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Welcome to the Snell & Wilmer Benefits Blog. We will be posting about current employee benefits and executive compensation topics and issues. We invite you to contact the authors with your thoughts or questions.Blog Contributors
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Department of Labor Issues Final Electronic Disclosure Rule
On May 21, 2020, the Department of Labor (the “DOL”) announced a final rule establishing a new electronic disclosure safe harbor. The new safe harbor permits retirement plan administrators to deliver certain plan documents by one of two methods: (1) a “Notice and Access” method; or (2) a direct email method. The new safe harbor is unavailable to health and welfare plans. The regulatory electronic delivery safe harbor established by the DOL in 2002 is not superseded by the new safe harbor and is still available as an option for plan sponsors. A brief summary of the new safe harbor follows. Read More ›
Posted in Employee Benefits, Qualified Retirement Plans
| Tagged DOL, electronic disclosure, internet availability, NOIA, paper notice, plan administrator, safe harbor
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IRS Issues Updated Tax Notice for Qualified Retirement Plan Distributions
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) recently released guidance that contains two updated safe harbor notices that retirement plans may use to satisfy the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) to provide an advance notice to a participant prior to the date on which the participant receives a distribution that meets the requirements for an eligible rollover distribution. This notice is commonly referred to as the “402(f) Notice” after the relevant section of the Code that requires the notice to be provided.
The IRS guidance contains two model notices, one that may be used when distributions are not from a Roth account and a second model notice that may be used for distributions that are from a Roth account. Read More ›
Posted in Employee Benefits, Qualified Retirement Plans
| Tagged 402(f), Internal Revenue Code, IRS, model notice, Notice, safe harbor
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The IRS Significantly Increased the Availability of Mid-Year Changes to Safe Harbor Plans
Mid-year changes to safe harbor 401(k) plans have long been thought to be available in only very limited circumstances. However, the IRS recently released guidance in Notice 2016-16 that significantly increases the scope of permissible mid-year changes to safe harbor 401(k) plans.
Generally, safe harbor 401(k) plan provisions must be adopted (and participants must be notified) before the first day of the plan year and remain in effect for the entire 12-month plan year. Such a plan generally loses its safe harbor status if changes are made during the plan year. However, the safe harbor regulations set out the following limited exceptions to the general rule:
1. Read More ›
Posted in Employee Benefits, Qualified Retirement Plans
| Tagged 401(k) plan, IRS, mid-year amendment, mid-year change, safe harbor, safe harbor 401(k) plan
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