The federal government takes a very serious and firm stand on compliance with its laws and regulations. Government laws designed to protect the average American include ERISA, ACA, and HIPAA. Strict attention to detail may help your company avoid the costly mistakes three Boston hospitals made while participating in the filming of an ABC medical documentary. HIPAA Violations Happen The Health Insurance Portability Read More

The ability to pay for healthcare insurance weighs heavily on many American’s minds. Rising insurance premiums and rising medical costs forced some to forego insurance altogether. In March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) was enacted. Also known as PPACA or Obamacare, the new law brought about the creation of a Marketplace for consumers to find the insurance they needed. Before ACA, Read More

Taxes collected under Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) are levied on wages paid by an employer to an employee regarding their employment. Collecting the tax on basic wages is fairly simple. However, nonqualified deferred compensation plans present special problems for compliance with the law, especially considering FICA’s special timing rule.   What Is the Special Timing Rule? The Internal Revenue Read More

At Hall Benefits Law, we help employers develop effective executive compensation plans and the subject of adding a restricted stock program may arise. When deciding upon how to attract, retain and motivate your employees through your executive compensation program, it’s crucial to understand their complexities. In this article, we will look at the pros and cons for offering a restricted stock program to your Read More

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) is designed to make affordable health care more accessible to more people than ever before. However, ACA also created the need for employers to prepare and file a seemingly endless mountain of paperwork. In fact, the IRS requires reports to be submitted by certain deadlines or face severe penalties. Fortunately, the IRS handed employers and plan administrators Read More

Typically, retirement plan sponsors intend for the funds contained in a retirement plan to be held until the participant retires. Under some circumstances, a participant may need the money now. Some retirement plans – like 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, and 457(b) plans – allow participants to receive hardship distributions, though they are not required to do so. In this article, we will examine some common questions Read More

The use of employee benefit plans is so widespread that it may be easy to become complacent about developing and maintaining them. However, plan administrators and employers who understand the rising penalties for non-compliant employee benefit plans may be able to avoid being an EBSA statistic. The Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) is tasked with finding and addressing ERISA violations. In 2017, the Read More

Plan sponsors and employers face an issue with the portability of employees’ retirement plans. When the employee leaves, but doesn’t take their retirement fund, the plan often transfers the funds to an IRA. After five years, the company administering the retirement account automatically sends the IRA funds to the retirement account sponsored by the employee’s new employer, if it can be found.  Such auto portability Read More

A bill introduced by GOP lawmakers proposes big changes for taxpayers and retirement savings plans. The Retirement Savings and Other Tax Relief Act of 2018 has received bipartisan support and promises major impact for taxpayers. In fact, there are nine key areas that affect taxpayers’ retirement planning. Open Multiple Employer Plans.   The new bill would remove the “one bad apple” rule that penalizes an entire Read More

In the field of employee benefit plans, programs may be similar except for a few key factors. Multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs) and Association Health Plans (AHPs), for example, differ in the areas of development, maintenance, and compliance. Development When forming a MEWA or an AHP it is important to consider the following: ERISA. Not all plans are subject to the Employee Retirement Income Read More