Tag Archives: tax reform

U.S. tax reform – retirement plan provisions finalized

The tax reform bill is done.  President Trump signed the bill on December 22, meeting his deadline for completion by Christmas. While there is much to be said about the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”), the update on the retirement plan provisions is relatively unexciting.  Recall that when the tax reform process started, … Continue Reading

Tottenham Hotspur FC 2 : 0 HM Revenue & Customs

Football, football teams, footballers, footballer’s pay… a comprehensive review of the case law on the taxation of termination payments… this one has got it all! The match… the case (HM Revenue & Customs v Tottenham Hotspur Limited) concerns termination payments made to Peter Crouch and Wilson Palacios. The facts are relatively straightforward. Both player’s contracts with Tottenham … Continue Reading

Tax reform progress – retirement plans still safe?

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Tax Cut and Jobs Act” (H.R. 1) last Thursday without, unsurprisingly, any Democratic support.  The retirement plan provisions in the bill haven’t changed. No eleventh-hour revenue-grabbing effort to convert all 401(k) plan contributions to Roth contributions or to place substantial limits on pre-tax plan contributions.  But there are … Continue Reading

Senate proposes changes to retirement savings programs

Just as they appeared to survive round one of the House tax reform bill released last week, retirement savings programs, such as 401(k) plans and Individual Retirement Accounts, seem to emerge relatively unscathed from the Senate’s tax reform deliberations.  Nonetheless, the Senate Finance Committee’s proposal does include a few changes to these programs.… Continue Reading

U.S. tax reform – 401(k) plans saved from the chopping block?

For the last few weeks, U.S. tax reform deliberations put 401(k) retirement plans on a roller coaster ride. Rumors abounded, including, for example, whether legislators would impose new contribution caps, or eliminate pre-tax contributions altogether.  Legislators often have targeted the tax-advantaged status of retirement savings plans as a revenue raiser to pay for federal programs … Continue Reading

U.S. Tax Reform – Death to Nonqualified Deferred Compensation?

The recently released Republican tax reform proposal (H.R. 1 – Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) has a provision that would effectively be a death knell for many common types of nonqualified deferred compensation plans. Under the Bill, nonqualified deferred compensation will be subject to income tax when there is “no substantial risk of forfeiture”.  In … Continue Reading

Threat to 401(k) plans?

With U.S. tax reform on the horizon, there are some reports that lawmakers are considering limiting annual pretax contribution limits to 401(k) plans to $2,400.  The current tax code allows most workers to contribute up to $18,000 on a pretax basis to 401(k) plans.  At this time, it is uncertain whether there will be any … Continue Reading

Good Work? Must try harder on tax

The report resulting from the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices (the Taylor Review), ‘Good Work‘, was finally published on 11 July 2017. The Taylor Review’s primary focus was new ways of working, the ‘gig’ economy, worker rights and responsibilities, and employer freedoms and obligations. Although tax was not (formally at least) within its remit, … Continue Reading

Increased support for executive compensation tax reform on Capitol Hill

Most of us believe that comprehensive tax reform for 2015 is already dead despite Ways and Means Chairman Ryan’s (R-WI) oft-repeated statements to the contrary. But perhaps new life may be breathed into executive compensation reforms.  On the heels of a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing dealing with tax fairness, the committee’s ranking Democrat, Sen. … Continue Reading
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