On March 13, 2020, President Trump declared a national emergency under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (the “Stafford Act”) in response to the Coronavirus Disease 19, or COVID-19. This declaration allows employers to make qualified disaster relief payments to employees affected by COVID-19 on a
High-deductible Health Plans May Cover COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Costs
By E. Phillip Bush on
Summary
To facilitate the nation’s response to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), also known as the Coronavirus, the Internal Revenue Service advised in IRS Notice 2020-15 that a high-deductible health plan (HDHP), until further notice, is permitted to pay for COVID-19-related testing and treatment, without jeopardizing its status as an…
What Employers Should Know About the New W-4 Form
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Posted in IRS
2020 has brought substantial changes to the Form W-4 (Employee’s Withholding Certificate) compared with previous versions of the form. These changes were made by the IRS to comply with new income tax withholding requirements under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 115-97). For instance, in the past, the…
Overview of Proposed Regulations Under Code Section 162(m) — Grandfather Rules
By E. Phillip Bush on
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”)…
Best Practices for Handling and Avoiding Employee Benefit Plan Investigations
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Posted in Health and Welfare Plans, IRS
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…
Overview of Proposed Regulations Under Code Section 162(m) – What is Applicable Employee Remuneration
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
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…
Overview of Proposed Regulations Under Code Section 162(m) — Who is a Covered Employee
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.” …
Overview of Proposed Regulations under Code Section 162(m)
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”). …
Holiday Stocking Stuffer: IRS Issues Proposed Regulations Under Code Section 162(m)
On December 16, 2019, the Treasury Department released proposed regulations (the “Proposed Regulations”) to address the amendments made to Code Section 162(m) by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Amendment”). As background, the Amendment eliminated the exclusion attributable to qualified performance-based compensation from the $1 million cap on the…
IRS Reopens Determination Letter Program for Certain Individually Designed Plans
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Posted in Determination Letters, IRS
In 2017, the IRS significantly limited the ability of plan sponsors to request a determination letter that its individually-designed retirement plan met the tax qualification requirements of the Internal Revenue Code. Since that date, plan sponsors could request determination letters only upon the plan’s initial qualification or termination.
The IRS…