Tag Archives: public plans


New Benefits Guide: Government and Tax-Exempt Organizations
(Posted on December 30, 2020 by )


Carol V. Calhoun has written a Benefits Guide entitled “Government and Tax-Exempt Organizations” for Bloomberg Law. The Bloomberg Law Benefits Guide is intended to be a resource for non-benefits practitioners that is easy to understand and explains complex topics in a straightforward way. Ms. Calhoun’s guide covers the types of plans maintained by governmental and tax-exempt organizations, determination of whether a plan is governmental, legal requirements and restrictions, and correction methods in case of errors in administration. The Benefits Guide is available to Bloomberg subscribers, or a copy of Ms. Calhoun’s chapter is available at this link.

Fifth Edition of the Governmental Plans Answer Book Published
(Posted on December 11, 2020 by )


The Fifth Edition of the Governmental Plans Answer Book has now been published. The Governmental Plans Answer Book is the only full-length treatise on the law governing the retirement plans that federal, state, and local governments maintain for their employees. The law has changed a lot since the Fourth Edition was published in 2017, and the new edition has been updated to reflect them.

The Fifth Edition of Governmental Plans Answer Book gives subscribers the most relevant, current, and practice-oriented answers to the issues faced daily by plan administrators, attorneys, actuaries, consultants, accountants, and other pension professionals as they navigate the requirements and procedures involved in administering their plans. It examines the following significant changes and case law in this area:

  • Department of Labor regulations that define who is a fiduciary as a result of rendering investment advice to a plan, or to its participants, or beneficiaries (see Chapter 7).
  • Elimination of the ability to obtain Internal Revenue Service (IRS) determination letters on individually designed plans, except on their inception or
    termination (see Chapter 4).
  • Recent legislative developments affecting governmental plans (see Chapter 13).
  • Expanded coverage of cases in text cross-referenced to Appendix E, Recent Court Decisions of Interest Involving Governmental Plans (see Appendix E).
  • Updates on the size of the public pension community: its membership, assets, rate of participation in different types of retirement plans, and the number of participating public employers (see Chapter 2 and Appendix Table A–1).
  • New and updated information regarding public pension financial reporting and communications practices (see Chapter 5).
  • Expanded and updated descriptions of hybrid retirement plans provided for employees of state and local government (see Chapter 2 and Appendix Tables A–2 through A–5).
  • An examination of how the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, as further amended by the Bankruptcy Technical Corrections Act of 2010, impacted certain issues arising under the Bankruptcy Code (see Chapter 14).
  • Issues concerning proof of electronically signed or adopted beneficiary designation (see Q 12:5).
  • A review of a Supreme Court case that held a Chapter 7 trustee could not contest the validity of a claimed exemption after the objection deadline
    expired (see Q 14:32).
  • New case law discussing the use of the legal fiction of a nunc pro tunc order (see Q 13:33).
  • Expanded discussion of pre-approved plans (see Chapter 4).
  • Issuance of IRS opinion and advisory letters on pre-approved 403(b) plans (see Chapter 4).
  • Inception of annual Required Amendments Lists for individually designed plans (see Chapter 4).
  • Guidance on correction procedures if a 403(b) plan erroneously excludes participants from making contributions (see Chapter 4).
  • Modifications to the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (see Chapter 4).
  • Expanded discussion on community property (see Q 12:45).

For more information on this book, written by Carol V. Calhoun, Cynthia L. Moore, and Keith Brainard, you can use the following links:

Description | Table of Contents | Purchase

New article: Section 403(b) Plan Design and Compliance
(Posted on December 5, 2018 by )


Lexis Practice Advisor articleA new article, Section 403(b) Plan Design and Compliance, discusses the rules that apply when eligible tax-exempt organizations establish tax-sheltered annuities, custodial accounts, or retirement income accounts, as described in Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code (403(b) plans).

This article addresses the following topics:

Read more.

