Three taxes created to fund the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have been repealed, thanks to the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (the “SECURE Act”) of 2019. ACA Excise Tax on High-Cost Employer Medical Plans Set to take effect in 2022, the ACA excise tax on high-cost employer medical plans -- also known as the “Cadillac Tax” -- set a cap on tax deductions taxpayers could claim based on their Read More

Signed into law in late December 2019, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (the “SECURE Act”) of 2019 includes a number of provisions designed to increase access to tax-advantaged accounts for American workers struggling to save for retirement. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 55% of U.S. employees participate in employer-sponsored retirement plans.  However, Read More

By Anne Tyler Hall and Robert Forman, Hall Benefits Law On April 28th, the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) and the Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service issued a joint rule (the “Rule”) and notice (EBSA Notice 2020-01 or the “Notice”) announcing relief from certain pre-established deadlines for group health plans, other welfare benefit Read More

In order to help pay for the changes that the SECURE Act will bring to the retirement system, as well as to increase compliance with filing reports and providing notices, the legislature also included a significant increase in penalties for late filing of plan returns and plan notices.  These new penalties apply to all returns, plan statements, and require plan notices that must be provided after the end of Read More

Amidst the Coronavirus pandemic and resulting business disruption, many employers have been concerned about meeting the Form 5500 filing deadline for their retirement and health and welfare benefit plans. Jointly developed by the IRS, Department of Labor, and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the Form 5500 returns are intended to satisfy to satisfy annual reporting requirements under ERISA and the Internal Read More

The SECURE Act, signed into law at the end of 2019, brought several significant changes to retirement planning.  A major goal of the legislation was to enable and encourage the American worker to save for retirement.  One significant change is that businesses are now required to allow long-term, part-time employees to participate in employer-sponsored 401(k) plans. Part-Time Workers Currently, businesses are Read More

At the end of last year, the SECURE Act brought many changes to retirement plans including raising the required minimum distribution (RMD) age to 72.  Previously, the RMD age was 70 ½.  The change applies to individuals are who meet the RMD age requirement after December 31, 2019.  This change was designed to acknowledge the fact that many Americans are living longer and having longer productive years. In addition Read More

A recent law signed by President Trump, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, is primarily a spending bill but includes significant changes that will impact all health plans as well as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These changes are mainly targeted at employer-sponsored group health plans. Repeal of ACA Taxes The Act repeals a number of taxes included in the ACA on taxes and fees that were already Read More

The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), an office within the Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced that for fiscal year 2019, they recovered over $2.5 billion that went directly back to employee benefit plans, plan participants, and plan beneficiaries. The EBSA is tasked with investigating complaints against private employee benefit plans governed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act Read More

In December, the Treasury Department and IRS released proposed regulations under 162(m) of the IRS Code to implement the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) changes as well as provide guidance to employers. Section 162(m) focuses on publicly held corporations and deductions for compensation paid to covered employees. This section does not allow these corporations to deduct compensation that exceeds $1 million per year. The Read More