Benefit Plan Compliance

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Last week, the U.S. Departments of Labor and Treasury issued a Joint Notice requiring the extension of certain benefit plan deadlines for individuals affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton and Tropical Storm Helene.[1] The deadline extensions echo relief issued during the COVID-19 pandemic, but apply to a more limited group of individuals. The…

Plan sponsors of Code Section 403(b) tax-sheltered annuity plans (“403(b) plans”) that have not already done so may want to consider applying for an IRS determination letter or planning and budgeting for the process next year if they are not yet eligible.

In June, the IRS determination letter program became available to a second group…

On November 1st, the IRS released a number of inflation adjustments for 2024, including to certain limits for qualified retirement plans. As expected, this year’s adjustments are more modest than last year’s significant increases. The table below provides an overview of the key adjustments for qualified retirement plans.

Qualified Defined Benefit Plans
20232024
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The IRS recently issued Notice 2023-43 providing new interim guidance for self-correction of plan errors. This guidance applies to corrections made prior to the anticipated issuance of revisions to the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS”). Under this guidance, provided certain conditions are satisfied, most Eligible Inadvertent Failures (defined below) may be self-corrected, though there are specific types of failures that may not be self-corrected at this time (discussed below).

As part of our continuing series on SECURE 2.0, signed into law December 29, 2022, this post focuses on significant changes for section 403(b) tax-sheltered annuity plans (“403(b) plans”).  403(b) plans are similar to 401(a) tax-qualified defined contribution plans but sponsored by public schools or non-profit entities and subject to unique requirements under the…

The IRS issued new proposed regulations that would permanently change the rules that require spousal consent for plan distributions to be signed in the physical presence of a notary or plan representative.  Specifically, the proposed regulations would allow plans to accept remote notarization or witnessing by a plan representative if the remote process meets certain…

On October 21st, the IRS announced changes to its qualified plan determination letter program. Most notably, the program has been expanded to include section 403(b) tax-sheltered annuity plans (“403(b) plans”). Although 403(b) plans are similar to tax-qualified defined contribution plans (“401(a) plans”), they are subject to unique rules, and, until now, the IRS…

On October 21st, the IRS released a number of additional inflation adjustments for 2023, including to certain limits for qualified retirement plans.  Perhaps most notably, the annual limit for pre-tax and Roth contributions by employees to 401(k) plans has jumped from $20,500 to $22,500, and the annual limit for “catch-up” contributions to such…