Health insurance exchanges will offer government-regulated and standardized healthcare plans from which individuals may purchase health insurance eligible for federal subsidies. These exchanges must be ready to begin enrollment by October 1, 2013. Every state, plus the District of Columbia, [...]
The administration views certain savings for retirement to be a tax loophole. The just released budget, in its Overview, states: “[The budget] ends a loophole that lets wealthy individuals circumvent contribution limits and accumulate millions in tax-preferred retirement accounts.” [There [...]
The Eighth Circuit’s recent decision in Dakota, Minn. & E. R.R. Corp. v. Schieffer (Schieffer II), No. 12-1807, 2013 WL 1235235 (8th Cir. Mar. 28, 2013), offers new insight into the circumstances under which severance benefits provided under an executive’s [...]
As noted in our blog entry on October 16, 2012, under the Sixth Circuit’s discussion in U.S. v. Quality Stores, severance payments made because of an employee’s involuntary separation resulting from a reduction-in-force or discontinuance of a plant or operation [...]
Last month the SEC issued a no-action letter to a financial services firm that sheds light on the scope of the prohibition under Section 402 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 which makes it unlawful for an issuer to “extend [...]
Section 162(a) of the Internal Revenue Code allows as a deduction all the ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred during the year in carrying on a trade or business, including “reasonable compensation for personal services actually rendered.” The reasonableness [...]
Last week, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued Rev. Proc. 2013-22 describing the procedures for submitting an application for an opinion or advisory letter on a prototype or volume submitter 403(b) plan. This news is relevant for employers sponsoring 403(b) plans. Why? [...]
ERISA requires that all plans have a written plan document and summary plan description. In addition to describing the benefits, the written plan document must also establish: a funding policy, a procedure for allocating administrative and management responsibilities, a procedure [...]
Whenever an employer wants to implement a wellness program, we are always compelled to advise them that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has yet to give us official guidance on the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act to wellness [...]
For plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2014, a health plan cannot impose a waiting period of more than 90 days. Earlier this month, the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services and Treasury (the “Departments”) followed [...]
