457(b) Plans – E is for ERISA

January 4, 2023January 4, 2023

Five SECURE 2.0 Changes Impacting Non-Profit Employers

On December 29, 2022 President Biden signed into law H.R. 2617, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill that will keep the federal government funded for the 2023 fiscal year. Of the many provisions in the massive bill, Division T, the SECURE Act of 2022, contains close to 400 pages of far-reaching changes affecting retirement plans and IRAs. Commonly referred to as SECURE 2.0, it builds upon and adds to retirement plan provisions of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE 1.0) which was passed in 2019, but is more extensive than the earlier law. This post focuses on five provisions of SECURE 2.0 that specifically impact retirement plans maintained by non-profit employers. In addition to the changes listed below, which affect plans currently in existence, beginning in 2025 newly adopted Section 403(b) plans will be required to auto-enroll participants, with some exceptions.

One: Expansion of Multiple Employer Plan and Pooled Employer Plan Arrangements to Section 403(b) Plans

Effective for plan years beginning after December 31, 2022, Section 403(b) plan sponsors can participate in multiple employer plan arrangements (MEPs) and pooled employer plan arrangements (PEPs), potentially achieving economies of scale under such arrangements (in terms of recordkeeping and investment expenses) that have previously only been available to for-profit employers. MEPs and PEPs organized for Section 403(b) plan sponsors will be able to take advantage of relief, extended under SECURE 1.0, from the “one bad apple” rule so that violation of one employer member of a multiple employer or pooled arrangement does not affect the tax treatment of other, compliant employer members.

Two: Section 403(b) Plans May Invest in Collective Investment Trusts (CITs)

Since 1974, the only two permitted investment vehicles for 403(b) plans were annuity contracts and mutual funds. Effective as of its date of enactment, SECURE 2.0 adds a third option, collective investment trusts (CITs), to that short list. CITs are pooled investment arrangements that are made available only to qualified retirement plans, and that share some features with mutual funds but have different regulatory oversight and may offer some cost efficiencies. Despite the immediate effective date, there will be some lead time before CITs are available to Section 403(b) plan sponsors due to the need to modify applicable securities laws.

Three: Expanded Investment Sources for Section 403(b) Hardship Withdrawals

Prior to SECURE 2.0, hardship withdrawals from Section 403(b) plans could be drawn only from employee contributions, less earnings. Effective for plan years after December 31, 2023, SECURE 2.0 will bring Section 403(b) plans into conformity with Section 401(k) plans in this regard, so that QNECs, QMACs , in addition to elective deferrals, and earnings on these amounts, are permitted sources for hardship withdrawals. SECURE 2.0 also permits hardship withdrawals to be made on the basis of a written certification by the participant as to the need for the withdrawal rather than on the basis of more formal documentation.

Four: Extension to Amend Section 457(b) Plans for SECURE 1.0 Required Minimum Distribution Rules

As we posted recently, December 31, 2022 was the deadline for sponsors of non-governmental Section 457(b) deferred compensation plans to amend their plan documents to incorporate changes to required minimum distribution rules under SECURE 1.0. For tax-exempt sponsors of these plans who did not act timely, SECURE 2.0 has extended the amendment deadline under SECURE 1.0 to conform to the amendment deadline under applicable provisions of SECURE 2.0. The new deadline is the last day of the first plan year beginning on or after January 1, 2025 (2027 in the case of governmental plans). Note in this regard that SECURE 2.0 further modifies RMD rules, including increasing the RMD starting age in stages, first from 72 to 73, then eventually to 75, so additional amendments to RMD provisions will eventually be needed under SECURE 2.0. Plans must operate in accordance with required provisions, in the interim.

