for the 2023 cost-of-living adjustments and should incorporate the new limits in relevant participant communications, like open enrollment materials and summary plan descriptions.

For further information about applying the new employee benefit plan limits for 2023, contact your regular McDermott lawyer.

* The dollar limits are generally applied on a calendar year basis; however, certain dollar limits are applied on a plan-year, tax-year, or limitation-year basis.

± Not indexed for cost-of-living adjustments, with the exception of limited guidance issued for certain years.

Save It for a Rainy Day Part 2: IRS Announces Additional Plan Amendment Extensions

by Teal Trujillo, Patrick Ryan and Diane Morgenthaler | Oct 12, 2022 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Executive Compensation, Retirement Plans

On September 26, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) extended the amendment deadline for non-governmental qualified retirement plans, plans covered under Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). The extensions included many of the amendment deadlines under the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act), the Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019 (Miners Act), and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). See our prior On the Subject about this earlier extension. Missing from this earlier IRS extension was a postponement of deadlines relating to certain CARES Act provisions, in particular those related to COVID-related distributions and loan relief, as well as deadlines relating to disaster-related loans or distributions under the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020 (Disaster Act).

NEW IRS EXTENSION

IRS Notice 2022-45 provides a new extension to December 31, 2025, of the special amendment deadlines included in Section 302 of the Disaster Act and in Section 2022 of the CARES Act.

Section 2022 of the CARES Act provided for COVID-related distributions, increased loan amounts and delayed loan repayments.
Section 302 of the Disaster Act provided favorable tax treatment for certain disaster-related loans or distributions.

Previously, amendments for these CARES Act and Disaster Act provisions would have been required by the end of the 2022 plan year. The Notice also clarifies that CARES Act and Disaster Act amendments adopted before the new December 31, 2025, deadline will not cause the plan to fail to satisfy the anti-cutback requirements of Code Section 411(d)(6) or of Section 204(g) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

The extension applies to individual retirement accounts (IRAs), to qualified plans that are not governmental plans and to Code Section 403(b) plans that are not maintained by a public school. The amendment deadlines for Code Section 403(b) plans maintained by a public school, and for governmental plans (including plans covered by Code Section 457(b)), remain slightly different.

ACTION ITEM

Most tax-qualified retirement plans and Code Section 403(b) plans that elected to offer COVID-related distributions and loan relief can now wait to adopt changes required under the CARES Act, SECURE Act, MINERS Act or Disaster Act in a single amendment no later than December 31, 2025.

A Light in the Dark: Seventh Circuit Helps Clarify New Pleading Standards for 401(k) Fee Cases

by William Hameline, J. Christian Nemeth and Diane Morgenthaler | Sep 29, 2022 | Benefit Controversies, Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Retirement Plans

A recent US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit case supplies answers to many questions left open in 401(k) fee litigation cases after the US Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this year in Hughes v. Northwestern University. Specifically, to survive a motion to dismiss in the Seventh Circuit, the recent ruling in Albert v. Oshkosh Corp. reiterated that plaintiffs must allege both high fees and substandard services or performance in comparison to other similar 401(k) plans.

Read more here.

Save It for a Rainy Day: Recent Amendment Extensions for Qualified Retirement Plans, 403(b) Plans and Individual Retirement Accounts

by Teal Trujillo, Allison Wilkerson and Diane Morgenthaler | Sep 21, 2022 | Executive Compensation, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Retirement Plans

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued needed relief to extend some amendment deadlines for non-governmental qualified retirement plans and 403(b) plans, and for individual retirement accounts (IRAs) under the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act), the Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019 (Miners Act), and certain provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) until December 31, 2025. However, the IRS did not provide relief for all required amendments for the 2022 plan year. Plan sponsors that elected to offer COVID-related distributions or loan relief (or utilized disaster-related relief for loans or distributions under the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020) still need to amend their plans by the end of 2022 plan year.

Read more here.

SEC Adopts Final Pay Versus Performance Rules

by Thomas P. Conaghan, Andrew Liazos, Eric Orsic, Heidi J. Steele and Brian Tratner | Sep 15, 2022 | Executive Compensation, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Retirement Plans

On August 25, 2022, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules to implement the pay versus performance disclosure requirement mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). The Dodd-Frank Act added Section 14(i) to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which directs the SEC to adopt rules that require registrants to clearly disclose the relationship between executive compensation actually paid and the registrant’s financial performance. More than 12 years after US Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC has adopted Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K to put these disclosure requirements into effect in time for the 2023 proxy season.

Read more here.

Responsible Financial Innovation Act: Proposed Tax and Reporting for Digital Assets

by John Lutz, William R. Pomierski, Andrew Granek and McDermott Will & Emery | Sep 8, 2022 | Employee Benefits, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Retirement Plans

On June 7, 2022, Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced the highly anticipated Responsible Financial Innovation Act (the bill), which sets out to create the first complete regulatory and bipartisan framework for digital assets. The bill is intended to establish some legal clarity for regulators and the industry and to protect consumers by providing a range of disclosures and clarifying settlement conditions and rights over digital ownership. The bill would also treat all digital assets that are not treated as securities as commodities regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. This article discusses key tax considerations raised by the bill concerning taxation and reporting requirements for participants in the digital asset industry.

Read more here.

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