Retirement Plans (401(k), 403(b) & Other DC Plans)
2026
- The New EPCRS Is Here and Effective Now
The IRS issued the first comprehensive update to its plan correction program (EPCRS) since 2021 on October 22, and it is effective immediately.
- SECURE 2.0 Plan Amendments Due By December 31, 2026
Most private sector defined contribution plans and 403(b) plans must adopt amendments reflecting the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 Act (and the CARES Act, if needed and not yet adopted) by December 31…
- DOL Proposes New Safe Harbor for Investment Selection
The Department of Labor recently proposed a new regulation titled Fiduciary Duties in Selecting Designated Investment Alternatives, which would establish a six-factor safe harbor for prudent…
2025
- Is Your 401(k) Plan Ready for Roth Catch-Ups in 2026?
Beginning January 1, 2026, “high earners” must make catch-up contributions on a Roth (after-tax) basis. The Treasury Department issued final regulations on this SECURE 2.0 change last month. Although…
- IRS Announces COLA Adjusted Retirement Plan Limitations for 2026
The Internal Revenue Service released Notice 2025-67 announcing cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2026.…
- Department of Labor Adds Self-Correction to Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program
The Department of Labor (DOL) published significant updates to its Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP) on January 15, 2025. These updates are designed to make it easier for employers and…
2024
- IRS Announces COLA Adjusted Retirement Plan Limitations for 2025
The Internal Revenue Service released Notice 2024-80 announcing cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2025.…
2023
- IRS Announces COLA Adjusted Retirement Plan Limitations for 2024
The Internal Revenue Service released Notice 2023-75 announcing cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2024.…
2022
- Impact of SECURE Act 2.0 on Employers
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, a 4,155-page omnibus bill, was approved by Congress in its final form on December 23, 2022, and is expected to be signed by President Joe Biden before…
- IRS Announces COLA Adjusted Retirement Plan Limitations for 2023
The Internal Revenue Service today released Notice 2022-55 announcing cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2023.…
2021
- IRS Announces COLA Adjusted Retirement Plan Limitations for 2022
The Internal Revenue Service today released Notice 2021-61 announcing cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2022.…
- Presence Not Required – IRS Extends Remote Signature Procedures for Qualified Plans
The IRS has extended temporary relief allowing plan representatives to witness participant elections or spousal waivers via videoconference until June 30, 2021. The IRS initially provided relief from…
2020
- Webinar: The Must-Do’s and Common Mistakes of Employee Benefit Planning
Lisa Dursey joins Stephanie Rising of The Rising Effect in a 15-minute webinar discussing the must-do’s and common mistakes of administering employee benefit plans. This webinar provides a concise…
- ERISA Benefits Law Receives Recognition as a Top Tier Law firm in 2021 U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” Rankings
We are happy to announce that ERISA Benefits Law has again been recognized as a top tier law firm in the 2021 US News Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” rankings. The firm received a Tier 1 rankings in…
- IRS Announces COLA Adjusted Retirement Plan Limitations for 2021
The Internal Revenue Service today released Notice 2020-79 announcing cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2021.…
- How to Register as a Pooled Plan Provider
The Department of Labor issued a Proposed Rule on August 27, 2020 setting forth the registration requirements for Pooled Plan Providers (PPPs). Under the Proposed Rule, PPPs who plan to begin…
- New Lifetime Income Disclosure Requirement for Pension Benefit Statements
The DOL issued an interim final rule on August 18, 2020 that gives plan administrators the opportunity to limit their liability with respect to the lifetime income illustrations that will be required…
- DOL Final Rule Facilitates Retirement Plan Electronic Disclosures
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a final rule on May 27, 2020 that will allow employers to post retirement plan disclosures online or deliver them to employees by email, as a default. The…
- Erwin Kratz Discusses Fiduciary Compliance for Plan Sponsors
ERISA Benefits Law attorney Erwin Kratz was a panelist on “ERISA Principles That Every Plan Fiduciary Needs to Know”, presented by Wellspring Financial Partners on February 19, 2020. Erwin joined Eric…
- Secure Act Makes Significant Changes to the Law Affecting Qualified Retirement Plans
The SECURE Act, signed into law on Dec. 20, 2019, includes a lot of tweaks to retirement law, including many that directly impact qualified retirement plans, as well as others that indirectly impact…
2019
- IRS Announces COLA Adjusted Retirement Plan Limitations for 2020