Five: Eligibility for Long-Term, Part-Time Employees

This is a provision of SECURE 2.0 that is not unique to 403(b) plans but applies equally to 401(k) plans. The original SECURE 1.0 rule required long-term, part-time employees, defined as employees who have worked 500 or more hours of service in three consecutive twelve-month periods, to be able to participate in the deferral-only portion of a 401(k) plan beginning in 2024. Effective for plan years beginning after December 31, 2024, SECURE 2.0 expands this rule to 403(b) plans that are subject to ERISA and reduces the three consecutive twelve-month requirement to two consecutive periods. This will be a significant adjustment to 403(b) plan sponsors who are accustomed to the universal availability rule, one exception to which permitted employees who normally work less than 20 hours per week, and who fail to accumulate 1,000 hours of service in an eligibility measurement period, to be excluded from making elective deferrals. Although universal availability does not apply under 401(k) plans, the 1,000 hour rule operated in a similar way and will now yield to the 500 hour in two consecutive year standard.

SECURE 2.0 will be a topic of discussion at EforERISA in many posts to come. If you have not subscribed to this blog yet, please take a moment to do so by typing your email address under the prompt at “Continue Reading More Articles.” And if you are a plan sponsor, or advise plan sponsors, and have questions about provisions of the law or steps to take to get ready for their implementation, don’t hesitate to reach out using the Contact form (under “Posts Worth Revisiting”).

The above information is a brief summary of legal developments that is provided for general guidance only and does not create an attorney-client relationship between the author and the reader. Readers are encouraged to seek individualized legal advice in regard to any particular factual situation. © 2023 Christine P. Roberts, all rights reserved.

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November 1, 2022November 3, 2022

Year End SECURE Act Deadline Looms for Tax-Exempt 457(b) Plans

Despite an extension granted to qualified plans, Section 403(b) plans, and governmental Section 457(b) plans to make necessary amendments under the SECURE Act, no extension past December 31, 2022 currently applies for Section 457(b) plans maintained by private tax-exempt organizations. That means that, absent future guidance from IRS, these plans must be amended by the end of this year to incorporate the SECURE Act’s changes to required minimum distribution provisions. Prompt action by those responsible for Section 457(b) benefits is required in order to meet the fast-approaching deadline.

By way of background, Section 457(b) permits private, tax-exempt organizations to offer deferred compensation plans to a “top-hat” group, consisting of a “select group of management or highly compensated employees.” Such plans are exempt from most provisions of Title I of ERISA and permit covered participants to defer up to the 457(e)(15) annual dollar limit annually ($22,500 in 2023) in addition to whatever they defer under the tax-exempt employer’s Section 403(b) or other retirement plan. Governmental employers may also sponsor plans under Section 457(b) without limiting participation to a top-hat group. Section 457(b) plans, whether sponsored by private tax-exempt employers or governmental entities, are subject to the required minimum distribution rules under Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a)(9). Those rules require that accounts begin to be distributed to participants by their “required beginning date” or RBD, as defined under Section 401(a)(9)(C), and also govern subsequent distributions to account holders and their beneficiaries.

Enter the SECURE Act in 2019. The SECURE Act moved the RBD for non-owners out to the later of retirement or April following the year in which a participant reaches age 72, rather than 70 ½, which has been the prior rule, and also required annual required minimum distributions following the death of an account holder to be made over a period not exceeding 10 years for most designated beneficiaries, rather than over a period covering their life expectancy, which had been the case previously. This is a mandatory change under the SECURE Act; the Act also contains discretionary provisions such as qualified birth and adoption withdrawals.

The original deadline to amend non-governmental plans under the SECURE Act was the last day of the first plan year beginning on or after January 1, 2022 (December 31, 2022 for a calendar plan year). Governmental employers and multiemployer plans had until the end of 2024, however, as did 403(b) plans maintained by public schools. In recent months, the IRS extended the SECURE Act amendment deadlines for all types of plans other than Section 457(b) plans maintained by tax-exempt employers. This was announced in Notice 2022-33, issued in September 2022, whic was followed up by guidance in October of 2022 (Notice 2022-45) that extended the deadline to adopt amendments under applicable provisions of other laws (the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) and Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019 (Miners Act) and the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020 (Relief Act)). (More precisely, the deadline extended under Notice 2022-33 included amendments under the CARES Act related to the 2020 waiver of RMDs and Notice 2022-45 covered amendments under other applicable provisions of the CARES Act.)

