Pension plans for funding purposes are required to use prescribed mortality tables by the IRS. As expected, these were recently updated by the IRS and will be in effect for 2018. Plan sponsors should work with their actuaries to determine the impact to future funding requirements for these updated mortality tables. More specifically, IRS notice
President Trump signed into law H.R. 3823, the “Disaster Tax Relief and Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2017”, which delivers temporary tax relief for retirement plans as well as other tax relief to the victims of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria while reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for six months. The bill contains
The Internal Revenue Service announced that 401(k)s and similar employer-sponsored retirement plans can make loans and hardship distributions to victims of Hurricane Irma and Harvey and members of their families. This is similar to relief provided last year to Louisiana flood victims and victims of Hurricane Matthew. Participants in 401(k) plans, employees of public schools and tax-exempt organizations
The Internal Revenue Service recently issued Notice 2017-44. This notice provides model amendments that a sponsor of a qualified defined benefit plan may use to amend its plan document to offer bifurcated distribution options to participants in accordance with final regulations issued under § 417(e) of the Internal Revenue Code (see T.D. 9783, 2016-39 I.R.B.
The IRS in Revenue Procedure 2017-41 updated the procedures for the issuance of opinion and advisory letters by the IRS regarding the qualification in form of Pre-approved Plans. This revenue procedure modifies the IRS’s historic approach to Pre-approved Plans in order to expand the Provider market and encourage employers that currently maintain individually designed plans
On May 22, 2017 Alexander Acosta, the Secretary of the Department of Labor (“DOL”) wrote an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on the Fiduciary Rule. In it he states: “The Labor Department has concluded that it is necessary to seek additional public input on the entire Fiduciary Rule, and we will do so.
On April 20, 2017, the AICPA Auditing Standards Board issued an exposure draft, Proposed Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS), Forming an Opinion and Reporting on Financial Statements of Employee Benefit Plans Subject to ERISA. This proposed SAS is specific to audits of financial statements of employee benefit plans (EBPs) subject to the Employee Retirement Income