Archive for Employer Knowledge Base

As part of the SECURE 2.0 law, there’s a new benefit option for employees facing emergencies. It’s called a pension-linked emergency savings account (PLESA) and the provision authorizing it became effective for plan years beginning January 1, 2024. The IRS recently released guidance about the accounts (in Notice 2024-22) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published some frequently asked questions to help employers, plan sponsors, participants and others understand them.

PLESA basics

The DOL defines PLESAs as “short-term savings accounts established and maintained within a defined contribution plan.” Employers with 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans can opt to offer PLESAs to non-highly compensated employees. For 2024, a participant who earned $150,000 or more in 2023 is a highly compensated employee.

Here are some more details of this new type of account:

  • The portion of the account balance attributable to participant contributions can’t exceed $2,500 (or a lower amount determined by the plan sponsor) in 2024. The $2,500 amount will be adjusted for inflation in future years.
  • Employers can offer to enroll eligible participants in these accounts beginning in 2024 or can automatically enroll participants in them.
  • The account can’t have a minimum contribution to open or a minimum account balance.
  • Participants can make a withdrawal at least once per calendar month, and such withdrawals must be distributed “as soon as practicable.”
  • For the first four withdrawals from an account in a plan year, participants can’t be subject to any fees or charges. Subsequent withdrawals may be subject to reasonable fees or charges.
  • Contributions must be held as cash, in an interest-bearing deposit account or in an investment product.
  • If an employee has a PLESA and isn’t highly compensated, but becomes highly compensated as defined under tax law, he or she can’t make further contributions but retains the right to withdraw the balance.
  • Contributions will be made on a Roth basis, meaning they are included in an employee’s taxable income but participants won’t have to pay tax when they make withdrawals.

Proof of an event not necessary

A participant in a PLESA doesn’t need to prove that he or she is experiencing an emergency before making a withdrawal from an account. The DOL states that “withdrawals are made at the discretion of the participant.”

These are just the basic details of PLESAs. Contact us if you have questions about these or other fringe benefits and their tax implications.

© 2024

Here are some of the key tax-related deadlines affecting businesses and other employers during the first quarter of 2024. Keep in mind that this list isn’t all-inclusive, so there may be additional deadlines that apply to you. If you have questions about filing requirements, contact us. We can ensure you’re meeting all applicable deadlines.

January 16 (The usual deadline of January 15 is a federal holiday)

  • Pay the final installment of 2023 estimated tax.
  • Farmers and fishermen: Pay estimated tax for 2023. If you don’t pay your estimated tax by January 16, you must file your 2023 return and pay all tax due by March 1, 2024, to avoid an estimated tax penalty.

January 31

  • File 2023 Forms W-2, “Wage and Tax Statement,” with the Social Security Administration and provide copies to your employees.
  • Provide copies of 2023 Forms 1099-NEC, “Nonemployee Compensation,” to recipients of income from your business, where required, and file them with the IRS.
  • Provide copies of 2023 Forms 1099-MISC, “Miscellaneous Information,” reporting certain types of payments to recipients.
  • File Form 940, “Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return,” for 2023. If your undeposited tax is $500 or less, you can either pay it with your return or deposit it. If it’s more than $500, you must deposit it. However, if you deposited the tax for the year in full and on time, you have until February 12 to file the return.
  • File Form 941, “Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return,” to report Medicare, Social Security and income taxes withheld in the fourth quarter of 2023. If your tax liability is less than $2,500, you can pay it in full with a timely filed return. If you deposited the tax for the quarter in full and on time, you have until February 12 to file the return. (Employers that have an estimated annual employment tax liability of $1,000 or less may be eligible to file Form 944, “Employer’s Annual Federal Tax Return.”)
  • File Form 945, “Annual Return of Withheld Federal Income Tax,” for 2023 to report income tax withheld on all nonpayroll items, including backup withholding and withholding on accounts such as pensions, annuities and IRAs. If your tax liability is less than $2,500, you can pay it in full with a timely filed return. If you deposited the tax for the year in full and on time, you have until February 12 to file the return.

February 15

  • Give annual information statements to recipients of certain payments you made during 2023. You can use the appropriate version of Form 1099 or other information return. Form 1099 can be issued electronically with the consent of the recipient. This due date applies only to the following types of payments:
    • All payments reported on Form 1099-B.
    • All payments reported on Form 1099-S.
    • Substitute payments reported in box 8 or gross proceeds paid to an attorney reported in box 10 of Form 1099-MISC.

February 28

  • File 2023 Forms 1099-MISC with the IRS if you’re filing paper copies. (Otherwise, the filing deadline is April 1.)

