For the last 50 years or so, Taft-Hartley benefit plans — plans that are administered jointly by labor and management representatives pursuant to the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 — have been required to file annual financial reports with the federal government that are essentially the same as those required from other types of […]
Author: Trucker Huss
The following questions are designed to refresh, and to fine tune, your benefits expertise. Some of the answers (which are found below) may surprise you. 1. Failed QACA. Assume that a 401(k) plan is perfectly designed to implement a Qualified Automatic Contribution Arrangement (QACA) within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) section 401(k)(13). A […]
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has issued Notice 2008–30, which provides guidance regarding distribution- related provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (“PPA”) that become effective in 2008. In question and answer format, Notice 2008–30 addresses the following: rollovers from eligible retirement plans to Roth IRAs; additional survivor annuity options; interest rate and mortality […]
The United States Supreme Court, in LaRue v. DeWolff, Boberg & Associates, Inc. (“LaRue”), has confirmed the right of a participant in a defined contribution plan to bring a claim for fiduciary breach under ERISA for losses to his or her individual plan account. In so ruling, the court overturned a decision by the Fourth […]
On December 13, 2007, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued proposed regulations under Section 408(b)(2) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) that would require plan service providers to provide more comprehensive written disclosure to the plan fiduciary who has authority on behalf of the plan to enter into an arrangement with […]
On January 28, 2008, President Bush signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (the “Act”) (Pub. L. 110–181). The Act amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (“FMLA”) to provide for two new types of leave for eligible employees who are family members of servicemembers. The Act provides an eligible […]
On January 9, 2008, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the City and County of San Francisco (the “City”) could implement the San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance (the “Ordinance”) pending the outcome of the City’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling that the Ordinance was preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security […]
If they haven’t done so already, multiemployer pension plan administrators should start gathering actuarial and financial reports prepared for their plans in prior years so they can respond quickly to requests for such information pursuant to a new provision that became effective on January 1, 2008 for calendar year plans. The new provision, Section 101(k)(1) […]
The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (the “PPA”) added automatic contribution arrangements to the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) for use in Code section 401(k), 457 and 403(b) plans. The Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) recently issued proposed regulations regarding certain aspects of these automatic contribution arrangements. The proposed regulations are effective for plan years […]
The Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) has released the 2007 Cumulative List of Changes in Plan Qualification Requirements (the “2007 Cumulative List”). In general, the Cumulative List identifies the changes in qualification requirements that must be taken into account and that are required to be incorporated into the plan document when an application for an […]
The Department of Labor has issued the long awaited final regulation implementing the provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (“PPA”) relating to a qualified default investment alternative (“QDIA”) in individual account plans, such as 401(k) plans. The final regulation shields fiduciaries of individual account plans from some of the liability associated with investing […]
On October 23, 2007, the IRS issued Notice 2007–89 (the “Notice”), which provides guidance related to the reporting and wage withholding requirements for non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements under Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”), as amended. The Notice provides similar information to that provided in Notice 2006–100, which included guidance […]
The Internal Revenue Service has announced the annual cost-of-living adjustments applicable to dollar limitations for pension plans and other items for Tax Year 2008. For many of the pension plan limitations, the increase in the cost-of-living index met the statutory thresholds that trigger their adjustment. For some, however, the limitation remains unchanged: for instance, for […]
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) issued final regulations under Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code (the “final regulations”) on July 26, 2007. Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) governs retirement plans for employees of certain tax-exempt organizations and public educational organizations that are funded either by […]
On September 10, 2007, the Treasury Department and IRS issued Notice 2007–78 (the “Notice”), which provides transition relief and additional guidance on the application of Internal Revenue Code section 409A and the related regulations (“Section 409A”) to nonqualified deferred compensation plans. Transition Relief Background Section 409A generally applies to amounts deferred under a nonqualified deferred […]
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