As efforts to reform the Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”) stall in Congress, a recent government report suggests that the Internal Revenue Service is preparing to identify and collect employer shared responsibility penalties. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration issued the report, Affordable Care Act: Assessment of Efforts to Implement the Employer Shared Responsibility […]
The IRS has recently warned employers of another scam targeting employee information. The IRS has learned that scammers are posing as internal executives and are requesting Forms W-2 and Social Security Numbers from payroll or human resources departments. The scammers may even initiate contact with a “Hi, are you in today” message before requesting the […]
In a previous blog, we addressed an issue of Employee Plans News in which the IRS took the position that 401(k) plan administrators must maintain hardship distribution records and should not rely on electronic participant self-certification for hardship distributions. On February 23, 2017, the IRS issued a memorandum to its Employee Plans Examiners that sets […]
On January 20, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order (“Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal,” hereinafter referred to as the “Order”) relating to the future of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). The stated goal is to direct the agencies (IRS, HHS, and DOL) to waive or […]
In a previous blog, we discussed the IRS’ elimination of its five year staggered determination letter cycle for individually designed plans. The IRS recently provided guidance to help sponsors of individually designed plans keep their plans in compliance with applicable law. Notice 2016-80 contains the first Required Amendments List (the “RA List”) for individually designed […]
As reported in Part 1 of our 2016 End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” List, Section 6039 of the Code requires employers to provide a written information statement to each employee or former employee and file information returns with the IRS regarding: (1) the transfer of stock pursuant to the exercise of an Incentive […]
The IRS delivered welcome news to employers gearing up to meet the Affordable Care Act’s (“ACA”) information reporting deadlines for the 2016 calendar year. In Notice 2016-70, the IRS extended the deadline to furnish Forms 1095-B and 1095-C to employees. The new deadlines are provided below. Old Distribution Deadline New Distribution Deadline Form 1095-B […]
Generally, distributions from a qualified retirement plan that are eligible for rollover must be rolled over within 60 days of the date on which the distribution occurs. If a taxpayer did not complete the rollover within 60 days, the taxpayer previously had to request a private letter ruling from the IRS to receive additional time […]
On July 23rd of last year, I blogged on a set of proposed regulations eliminating the requirement that a taxpayer attach a copy of his or her Section 83(b) election to their individual tax return. This July, the IRS made the proposed rule final and the final regulations eliminate the requirement that a taxpayer attach […]
Take a deep breath. The HHS Health Insurance Marketplace Notice (the “Notice”) may seem to be a nuisance, but it does not necessarily mean that you will be subject to employer shared responsibility penalties. First, the IRS, not HHS, assesses employer shared responsibility penalties, and the IRS does so only after it provides employers with: […]
