The Internal Revenue Service recently announced its cost-of-living adjustments applicable to dollar limitations on benefits and contributions for retirement plans generally effective for Tax Year 2023 (see IRS Notice 2022-55). Most notably, the limitation on annual salary deferrals into a 401(k) or 403(b) plan will increase from $20,500 to $22,500 and the dollar threshold
Keith A. Dropkin
The Impact Of Missing The July 31, 2022, Deadline For Restating Pre-Approved 401(K) Plans
For the many employers that use a pre-approved 401(k) plan (or another type of defined contribution plan), the deadline to execute a restatement of the plan was July 31, 2022. An employer that missed the deadline will need to (i) review whether a correction will be required to maintain the plan’s favorable tax status and…
2021 Cost of Living Adjustments for Retirement Plans
The Internal Revenue Service recently announced its cost-of-living adjustments applicable to dollar limitations on benefits and contributions for retirement plans generally effective for Tax Year 2021 (see IRS Notice 2020-79). Most notably, many of the retirement plan limitations, including the limitation on annual salary deferrals into a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, remain unchanged. The…
New Model COBRA Notices and Emergency Extensions to COBRA Deadlines Require Employers to Take Action
The Department of Labor (DOL) and other federal regulators released updates and clarifications related to employee benefits, including updates to model COBRA notices and an extension of certain statutory deadlines intended to minimize the possibility of participants and beneficiaries losing benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article highlights the DOL’s recent changes and updates relating…
Will New Stimulus Bill Include Multiemployer Pension Reform?
What could be in the next stimulus bill in response to the COVID-19 pandemic? Congress reportedly is working on a bill (dubbed “Stimulus 3.5”) that includes additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program created by the CARES Act. Will the new stimulus bill address long-awaited reforms to the multiemployer pension plan system?
The imminent…
2021 Cost of Living Adjustments for Retirement Plans
The Internal Revenue Service recently announced its cost-of-living adjustments applicable to dollar limitations on benefits and contributions for retirement plans generally effective for Tax Year 2021 (see IRS Notice 2020-79). Most notably, many of the retirement plan limitations, including the limitation on annual salary deferrals into a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, remain unchanged. The…
How Multiemployer Pension Plans Continue To Extract More From Contributing Employers Than What They Bargained For
Contributing employers to multiemployer pension plans (“MEPPs”) are commonly surprised that their obligations to such a plan can extend well beyond the contributions required under a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) negotiated with a union. The most significant extra-contractual obligation is withdrawal liability, a statutory exit fee imposed on employers that leave a plan that has…
2019 Cost of Living Adjustments for Retirement Plans
The Internal Revenue Service recently announced its cost-of-living adjustments applicable to dollar limitations for retirement plans and Social Security generally effective for Tax Year 2019 (see IRS Notice 2018-63). Most notably, the limitation on annual salary deferrals into a 401(k) plan will increase from $18,500 to $19,000. The dollar limits are as follows:
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Asset Purchasers Face Increased Exposure for the Multiemployer Pension Debts of Sellers
Both buyers and sellers in asset sale transactions should be cognizant of the ongoing erosion of the common law rule that the purchaser is not responsible for the seller’s liabilities absent a contractual assumption of such liabilities, as evidenced by a recent Ninth Circuit case finding that the theory of successor liability may be used…