For over twenty years, the IRS has provided guidance on correcting overpayments from retirement plans through its correction program, the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, currently set forth in Revenue Procedure 2021-30 (“EPCRS”).[1] In 2022, new statutory provisions were passed addressing overpayments, and on October 15, 2024, in response to those new provisions, the…

The long-anticipated final rule under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) was published on September 9, 2024. The MHPAEA prohibits group health plans that provide mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits from imposing more restrictive coverage limitations on such benefits than the plan imposes on medical and surgical (M/S) benefits.…

In November 2023, the IRS issued proposed regulations addressing the SECURE 2.0 long-term part-time (LTPT) employee eligibility requirements applicable to 401(k) plans knowing that further guidance would be needed to explain how those requirements would apply to 403(b) plans—you can read our summary of the proposed regulations here. The publication of IRS Notice 2024-73…

A “qualified disclaimer” is a tax-effective way to refuse a transfer of property that would otherwise occur on someone’s death. From time to time, retirement plan administrators may be contacted by a beneficiary who wants a deceased participant’s benefit to go to a contingent beneficiary or the participant’s estate. The way to make that happen…

On August 28, the IRS issued IR-2024-227, reminding employers of the following key aspects of educational assistance programs under Internal Revenue Code Section 127:

• They can be used to help reimburse the costs of or pay for employees’ student loans through December 31, 2025;
• They must be established in writing and cannot discriminate in

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Summer is ending and fall is rapidly approaching. For employee benefit professionals with calendar-year health and welfare benefit plans that means preparing for annual enrollment and year-end compliance requirements. This post provides a high-level overview of significant health and welfare benefits compliance issues new in 2024 that plan sponsors should consider as they prepare for…

Section 110 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”) permits employers maintaining a 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b), or SIMPLE IRA plan to make matching contributions based on qualified student loan payments (“QSLPs”), effective for plan years beginning after December 31, 2023.[1] On August 19, the IRS issued Notice 2024-63 (the “Notice”). The…