December 31, 2025 is the new amendment deadline under applicable provisions of SECURE and these other laws for qualified retirement plans, including 401(k) plans, and 403(b) plans. For governmental pension plans and governmental Section 457(b) plans it is generally 90 days after the close of the third regular legislative session of the legislative body with the authority to amend the plan that begins after December 31, 2023.

In the absence of further guidance from IRS, December 31, 2022 remains the deadline to amend Section 457(b) plans maintained by private tax-exempt employers to conform to the RMD provisions of the SECURE Act. It is not unheard of for IRS to issue late-in-the-year deadline extensions, but in this instance, it has been silent on this category of plan twice in close succession. Employers who maintain such plans should connect with their third-party administrators or benefit attorneys to arrange for timely adoption of the necessary amendment to their plan document, and an update of plan summary information provided to participants.

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October 21, 2022November 28, 2022

2023 Retirement Plan Limits Announced

The Internal Revenue Service announced new dollar limits for retirement plans for 2023, with most limits showing a sizeable increase over 2022 amounts. The new annual 401(k) elective deferral limit is $22,500 with a $7,500 catch up for those age 50 or older, permitting $30,000 to be contributed annually, or $5,000 per month. Plan sponsors should also note that the compensation threshold to determine highly compensated employees increases from $135,000, to $150,000, which is measured based on prior year’s compensation. The rest of the new limits are shown below:

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November 4, 2021November 17, 2021

IRS Announces 2022 Retirement Plan Limits

On November 4, 2021, the IRS announced 2022 cost-of-living adjustments for annual contribution and other dollar limits affecting 401(k) and other retirement plans. The maximum annual limit on salary deferral contributions to 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) plans increased $1,000 to $20,500, but the catch-up contribution limit for employees aged 50 and older stayed the same at $6,500. That raises the total deferral limit for a participant aged 50 or older to $27,000. The Section 415(c) dollar limit for annual additions to a retirement account was increased to $61,000 from $58,000, and the $6,500 catch-up limit increases that to $67,500 for participants aged 50 or older. In addition, the maximum limit on annual compensation under Section 401(a)(17) increased to $305,000 from $290,000, and the compensation threshold for Highly Compensated Employees increased to $135,000, from $130,000. Other dollar limits that increased for 2021 are summarized below; citations are to the Internal Revenue Code. Unchanged were the annual deductible IRA contribution and age 50 catch-up limit ($6,000 and $1,000, respectively), and the age 50 SIMPLE catch-up limit of $3,000. In a separate announcement, the Social Security Taxable Wage Base for 2022 increased to $147,000 from the prior limit of $142,800 in 2021.

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September 11, 2021

IRS Prioritizes Guidance on Student Loan Repayment Contributions

On September 9, 2021 the Department of the Treasury issued its 2021-2022 Priority Guidance Plan listing guidance projects that are priorities for the Treasury Department and IRS during the twelve months ending June 30, 2022. Among the Employee Benefits topics is “[g]uidance on student loan payments and qualified retirement plans and §403(b) plans.” This post reviews the state of the law on student loan repayments through retirement plans and briefly discusses what type of guidance might be forthcoming.

Current State of the Law

The current state of guidance on using student loan repayments as a base for employer contributions to a qualified retirement plan or 403(b) plan is limited to a private letter ruling issued in 2018 to Abbott Labs. In addition, proposed measures are contained in various pieces of federal legislation including the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021, commonly referred to as SECURE 2.0.

