INFORMATION OF USE TO BENEFIT PLAN SPONSORS AND BENEFIT ADVISERS

IRS Plays Musical Chairs With Voluntary Correction Programs

Section 401(k) and other retirement plans are notoriously complicated to operate and no plan sponsor gets it 100% correct, 100% of the time. When problems arise, plan sponsors may correct certain errors – technically “failures” — under an IRS program called the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, or EPCRS. Failures corrected this way cannot later be the basis for revoking the tax-qualified status of the plan, or imposing other tax penalties or interest. EPCRS is set forth in a Revenue Procedure that the IRS updates every few years. On July 16, 2021 the…

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Summertime Blues for Your 401(k) Plan, P.2: Eligibility Failures

This is the second installment in five posts covering the most common 401(k) plan operational issues that arise during Form 5500 prep season for calendar year plans, which happens to be summertime: the season of outdoors fun and enjoyment for folks outside the ERISA bubble. This time around we will focus on a few selected errors related to eligibility under the plan – who gets to participate in the plan, and when. (More information on fixing eligibility errors in a 401(k) plan, courtesy of the IRS, is found here.) Note that the following…

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Summertime Blues for Your 401(k) Plan, Pt. 1

Summertime is for fun, relaxation and a break from work, but it is also a crucial period for calendar year 401(k) plans. Form 5500 Annual Return/Reports are due July 31 for these plans, and even if an extension to October 15 is obtained, the summer months are when plan operations and finances are under scrutiny.  This is particularly true for “large” plans – those with 100 or more participants on the first day of your last plan year. (Note that special transition rules apply when switching from small plan to large plan Form…

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“I am a benefits (ERISA) attorney. I help businesses prevent, and fix, problems with their employee benefit plans in order to preserve the tax-qualified status of those plans, and ultimately the saleability of their businesses.”

-Christine P. Roberts

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Christine P. Roberts
Mullen & Henzell L.L.P.
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Recent Posts

IRS Plays Musical Chairs With Voluntary Correction Programs

Section 401(k) and other retirement plans are notoriously complicated to operate and no plan sponsor gets it 100% correct, 100% of the time. When problems arise, plan sponsors may correct certain errors – technically “failures” — under an IRS program called the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, or EPCRS. Failures corrected this way cannot later be the basis for revoking the tax-qualified status of the plan, or imposing other tax penalties or interest. EPCRS is set forth in a Revenue Procedure that the IRS updates every few years. On July 16, 2021 the…

Continue reading → IRS Plays Musical Chairs With Voluntary Correction Programs

Summertime Blues for Your 401(k) Plan, P.2: Eligibility Failures

This is the second installment in five posts covering the most common 401(k) plan operational issues that arise during Form 5500 prep season for calendar year plans, which happens to be summertime: the season of outdoors fun and enjoyment for folks outside the ERISA bubble. This time around we will focus on a few selected errors related to eligibility under the plan – who gets to participate in the plan, and when. (More information on fixing eligibility errors in a 401(k) plan, courtesy of the IRS, is found here.) Note that the following…

Continue reading → Summertime Blues for Your 401(k) Plan, P.2: Eligibility Failures

Summertime Blues for Your 401(k) Plan, Pt. 1

Summertime is for fun, relaxation and a break from work, but it is also a crucial period for calendar year 401(k) plans. Form 5500 Annual Return/Reports are due July 31 for these plans, and even if an extension to October 15 is obtained, the summer months are when plan operations and finances are under scrutiny.  This is particularly true for “large” plans – those with 100 or more participants on the first day of your last plan year. (Note that special transition rules apply when switching from small plan to large plan Form…

Continue reading → Summertime Blues for Your 401(k) Plan, Pt. 1

Got COBRA Subsidy Questions? The IRS Has Answers

Since COBRA premium assistance under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 became available to Assistance Eligible Individuals as of April 1, 2021, employers and benefits advisers have had a number of questions about the mechanics of the subsidy and tax credit scheme, among other issues. In Notice 2021-31 the IRS addresses a number of the key issues in a question and answer format. Below is a selection of key points that emerge from the new guidance: Involuntary Termination and Reduction in Hours The definition of involuntary termination of employment qualifying an individual…

Continue reading → Got COBRA Subsidy Questions? The IRS Has Answers

How Employers With 51 -100 Employees Can Meet Their CalSavers Deadline

The CalSavers Program applies to employers that do not maintain a retirement plan.  It automatically enrolls eligible employees in a state-managed system of Roth IRA accounts. June 30, 2021 is the deadline by which employers with 51 to 100 California employees must either establish that they are exempt from CalSavers (for instance, because they have their own plan) or enroll in the program.  Employers with more than 100 California employees were required to enroll by September 30, 2020.  Although under legal attack for some time, on the grounds that the federal benefits law, ERISA,…

Continue reading → How Employers With 51 -100 Employees Can Meet Their CalSavers Deadline

IRS FAQs Address COVID-19 Partial Plan Termination Issues

On April 27, 2021 the IRS supplemented its online FAQs on COVID-19 relief for retirement plans and IRAs with information related to relief from partial plan terminations.  Under Division 33, Section 209 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA), a plan is not treated as having a partial termination during any plan year which includes the period beginning on March 13, 2020, and ending on March 31, 2021, if the number of active participants covered by the plan on March 31, 2021, is at least 80% of the number of active participants…

Continue reading → IRS FAQs Address COVID-19 Partial Plan Termination Issues