Stephanie O. ZornBlog Posts
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021: Employer-Sponsored Retirement PlansThe Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 generally provides the annual funding for the federal government and also contains several important rules giving further COVID-19 relief. The comprehensive relief package funds certain hard-hit industries, expands eligibility for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and extends and expands the Employee Retention Tax Credit. The Act also relaxes several normally... Continue Reading…December 28, 2020 |
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021: Employer-Sponsored Retirement PlansThe Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 generally provides the annual funding for the federal government and also contains several important rules giving further COVID-19 relief. The comprehensive relief package funds certain hard-hit industries, expands eligibility for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and extends and expands the Employee Retention Tax Credit. The Act also relaxes several normally...… Continue ReadingDecember 28, 2020 |
When to Amend: Deadline for Compliance with Hardship Distribution Regulations ClarifiedThe Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 liberalized the hardship distribution rules applicable to 401(k) and 403(b) plans. On September 23, 2019, the IRS issued final regulations — which we discussed in a previous blog — implementing the new hardship distribution rules. While some of the new...… Continue ReadingDecember 22, 2019 |
To Withhold or Not to Withhold on Pension Distributions: A New Proposed Regulation Clarifies ObligationsOn May 31, the IRS issued a proposed regulation — presented in Q & A format — concerning income tax withholding obligations on non-rollover distributions from employer-sponsored plans — including pension, annuity, profit sharing, stock bonus and any other deferred compensation plan — to destinations outside the U.S. Unlike U.S. payees, non-U.S. payees cannot elect...… Continue ReadingJune 2, 2019 |
Is Your Employer Worksite Medical Clinic a Group Health Plan?Worksite medical clinics, some offering round-the-clock access to medical providers via telemedicine, seem to be growing in popularity. Promoters tout cost savings resulting from what would otherwise be lost productivity (employees whiling away afternoons waiting to see their private doctors or having to drive long distances to have blood drawn for routine laboratory work) and...… Continue ReadingApril 28, 2019 |
Notice 2018-76: Taking a Bite Out of the Business Expense Deductions for Meals, EntertainmentOn October 3, 2018, the IRS issued transitional guidance in Notice 2018-76 concerning the business expense deductions for meals and entertainment following the changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”) — which generally disallowed a deduction for expenses related to entertainment, amusement or recreation, but did not specifically address the deductibility of...… Continue ReadingOctober 7, 2018 |
Financial Conflict of Interest in the Eighth Circuit: Trigger of a Less Deferential Standard of Review or Mere Factor in Determining Plan Administrator Abuse of Discretion?It is well-established under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) that when an employee benefit plan grants the plan administrator discretion to decide questions of eligibility for benefits or to construe plan terms, judicial review of the plan administrator’s denial of benefits is generally limited to the deferential abuse of discretion standard...… Continue ReadingApril 15, 2018 |
2018 Tax Reform Series: Goodbye to the Individual MandateThis is the seventh article in our series covering various tax and employee benefits-related changes contained in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed by the President on December 22, 2017. Once significant change made by the Act, summarized below, is the elimination of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, effective 2019. Background Long an...… Continue ReadingJanuary 23, 2018 |
Employer Health Plan Premiums Rose in 2016, But Just BarelyPremiums for Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace coverage continue to sky rocket, with the average cost of a benchmark plan in the individual market place rising 20% this year. There is very different news for employer-sponsored plans. According to the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, in 2016 annual family premiums rose on average a modest 3%...… Continue ReadingSeptember 25, 2017 |
401(k) and 403(b) Plan Hardship Distribution Substantiation: What Will the IRS Be Looking For?On February 23 and March 7, 2017, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued memoranda to examination agents addressing review of substantiation provided in support of safe harbor hardship distributions under 401(k) and 403(b) plans. Although the memoranda cannot be relied upon as official guidance, they are good reference points to help plan sponsors and third … Continue ReadingMarch 9, 2017 |