Benefits In Brief

Once again, amendment season is upon us. Sponsors of tax-favored retirement plans should keep in mind the many required amendments for which a year-end deadline is fast approaching. This article highlights some of the more important changes that sponsors must address before the curtain closes on 2011.

As we reported in our August 2010 article, sponsors of tax-favored retirement plans should keep in mind the many required amendments for which a 2010 year-end deadline is fast approaching. Most tax-favored retirement plans must be amended by the end of the 2010 plan year to reflect the mandatory provisions of the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2008 (the “HEART Act”).

It may be summer now, but sponsors of tax-favored retirement plans should keep in mind the many required amendments for which a year-end deadline is fast approaching.  This article highlights some of the more important changes that sponsors must address before the sun sets on 2010.

As we reported in our September 2008 article, most tax-favored retirement plans must be amended by the end of the 2010 plan year to reflect the mandatory provisions of the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act (the “HEART Act”).

In June of 2008, the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax (“HEART”) Act became law. The Act made a number of significant changes to the treatment of military reservists under employee benefit plans. In an August 2008 article, we summarized those changes as they applied to qualified defined benefit and defined contribution plans, Section 403(b) plans, and Section 457(b) plans. In January of 2010, the IRS issued Notice 2010-15 (the “Notice”), which contains guidance on a number of the Act’s provisions. This article summarizes the most significant and surprising elements of that guidance, which apply to differential wage payments, “in-service” distributions on a reservist’s deemed severance from employment, and the Act’s mandatory death benefit provisions.

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (“PPA”) became law on August 17, 2006. It was one of the most sweeping retirement reform bills in recent history, mandating a host of changes for tax-qualified retirement plans. Most of these changes are already in effect – in some cases, for years. Accordingly, most sponsors have long since wrestled with the necessary changes to plan administration and are operating their plans in compliance with PPA’s requirements.

If your company sponsors a retirement plan that is qualified under Section 401(a) or 403(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (such as a 401(k) plan, a profit sharing plan, or a defined benefit pension plan), your plan must periodically be amended for changes in the tax laws and/or the regulations governing such plans. Those changes include the final regulations under Code Section 415 (regarding the limit on annual additions to defined contribution plans and the limit on annual benefits payable under defined benefit plans).

In June, the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax (“HEART”) Act became law. The Act makes a number of significant changes to the treatment of military reservists under employee benefit plans. This article summarizes those changes as they apply to qualified defined benefit and defined contribution plans, Section 403(b) plans, and Section 457(b)plans.

The IRS recently issued Notice 2008-30 (the “Notice”), which provides guidance on three distribution-related provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (“PPA”) that are first effective in 2008, as well as a distribution requirement introduced by final regulations under Section 402(g) of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) that first applies to corrective distributions made during 2008.

Major corporate events (such as mergers, acquisitions, reductions-in-force, and plant closings) have long presented a special problem for retirement plan sponsors. Under the Tax Code, if employee turnover results in a “partial termination” of a qualified plan, the sponsor must fully vest all affected participants in the benefits they have accrued under the plan. Unfortunately, vague and anecdotal IRS guidance on precisely when such a partial termination occurs has left sponsors unsure of when they must take the costly step of fully vesting terminated participants.

The Pension Protection Act (“PPA”) imposed many new disclosure requirements, including expanded benefit statements for defined contribution and defined benefit plans. Many plan sponsors have been expecting model benefit statements by August 18, 2007, the deadline set by the PPA.

The United States Supreme Court unanimously rejected the notion that a defined benefit plan sponsor must consider merging its plan with another retirement plan as a method of plan termination. Siding instead with the position taken by the plan sponsor, as well as the Department of Labor and PBGC, the Court ruled on June 11, 2007, that ERISA does not permit merger as a method of plan termination, because merger is an alternative to, rather than an example of, termination. Beck v. PACE International Union.

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (“PPA”) contains dozens of changes to multiemployer pension plan funding standards, most of which are effective for plan years beginning in 2008. Many of these provisions are applicable to all multiemployer plans, but Congress also included important relief for the construction industry. Employers, unions, and trustees of multiemployer plans should begin preparing now to meet the new standards.

As we reported in our November issue of Benefits in Brief, many provisions of last year’s Pension Protection Act (“PPA”) became effective on January 1, 2007. The IRS has now issued a “grab bag”of guidance on certain of those provisions, primarily dealing with distribution issues.

Effective for plan years beginning on and after January 1, 2007, defined contribution plans must provide such statements at least once each quarter (if they allow participants to direct the investment of their account balances) or at least once each year (if participants are not permitted to direct investments). Sponsors of defined benefit plans must furnish benefit statements at least once every three years.

As you probably already know, President Bush signed the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (the “PPA”) into law on August 17, 2006. Some PPA provisions became effective as of the date of enactment; others preserve existing laws that were set to expire in 2010; and still others are not effective until mid-2007 or 2008. This article summarizes some of the important provisions of the PPA that are effective as of plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2007 – or which apply to distributions, notices, or other events that will occur on or after that date.

The short history of cash balance plans has been a tale of extremes. Once the darling of consultants, cash balance plans became something of a pariah after a wave of lawsuits cast doubt on their legality. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (“PPA”) and a recent appellate court decision, however, may put cash balance plans back in the good graces of employers.

ERISA guarantees plan participants and beneficiaries the right to request and receive certain information about their plans. If the plan administrator receives such a request and fails to respond within 30 days, ERISA authorizes the federal courts to impose statutory penalties on the administrator.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued final regulations governing the disclosure of the financial effect and relative value of optional payment forms offered under defined benefit and money-purchase pension plans. Such plans must describe these optional forms (and their relative values) in the qualified joint and survivor annuity ("QJSA") explanation they are required to provide to participants just before their benefit commencement date.

In January, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) finalized regulations intended to increase understanding on the part of multiemployer plan participants and beneficiaries of the funding status of their defined benefit pension plans. Issued under the Pension Funding Equity Act of 2004, the new rules require multiemployer plans to provide an annual “funding notice” with respect to all plan years beginning after December 31, 2004. Unions and employers that co-sponsor such plans are also intended to benefit from this new notice requirement. In January, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) finalized regulations intended to increase understanding on the part of multiemployer plan participants and beneficiaries of the funding status of their defined benefit pension plans.