The passage of the Tax Reform and Jobs Act (“TRJA”) in 2018 made entity selection an important part of tax planning. The TRJA made fundamental changes affecting individual and entity tax rates. Combined with corporate transactions for strategic reasons and business owners acquiring interests in other companies, we’re seeing businesses and owners using multiple entities. … Continue Reading
If you’re in the retirement plan business, you’ve heard the term “audit roulette”. It refers to the belief by some employers that the odds of their retirement plan getting audited by the IRS are in their favor. Well, those odds are getting worse. The IRS is taking technology to the next level using “data driven … Continue Reading
For calendar year ERISA plans, today is the due date for filing their 2016 Form 5500 unless extended. While the vast majority of employers will meet that deadline, some will have red flags on their returns that could pique the interest of the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and the Department of Labor (“DOL”).… Continue Reading
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) will be increasing penalties, in some cases substantially, for violations of ERISA. Here’s why and how it will impact ERISA plans that are not in compliance. Background In 2015, Congress passed the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of … Continue Reading
The deadline for restating a 401(k), profit sharing, or money purchase pension plan to a pre-approved Pension Protection Act document has come and gone. So what’s a fiduciary to do? It was, after all, a responsibility of the plan fiduciary to ensure that the plan was updated and signed by the April 30, 2016 deadline. … Continue Reading
My apologies to William Camden for dragging him into ERISA. The proverbial saying in the headline, “An ynche in a misse is as good as an ell” appeared in his Remaines concerning Britaine published in 1637. It was an early forerunner of what we now know as “A miss is as good as a mile.” … Continue Reading