ERISA Section 4010 requires a contributing sponsor of certain single-employer pension plans, as well as the sponsor’s controlled group members, to provide controlled group, financial, and actuarial information to the PBGC each year. The requirement generally applies when one or more plans within a controlled group has a funding target attainment percentage for 4010 purposes
Pension Plans
District Court Denies Employer’s “Injury-In-Fact” Challenge to Withdrawal Liability
In Holland v. Murray, No. 21-cv-567, 2023 WL 2645708 (D.D.C. Mar. 27, 2023), the court held that financial support provided by Congress to a multiemployer pension plan under the Bipartisan American Miners Act (“BAMA”) did not divest the plan of Article III standing to pursue the withdrawal liability it was owed.
PBGC (Slightly) Opens Door to Exceptions From Special Withdrawal Liability Rules for SFA Multiemployer Pension Plans
As previously discussed, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the “PBGC”) issued final regulations in July 2022 for plans that receive special financial assistance (“SFA”) under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”). Among other things, the regulations imposed special withdrawal liability rules on plans that receive SFA – including a phase-in period for…
SECURE 2.0 Includes PBGC Premium Relief… for Some Plans
As previously discussed, the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”) that was signed into law on December 29, 2022 as part of the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act includes a slew of changes for retirement plan sponsors and employers.
One of the many changes is an end to the annual indexing of…
District Court Rejects Participant’s Attempt to Stop Plan From Recouping Overpayments
In Kanefsky v. Ford Motor Co. Gen. Ret. Plan, No. 22-cv-2259, 10548 U.S. Dist. 2023 WL 186800 (E.D. Mich. Jan. 13, 2023), the court granted a motion to dismiss a pension plan participant’s claim that the plan was equitably estopped from recouping overpaid plan benefits. Upon termination of his employment, the participant requested and…
IRS Opens Determination Letter Program to Individually Designed 403(b) Plans
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…
IRS Announces 2023 Increases to Qualified Retirement Plan Limits
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…
42 Years in the Making: PBGC Proposes Regulation on Interest Rate for Withdrawal Liability Calculations
A hotly debated (and litigated) issue for multiemployer pension plans in recent years has been the appropriate interest rate to determine a multiemployer pension plan’s liabilities when calculating the plan’s underfunding for withdrawal liability purposes. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the “PBGC”) is now poised to end the debate. The PBGC proposes to allow multiemployer…
PBGC Provides Temporary Flexibility for Variable-Rate Premium Calculations
In late September, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the “PBGC”) published Press Release 20-04 and issued Technical Update 20-2 providing flexibility in the calculation of variable-rate premiums for plan sponsors who take advantage of extended pension contribution deadlines for 2020—even in certain circumstances where the plan sponsor has already completed its PBGC premium filing.
The…
PBGC Announces COVID-19 Extensions for Premium Payments and Other Filing Deadlines
On April 10, 2020, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the “PBGC”) announced that deadlines for upcoming premium payments and certain other required filings due from April 1, 2020 through July 14, 2020 will be extended to July 15, 2020 as further described below.
The PBGC’s announcement came a day after the Internal Revenue Service (the…