In the private letter ruling (PLR 201833012), discussed in our earlier post, the employer sought approval of an arrangement under which they made a 5% nonelective contribution on behalf of participants who contributed up to 2% of their compensation towards student loan repayments. Those participants could still make elective deferral contributions under the plan, but would not receive a matching contribution (also equal to 5% of compensation) for the same pay periods in which they participated in the student loan repayment program. Both the nonelective and matching contributions were made after the end of the plan year and only on behalf of employees who either were employed on the last day of the plan year or had terminated employment due to death or disability. The nonelective contributions based on student loan repayments also vested at the same rate as regular matching contributions did.

The PLR addressed whether the nonelective contribution made on behalf of student loan repayments violated the “contingent benefit rule.” Under that rule, a 401(k) plan is not qualified if the employer makes any other benefit (with the exception of matching contributions) contingent on whether or not an employee makes elective deferrals. The IRS concluded that the program did not violate the contingent benefit rule because employees in the program could still make elective deferrals, but simply would not receive the regular employer match on those amounts during pay periods in which they received the nonelective contribution based on student loan repayments.

Only Abbott Labs has reliance on the terms of the PLR, although the PLR may indicate the approach the IRS will take in any new guidance regarding student loan repayments as a basis for retirement plan contributions.

Proposed Legislation

Congress has noticed the impact that student loan repayment obligations has had on employees’ ability to save for retirement. As mentioned, the most significant bill that would address this issue is the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021, commonly known as SECURE 2.0. Specifically, Section 109 of the Bill would treat “qualified student loan payments” equal to elective deferral contributions, for purposes of employer matching contributions under a 401(k) plan, a 403(b) plan, a governmental 457(b) plan, or a SIMPLE IRA plan, and would permit separate nondiscrimination testing of employees who receive the matching contribution based on student loan repayments. “Qualified student loan payments” would be defined to include any indebtedness incurred by the employee in order to pay their own higher education expenses. Under SECURE 2.0, total student loan repayments that are matched, plus conventional elective deferrals, would be capped at the dollar limit under Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) Section 402(g) ($19,500 in 2021).

What Future IRS Guidance Might Hold

Based on the Abbott Labs PLR and SECURE 2.0, we might hope or anticipate that any future IRS guidance on programs that condition employer retirement plan contributions on participant student loan repayments would include the following:

Guidance on how such programs may comply with the contingent benefit rule, including whether it will suffice simply that program participants may continue making elective salary deferrals (while likely foregoing regular matching contributions while student loan repayments are being matched).
Guidance on whether such a program, by nature limited to employees with student loans, is a “benefit, right or feature” that must be made available on a nondiscriminatory manner under Code Section 401(a)(4), and if so how it might satisfy applicable requirements.
Guidance on whether, and how, employers can confirm that loan repayments are being made, including whether (as SECURE 2.0 would permit), employers may rely on an employee’s certification of repayment status.
Guidance on nondiscrimination testing of contributions under a student loan repayment program, including provision for separate testing, as SECURE 2.0 would permit.

Additionally, plan sponsors would no doubt appreciate guidance on use of outside vendors for student loan repayment programs and how they might interact with conventional retirement plan record keepers and third party administrators.

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June 20, 2017February 10, 2021

Beyond the 403(b) Plan: Top 5 Things to Know About Deferred Compensation for Non-Profit Executives

Tax-exempt employers may offer deferred compensation plans to their select executives to allow for retirement savings over and above the dollar limits applicable under a Section 403(b) plan. However the rules governing these arrangements, which fall under Section 457 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code), are complex and often misunderstood. Below are five things top things to keep in mind in this area, to get the most that the law offers without unpleasant tax surprises along the way.

