Tag: retirement plan regulations

The latest legislation to affect retirement planning in 2019 and beyond. 

The 2019-2020 Priority Guidance Plan will identify guidance projects that the agencies intend to actively work on as priorities during the period from July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020.

The IRS Self Correction Program (SCP) has been expanded to include certain plan document failures and certain loan failures and a way to self-correct via plan amendments.

Since there are no prescribed correction methods to address Internal Revenue Code Section 409(p) violations, prevention methods are important considerations for both employee stock ownership plan design and operation, the IRS says.

The list identifies matters that may involve either mandatory or discretionary plan amendments depending on the particular plan, and may reference other significant guidance that affects daily plan operations.

The agency previously announced it would amend required minimum distribution regulations in a way that would prohibit the offering of lump-sum windows to defined benefit (DB) plan participants already retired and in pay status.

The request regards information collection for Revenue Ruling 2000-35, which describes certain criteria that must be met before an employee's compensation can be reduced and contributed to an employee's section 403(b) plan in the absence of an affirmative election by the employee.

“Invitation to correct” letters state, “the 15th business day is not a safe harbor and is included in the regulation only as an outside limit of the time that may be considered for segregation of assets.”

A new Revenue Procedure makes a change to Revenue Procedure 2018–4 Section 8.02 to add new section 3, “Other Circumstances,” to provide a new category for which determination letters can be requested.

Several commenters argued that without changes, the proposed rule would have little impact on expanding retirement plan coverage for American workers.

The table is needed to compute the value of early retirement benefits and, thus, the total value of benefits under a plan.

Under the once-in-always-in exclusion condition, for a 403(b) plan that excludes part-time employees from making elective deferrals, once an employee is eligible to make elective deferrals, the employee may not be excluded from making elective deferrals in any later exclusion year on the basis that the employee is a part-time employee.

Under the proposed regulations, 401(k) plan sponsors could choose to make additional accounts available for hardship withdrawals.

The DOL said it is considering regulatory options in light of a 5th Circuit opinion vacating its previous fiduciary rule, and has on its timeline that a final rule will be issued in September of 2019.

The agency says the additional information is needed to help it determine a defined benefit (DB) plan sponsor’s ability to continue to maintain its DB plan.

A Program Letter lists compliance strategies for the agency for next year.

The IRS has issued two modified safe harbor explanations which take into consideration changes related to qualified plan loan offsets and other statutory changes.

The agency included a list of common filing errors and provided details about those errors in a new Appendix.

The executive order regarding RMD rules and open MEPs, signed last week by the President, also asks the DOL and Treasury to simplify disclosure regulations for plan sponsors and participants.