The Internal Revenue Service today released Notice 2019-59 announcing cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2020.…
- IRS Issues Final Hardship Regulations
The IRS has issued final regulations updating the section 401(k) and (m) regulations to reflect numerous statutory changes to the hardship distribution provisions under the Code. Summary of Statutory…
- ERISA Benefits Law Attorney Erwin Kratz Named to the Best Lawyers in America© 2020
ERISA Benefits Law attorney Erwin Kratz was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2020 in the practice area of Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law. Mr. Kratz has been…
- IRS Expands Determination Letter Program to Merged Plans and Statutory Hybrid Plans
The IRS has issued Rev. Proc. 2019-20, expanding its determination letter program to allow submissions by individually designed statutory hybrid plans and merged plans. Previously, the determination…
2018
- IRS Announces COLA Adjusted Retirement Plan Limitations for 2019
The Internal Revenue Service today released Notice 2018-83 announcing cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2019.…
- ERISA Benefits Law Receives Recognition as a Top Tier Law firm in 2019 U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” Rankings
We are happy to announce that ERISA Benefits Law has again been recognized as a top tier law firm in the 2019 U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” rankings. The firm received a Tier 1…
- PBGC’s Expanded Missing Participant Program Final Rule Covers DC Plans and non-PBGC Insured DB Plans
As authorized by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA), the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has issued a final regulation that expands PBGC’s missing participants program…
- 9th Circuit Clarifies Service Provider’s Fiduciary Duties When Negotiating Fees and When Withdrawing Fees from Plan Assets
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued an opinion in Santomenno v. Transamerica LLC, clarifying the circumstances under which a retirement plan investment service provider breaches (and does…
- Updated Disability Claims Procedures Go Into Effect April 2, 2018
The Department of Labor’s final rules updating the procedures for disability claims go into effect on April 2, 2018. This post summarizes the new rules; which plans are affected by the new rules…
- Budget Act Relaxes Hardship Distribution Rules
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, which was signed into law on Friday, February 9, 2018, changes the rules related to hardship distributions from qualified defined contribution plans, effective for…
2017
- IRS Issues 2017 “Required Amendments List”
The IRS has issued the 2017 “Required Amendments List” for qualified plans. This is the second list issued since the IRS eliminated the five-year remedial amendment cycle and significantly curtailed…
- Updated Form 5500s Released for 2017
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the IRS, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) have released advance informational copies of the 2017 Form 5500…
- IRS Announces 2018 COLA Adjusted Limits for Retirement Plans
The IRS has released Notice 2017-64 announcing cost‑of‑living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2018. Highlights Affecting Plan…
- DOL Issues Additional Fiduciary Rule Enforcement Relief and FAQ Guidance
The DOL has issued temporary enforcement relief and FAQ guidance addressing the implementation of the DOL’s final fiduciary rule on investment advice conflicts and related prohibited transaction…
- IRS Provides Guidance on Calculating the Maximum Loan Amount under IRC § 72(p)(2)(A)
The IRS has issued a memorandum providing guidance to its Employee Plans (EP) Examinations staff to determine, the amount available for a loan under § 72(p)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC)…
- DOL Delays Fiduciary Duty Rule for 60 Days and Invites Comments on Whether to Further Delay, Amend, or Withdraw the Rule
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) today announced a proposed extension of the applicability dates of the fiduciary rule and related exemptions, including the Best Interest Contract Exemption, from…
- President Orders Review of Fiduciary Duty Rule
On February 3, 2017, the President issued a Presidential Memorandum on the Fiduciary Duty Rule, ordering the Department of Labor (DOL) to “examine the Fiduciary Duty Rule to determine whether it may…
- IRS Proposes Amendments to Definition of QMACs and QNECs – Allowing Broader use of Forfeitures
The IRS has issued proposed regulations that would amend the definitions of qualified matching contributions (QMACs) and qualified nonelective contributions (QNECs) applicable to certain qualified…
- IRS Issues Updated Determination Letter Revenue Procedure
The IRS has updated and restated its revenue procedures governing determination letters for various types of employee benefit plans. Rev. Proc. 2017-4 reflects the prior elimination of the five-year…
2016
- IRS Issues 2016 “Required Amendments List”