1. It’s complicated……

First, there are two types of 457 plans: 457(b) plans and 457(f) plans. A tax-exempt employer can use both for the same executives but careful planning is advised. The (b) plans allow set-aside (in the form of employee deferrals or employer contributions) of only $18,000 (in 2017) per year, with no age 50+ catch-up allowance. Amounts set aside under a (b) plan are not taxed until they are distributed to the executive, an event which must be delayed until termination of employment/retirement, or on the occurrence of unforeseeable circumstances (narrowly defined). Taxation is delayed until distribution even though the amounts are generally “vested” (no longer subject to forfeiture) when they are contributed. By contrast there is no dollar limit on the amount that may be set aside under a 457(f) plan (subject to item no. 4, below), but the amounts are taxable upon completion of a vesting schedule (e.g., from 3 to 10 years). Therefore distribution in full almost always happens upon completion of vesting. Put most simply, (b) plans are a good way to double an executive’s 403(b) deferral budget, and (f) plans are a good way to help an executive catch up on retirement savings when a retirement or other departure date is within a 3 to 10 year time horizon. Further, in order for an exemption from ERISA to apply, participation in these plans must be limited to a “select group of management or highly compensated employees,” comprising no more than 5% – 10% of the total workforce, referred to as the “top-hat” group. In a small tax-exempt employer with 10 or 20 employees this may mean only 1 or 2 executives may participate.

2. You (usually) can’t roll to an IRA.

Generally when an executive is ready to take distribution of benefits from a 457(b) or (f) plan a taxable cash distribution is required, and rollover to an IRA is not an option. (One exception is when the executive moves to a new employer that maintains a 457(b) plan that accepts rollover contributions). Under a (b) plan, which may allow installment distributions over a period of years, the lack of an IRA rollover option is not so severe, but in a 457(f) plan setting, which generally calls for lump-sum distributions, the tax impact can be severe and the executives should be advised to do advance tax planning with their own CPAs or other tax advisors, well ahead of their planned retirement date or other vesting trigger. In my experience, lack of the IRA rollover option often comes as an unwelcome surprise to the covered executives.

3. The assets belong to the organization.

Section 457 plans are non-qualified meaning in relevant part that they assets the plans hold belong to the tax-exempt organization that sponsors the plan until the date(s) they are paid out to the participants. The assets must be held in an account in the name of the organization “FBO” the 457 plan account for the name of the executive. There is no form of creditor protection but it is possible to put in place a “rabbi trust,” so called because the trust format was first approved by the IRS on behalf of a synagogue for its spiritual leader. The rabbi trust will not protect the 457 assets from the organization’s creditors, but it will prevent the organization from reneging on the deferred compensation promise to an executive. This is particularly helpful for an organization that anticipates changes in its board structure after approval of a 457 arrangement.

4. The normal “reasonable compensation” rules still apply.

Tax-exempt organizations must pay only reasonable compensation, in light of the services provided, to employees and other individuals who comprise “disqualified persons,” a category that includes executive directors and other “C-suite” members. Under the “intermediate sanction” regime the IRS imposes excise taxes on individuals who benefit under, and organization managers (e.g., board members) who approve, compensation arrangements that fail the reasonableness standard. Deferred compensation arrangements must be reasonable in light of all other compensation and benefits provided to the executives in question and in most cases this will require a third-party compensation consultant’s evaluation and review. This is a vitally important and often-overlooked piece of deferred compensation compliance in the tax-exempt arena.

5. DOL notification is required.

As part of the ERISA exemption for top-hat deferred compensation plans, a tax-exempt organization must provide a “top-hat notification letter” to the Department of Labor within 120 days of implementing such a plan. Top-hat letters must be filed electronically. Failure to timely file a top-hat letter could mean that your deferred compensation plan is liable for ERISA penalties for failure to file annual information returns (Form 5500), to hold plan assets in trust, to make certain disclosures to participants, and on a host of other compliance points. The Department of Labor permits late filing of top-hat notification letters for payment of a modest fee. If your organization has a deferred compensation plan in place you should have ready access to a copy of the top-hat notification letter (or confirmation of its online filing) and should consider the DOL correction program if you cannot do so.

Having practiced law in Santa Barbara, California, a haven for charitable organizations, for over 20 years I have had the privilege of working with these special deferred compensation plan rules in many different factual settings and would be happy to help your organization navigate them in order to best retain and reward your valued executives.