When Congress passed and President Trump signed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 earlier this month, the folks monitoring developments in Washington, D.C. knew, among other things, that it ended a very brief government shutdown, dramatically increased government spending, and raised the debt ceiling. But few knew that the Budget Act will affect tax-qualified retirement … Continue Reading
The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to resolve a split between the Seventh and Eighth Circuits related to a federal program that is a well-kept secret. Nothing as intriguing as Russian spies or hacked emails… but, I think, interesting nonetheless. Of course, you have heard about the Social Security system. And you probably know … Continue Reading
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
Now that the House of Representatives and the Senate have passed their own versions of H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a tug-of-war on a compromise that both bodies can pass is in full force. Congress is following the normal legislative process by setting up a Conference Committee to reconcile the differences between … Continue Reading
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
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
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
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
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
It may be show time for the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Fiduciary Rule (the “Rule”), but don’t expect an elaborate production. Think frustrated, reluctant actors on a bare stage with no lights or scenery implementing the previous Administration’s regulatory approach to protecting retirees and retirement savings from conflicted investment advice. After a long and … Continue Reading
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in three cases that pension plans established by church affiliated organizations are “church plans” that are exempt from ERISA (the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974). The cases are Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton, U.S., 6/5/17; Saint Peter’s Healthcare Sys. v. Kaplan, U.S., No. 16-86, 6/5/17; and … Continue Reading
U.S. Internal Revenue Code §409A provides a wide range of very restrictive rules pertaining to “nonqualified” deferred compensation plans and many other types of compensation arrangements that may defer compensation. On June 22, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed changes to the regulations under IRC §409A. This post reviews a few highlights of the proposal … Continue Reading
U.S. Internal Revenue Code §457(f) addresses federal income taxation of certain types of “nonqualified” deferred compensation plans and arrangements of entities that are either state and local governments or tax-exempt organizations (under IRC §501(c)). Most of those deferred compensation arrangements also must comply with IRC §409A to avoid tax penalties. For state and local governments … Continue Reading
Our recent client alert provides an overview of a recent lower court case confirming the risks to commonly managed private equity funds when they collectively own directly or indirectly 80% or more of certain operating companies. On remand from the First Circuit, the District Court for Massachusetts held private equity funds managed by Sun Capital … Continue Reading
Many employers provide a cash payment to an employee who waives employee medical plan coverage. Contrary to popular belief, this practice is not “illegal” under U.S. law. However, because of new guidance contained in IRS Notice, 2015-87 (December 16, 2015), employers may want to provide “waiver payments” to U.S. employees, only if they can show … Continue Reading
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has recently published its summary of 2016 policy updates. The executive summary explains both how ISS has undertaken its review of global policies but more importantly summarises the key policy updates that will apply to companies from 1 February 2016. ISS will publish the full (or possibly summary!) additions, revisions and updates to the … Continue Reading
“Subrogation.” This is the last word a plaintiff in a personal injury action wants to hear. It refers to an insurance company’s right to stand in – or alongside – its insured’s shoes and seek recovery of money the insurance company has paid on behalf of its insured. While subrogation may sound like an abhorrent … Continue Reading
Institutional Shareholder Services Inc (ISS), the US-based international corporate governance provider, has released its draft 2016 benchmark policy changes for consultation. There are only three countries where compensation-related changes are proposed: France: Recent legislative changes in France have reduced to two years the previous requirement for a four-year combined vesting and holding period for performance … Continue Reading
The IRS recently published an updated Equity (Stock) – Based Compensation Audit Techniques Guide (the “ATG”). The August 2015 ATG has been substantially expanded compared to the prior Stock Based Compensation Audit Techniques Guide (the “prior ATG”). The ATG generally remains organized in the same fashion as the prior ATG. It begins by defining Equity-Based … Continue Reading
On August 5, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted a final rule that requires a public company to disclose the ratio of the compensation of its CEO to the median compensation of its employees. Companies will be required to provide disclosure of their pay ratios for their first fiscal year beginning on or … Continue Reading
The recent clawback laws being discussed and introduced in the UK and the US differ quite markedly and represent two almost entirely different approaches to recovering “erroneously” awarded incentive-based compensation. So which flavour do you prefer? One shouldn’t forget, of course, that the PRA’s provisions regarding clawback are only one half of a two pronged … Continue Reading
Recently released IRS Notice 2015-49 will prohibit U.S. pension plan sponsors from offering lump sum payments to existing pensioners. Thus, for example, if an employer is going to do a lump sum “window”, existing pensioners could not be offered a lump sum. Nevertheless, it does appear that lump sums can still be offered to pensioners upon … Continue Reading
The U.S. Supreme Court recently held that a fiduciary of an ERISA covered retirement plan has an ongoing duty to monitor the prudence of the plan’s investments. The decision is Tibble v. Edison International, 2015 U.S. LEXIS 3171 (May 18, 2015). In the case, Edison International had selected three “retail class” mutual funds for its … Continue Reading
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is considering two matters that are likely to be of considerable interest to managers of private equity funds, hedge funds and real estate funds – the tax treatment of management fee waivers and whether individuals can be employees and partners of the same partnership entity at the same time for … Continue Reading