The IRS has issued its first “Required Amendments List” for qualified plans since it eliminated the five-year remedial amendment cycle, and significantly curtailed the favorable determination letter…
- ERISA Benefits Law Receives Recognition as a Top Tier Law firm in 2017 U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” Rankings
Just eight months after opening its doors as a niche ERISA and employee benefits law firm focused on providing the highest quality legal services at the most affordable rates anywhere, ERISA Benefits…
- IRS Announces 2017 COLA Adjusted Limits for Retirement Plans
The IRS has released Notice 2016-62 announcing cost‑of‑living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2017. Highlights Affecting Plan…
- PBGC Expands Missing Participant Program to Defined Contribution Plans
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has issued a Proposed Rule that would redesign its existing missing participants program for single employer Defined Benefit (DB) plans and to adopt…
- IRS Updates EPCRS Retirement Plan Correction Procedures
The IRS released Revenue Procedure 2016-51 on September 29, 2016, updating its prior Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) correction guidance. Significant changes made to the EPCRS…
- A Retirement Plan Established by a Church-Affiliated Organization is not an ERISA-Exempt Church Plan (at least in the 9th, 3rd and 7th Circuits)
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that, to qualify for the church plan exception to the requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), a church plan (i) must be…
- IRS Releases 2016-2017 Priority Guidance Plan
The IRS has published its 2016–2017 Priority Guidance Plan containing 281 projects that are priorities for allocation of its resources during the twelve-month period from July 2016 to June 2017.…
- Significant Changes Proposed for Form 5500
On July 21, 2016 the Department of Labor (DOL), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) published proposed rules that would make significant revisions to…
- IRS Announces More Changes to its Determination Letter Program
On June 29, 2016, the IRS updated its determination letter program for individually designed tax qualified retirement plans, making a number of significant changes, mostly having to do with (1) when…
- Fiduciaries Ultimately Prevail in Tibble v. Edison
On remand from the United States Supreme Court, which held in May 2015 that ERISA imposes on retirement plan fiduciaries an ongoing duty to monitor investments, even absent a change in circumstances…
- DOL Finalizes Regulations and Related Exemptions on ERISA Fiduciary Definition and Conflicts of Interest in Investment Advice
The Department of Labor (DOL) has adopted its long-awaited final rule defining who is a fiduciary investment adviser, and has issued accompanying prohibited transaction class exemptions that allow…
- IRS Gives Individually Designed Plans an Additional Year to Convert to Pre-Approved Plan Documents
IRS has announced in Notice 2016-03 that it will extend the deadline for an employer to restate an individually designed plan onto a current pre-approved defined contribution plan document (which is…
2015
- DOL and IRS Release Updated Form 5500 Series for 2015
DOL and IRS recently posted the new 2015 Form 5500, Form 5500-SF, and a draft of the 2015 Form 5500-EZ. Of significance is the “IRS Compliance Questions” added to the various forms and schedules…
- IRS Updated Plan Limits for 2016
IRS has announced the retirement plan and employee benefits limits for 2016. Most of the limits are unchanged. The exception is the HSA Maximum Contribution for Family increased $100 to $6,750. Here…
- IRS Announces Significant Reduction in Determination Letter Program
On July 21, 2015, the IRS announced changes to the favorable determination letter program for qualified retirement plans. Employers that sponsor individually designed plans should take a close look at…
- IRS Ends Lump Sum Risk Transferring Programs in Defined Benefit Plans
Treasury Department and the IRS announced today in Notice 2015-49 that they intend to amend the required minimum distribution regulations under Code Section 401(a)(9) to address the use of lump sum…
- IRS Expands Pre-Approved Plan Document Program to Include Cash Balance Plans and ESOPs
On June 8, 2015, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2015-36, which announces the IRS expansion of its pre-approved plan program to include cash balance plans and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs).…
- DOL Provides Timing Relief for Fee Disclosures in Participant-Directed Individual Account Plans
On March 19, 2015 the Department of Labor issued final rules that give retirement plan administrators a two-month window in which to provide annual fee disclosures to plan participants. Under existing…
- DOL to Propose New Fiduciary Rules
The White House today announced that in the coming months, the Department of Labor will propose a new fiduciary rule that, according to the announcement, will: Expand the types of retirement…