The United States Supreme Court, in a per curiam decision, declined to address whether plan participants sufficiently alleged breach of fiduciary duty claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”) against fiduciaries of an employee stock ownership plan for failing to disclose inside information that…

Two bills have been introduced in the Senate that would allow employers to make matching contributions under 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b) and SIMPLE plans as if the participant’s student loan payments were salary reduction contributions.  On May 13, Senator Ron Wyden (R-OR) reintroduced the Retirement Parity for Student Loans Act…

Our last installment of our overview of the Proposed Regulations under Code Section 162(m) focuses on the transition or grandfather rules (“Grandfather Rules”) under the Proposed Regulations.  Our prior installments have focused on the amendments to Code Section 162(m) enacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“TCJA”)…

The prospect of a U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) investigation or Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) examination of an employee benefit plan can be daunting for any plan sponsor. Understanding the process and adopting best practices, however, can make the experience less intimidating and improve the results for all parties.

Enforcement…

This installment of the overview of the Proposed Regulations under Code Section 162(m) focuses on the definition of what is “applicable employee remuneration.” As a ‎reminder, Code Section 162(m) generally limits the compensatory deduction to the first $1 million of “applicable employee remuneration” paid by a publicly held corporation to…

Effective January 17, 2020, civil money penalties for certain violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) have been adjusted for inflation by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by…

Today’s installment of our overview of the Proposed Regulations under Code Section 162(m) highlights the expansion of who is a “covered employee.”  As a ‎reminder, Code Section 162(m) generally limits the compensatory deduction to the first $1 million of compensation paid by a publicly held corporation to each “covered employee.”  …

Series Installment:  “publicly held corporation”

As we noted in our December 24, 2019 blog entry, on December 16, 2019, the Treasury Department released proposed regulations (the “Proposed Regulations”) addressing the amendments made to Internal Revenue Code Section 162(m) by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Amendment”). …