New Article: Pre-Approved 403(b) Plans
(Posted on November 29, 2018 by )


Internal Revenue ServiceIn March 2017, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) began issuing advisory and opinion letters to the first preapproved retirement programs described in Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) § 403(b) (403(b) plans). A new article, Pre-Approved 403(b) Plans, discusses preapproved 403(b) plans, including their advantages, legal pitfalls, and other issues that an eligible employer may consider when determining whether to convert its existing 403(b) plan into a preapproved plan.

The major topics are:

Read more.

New Article: Substantial Risk of Forfeiture
(Posted on July 25, 2018 by )


Lexis Practice AdvisorAn article recently published in the Lexis Practice Advisor, Substantial Risk of Forfeiture, discusses the concept of substantial risk of forfeiture (SRF) under sections 83, 409A, 457(f), 457A, and 3121(v)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code and the different consequences of the failure to achieve a SRF under each such section.

Topics covered are:

It is accompanied by a Substantial Risk of Forfeiture Comparison Chart, which summarizes the rules.

“Effect of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 on Nonprofits and Governments,” PowerPoint now available
(Posted on February 15, 2018 by )


The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 made a number of changes affecting the compensation and benefits that governmental, church, and other tax-exempt organizations can provide to their employees. Given the short time between introduction and passage of the Act, it is not surprising that many of the new provisions are unclear in their application. Moreover, some of them may produce unintended consequences for these organizations.

As part of a symposium on “Recent Developments in Benefits/Executive Compensation Affecting Tax Exempt Organizations,” Carol V. Calhoun gave a presentation on the ways in which the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 will affect the compensation and benefits of such organizations. A copy of the PowerPoint for her speech can be found at this link.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

IRS Issues Self-Assessment Forms for Federal, State, and Local Government Employers
(Posted on July 10, 2017 by )


Internal Revenue ServiceThe IRS has now issued a series of forms to enable federal, state, and local governments to assess their compliance with federal tax statutes, and has set forth some common errors found in examining such employers. Several of the forms relate to employee benefits issues, and may be of assistance to governments trying to ensure that they comply with all legal requirements.

The forms are as follows:

For use by Federal, State and Local Government Entities

For use by State and Local Government Entities Only

Read more.

Proposed Regulations: Normal Retirement Age for Governmental Plans
(Posted on January 27, 2016 by )


irsOn January 27, 2016, the IRS issued proposed regulations governing the extent to which governmental pension plans must comply with the rules governing normal retirement ages. In general, the rules are a positive step from the perspective of governmental plan sponsors, but they contain a few potential pitfalls.

Background

The qualification rules of the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) provide for several rules that are based on a plan’s normal retirement age. For example, a pension plan cannot pay in-service benefits before the earlier of age 62 or normal retirement age. Benefits must be fully vested at normal retirement age. Benefits under the plan must be definitely determinable (i.e., subject to calculation, rather than at an employer’s discretion) as of normal retirement age. Read more.

IRS determination letters after 2016; what are the options?
(Posted on July 28, 2015 by )


Internal Revenue ServiceAs previously discussed, faced with substantial budget cuts, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has announced that it is eliminating most determination letters (letters concerning the qualified status of retirement plans, which gives rise to numerous tax benefits), effective December 31, 2016. (Announcement 2015-19.) In the past, individually designed retirement plans were able to obtain a determination letter once every five years, during a cycle provided by the IRS. The most likely new regime will involve making determination letters on individually designed plans available only when a plan is first adopted, or when it is terminated. Between those dates, the only way to ensure qualification other than filing a declaratory judgment action with the Tax Court is likely to be to adopt annual updates put out by the IRS that will include model wording for amendments.

For entities that maintain a retirement plan, the new regime may mean that they discover qualification issues only on audit, when it is too late to fix the issue. And the potential penalties on audit (for the employer, the trust under the plan, and the employees) are, as set forth in a prior article, huge. What steps should a plan administrator take to ensure the qualification of a plan after that point? Read more.