One Step Forward, Two Steps Back…Dreams of Perfect Equity Outcomes Can Affect...
There are a number of well-known stories of equity compensation, often focusing on the tax outcomes for awards where fortunate optionees did everything right. Some of these stories are actual...
View ArticleThe Maximum QACA Automatic Increase Percentage is Movin’ on Up
A Brief Summary of Recently Issued IRS Safe Harbor 401(k) Plan Guidance - For those of you who have been following along at home (literally these days), you know that the SECURE Act, which was passed...
View ArticleTell Me More, Tell Me More…Fee Disclosures are Coming for Group Health Plans
One of the employee benefits items tucked into the recently-passed Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”) will soon require group health plan service providers to issue fee disclosures....
View ArticleLove Hurts…Have Your QDRO Procedures at the Ready
The year 2020 brought a lot of unexpected togetherness to families and couples. While there have been some positive perks to spending so much time together, it has also added additional stress to...
View ArticleBridge Over Troubled Water: 2021 Flexible Spending Account Relief in the...
On December 27, 2020 Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA). The CAA provides relief for employees whose dependent care and health care FSA accounts were impacted by the...
View ArticleI Would Walk 500 Miles … But Thankfully I Don’t Have To Since the IRS Will...
The Covid-19 pandemic has created numerous challenges for retirement plan administrators. One such challenge is how to comply with the requirement to obtain a participant’s written signature to get a...
View ArticleYou Say Goodbye, I Say Hello . . . But Be Careful On How You Classify Someone...
In 2020, the United States experienced a record-breaking number of unemployment claims. If you had to make the difficult decision to furlough or let employees go due to the coronavirus, you were not...
View ArticleShould Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot…Not If They Relate to the Affordable Care...
Should auld acquaintance be forgot…not if they relate to the Affordable Care Act reporting requirements. In the midst of the flurry of health and welfare changes coming from the Consolidated...
View ArticleOh, Making Bad Decisions…or Not Really Considering the Long Game for Stock...
We often encounter questions relating to the fair market value of a private company for granting stock options where the company has experienced an event, such as receiving a signed term sheet, which...
View ArticleBut I Said No, No, No . . . New Requirement for Mental Health and Substance...
Employee benefit plans are subject to numerous laws the restrict, or at least limit, discrimination within the plans. Many benefit plan nondiscrimination rules focus on whether highly and non-highly...
View ArticleIf I Could Turn Back Time… And Then Add a Year
Last October, Brenda Berg posted a blog titled “I’m Just Waiting on an… End to the Extended ERISA Deadline Periods.” In that blog, Brenda explained that the IRS and DOL extended certain deadlines...
View ArticleWhoomp There It Is…The IRS Issues Further Flexible Spending Account Relief...
Earlier this year, Bret Busacker explained the FSA relief enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) in a blog post titled “Bridge Over Troubled Water: 2021 Flexible Spending...
View ArticleLike a Surgeon… Got Providers on my Mind
The myriad health and welfare plan requirements in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 include those for a group or individual health plan to maintain a cost comparison tool and an accurate and...
View ArticleThese Boots Are Made For Walking…But If You Quit, You Might Not Get the COBRA...
The COBRA subsidy from the most recent COVID-19 stimulus bill – The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) – is now in effect. An assistance-eligible individual can have 100% of COBRA premiums...
View ArticleIn the Darkness at the Edge of Town…Cybersecurity Guidance for Plan...
On April 14, 2021, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) published guidance for plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries, record-keepers, and plan participants on best practices for...
View ArticleAre You Ready to Provide Your MHPAEA Disclosure?
We previously blogged about the new Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) reporting and disclosure requirements established by the Consolidated Appropriation Act, 2021 (CAA). As a...
View ArticleMatchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match … Based on my Student Loan Repayments
For the last several years, a hot topic for policymakers has been how to address the nation’s massive student loan debt. At the same time, the pressure remains to develop ways to encourage Americans...
View ArticleNobody Puts Baby In the Corner . . . And the IRS Agrees, Providing Guidance...
Yesterday the IRS released Notice 2021-26, which clarifies that if eligible dependent care benefits would have been excluded from income if used during either the prior tax year (2020 or 2021), these...
View ArticleLean on Me . . . New Guidance on Federal COBRA Subsidy
We posted on April 6th about the COBRA subsidy that was made available through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). In short, the law gives certain individuals who are entitled to COBRA due to...
View ArticleHello. Is It Me You’re Looking For? Missing Participant Best Practices
The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has developed a list of best practices plan fiduciaries can implement to reduce missing participant issues and ensure participants and...
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