March 15

  • If a calendar-year partnership or S corporation, file or extend your 2023 tax return and pay any tax due. If the return isn’t extended, this is also the last day to make 2023 contributions to pension and profit-sharing plans.

© 2023

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued EBSA Disaster Relief Notice 2021-01, which is of interest to employers. It clarifies the duration of certain COVID-19-related deadline extensions that apply to health care benefits plans.

Extensions to continue

The DOL and IRS issued guidance last year specifying that the COVID-19 outbreak period — defined as beginning March 1, 2020, and ending 60 days after the announced end of the COVID-19 national emergency — should be disregarded when calculating various deadlines under COBRA, ERISA and HIPAA’s special enrollment provisions.

The original emergency declaration would have expired on March 1, 2021, but it was recently extended. Although the agencies defined the outbreak period solely by reference to the COVID-19 national emergency, they relied on statutes allowing them to specify disregarded periods for a maximum of one year. Therefore, questions arose as to whether the outbreak period was required to end on February 28, 2021, one year after it began.

Notice 2021-01answers those questions by providing that the extensions have continued past February 28 and will be measured on a case-by-case basis. Specifically, applicable deadlines for individuals and plans that fall within the outbreak period will be extended (that is, the disregarded period will last) until the earlier of:

  • One year from the date the plan or individual was first eligible for outbreak period relief, or
  • The end of the outbreak period.

Once the disregarded period has ended, the timeframes that were previously disregarded will resume. Thus, the outbreak period will continue until 60 days after the end of the COVID-19 national emergency, but the maximum disregarded period for calculating relevant deadlines for any individual or plan cannot exceed one year.

Communication is necessary

The DOL advises plan sponsors to consider sending notices to participants regarding the end of the relief period, which may include reissuing or amending previous disclosures that are no longer accurate. Sponsors are also advised to notify participants who are losing coverage of other coverage options, such as through the recently announced COVID-19 special enrollment period in Health Insurance Marketplaces (commonly known as “Exchanges”).

Notice 2021-01 acknowledges that the COVID-19 pandemic and other circumstances may disrupt normal plan operations. The DOL reassures fiduciaries acting in good faith and with reasonable diligence that enforcement will emphasize compliance assistance and other relief. The notice further states that the IRS and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services concur with the guidance and its application to laws under their jurisdiction.

Challenges ahead

Plan sponsors and administrators will likely welcome this clarification but may be disappointed in its timing and in how it interprets the one-year limitation. Determinations of the disregarded period that depend on individual circumstances could create significant administrative challenges.

In addition to making case-by-case determinations, plan sponsors and administrators must quickly develop a strategy for communicating these complex rules to participants. Contact us for further information and updates.

© 2021

Fringe Benefits | Part Two Update

Today we’re focusing on Fringe Benefits, and what plan may be right for you, including the difference between an accountable plan and a non-accountable plan, and Section 125 plans.

 

Would a Roth 401(k) plan suit your employees?

Roth 401(k) accounts have been around for quite a while. But many employers still don’t offer them and many employees still don’t understand them. As the name implies, these plans are a hybrid — taking some characteristics from Roth IRAs and some from traditional employer-sponsored 401(k)s. When considering (or reconsidering) your retirement plan options, look into whether a Roth 401(k) would suit your employees.

Contribution limits

An employer with a traditional 401(k), 403(b) or governmental 457(b) plan can offer designated Roth 401(k) accounts. As with traditional 401(k) accounts, eligible employees can elect to defer part of their salaries to Roth 401(k) accounts, subject to annual limits. The employer may choose to provide matching contributions, but matching can go into only traditional accounts.

For 2019, a participating employee can contribute up to $19,000 ($25,000 if he or she is age 50 or older) on a combined basis to a Roth 401(k) and/or a traditional 401(k). The most someone can contribute to a Roth IRA for 2019 is $6,000 ($7,000 for those age 50 or older).

The ability to contribute to a Roth IRA is phased out for higher-income taxpayers, but there’s no such restriction for a Roth 401(k). This can make Roth 401(k)s particularly attractive to employees with higher incomes who’d like to take advantage of Roth benefits.

Pluses and minuses

Employee contributions to Roth 401(k) accounts are made with after-tax dollars, instead of pretax dollars. Therefore, employees forfeit a key traditional 401(k) tax benefit.

On the plus side, after an initial period of five years, “qualified distributions” from a Roth 401(k) are 100% exempt from federal income tax, just like qualified distributions from a Roth IRA. In contrast, traditional 401(k) distributions are taxed at ordinary-income rates, currently as high as 37%.

In general, qualified distributions are those made after a participant reaches age 59-1/2, or made because of death or disability. Therefore, employees can take qualified Roth 401(k) distributions after age 59-1/2 and pay no tax, as opposed to the hefty tax bill that may be due from traditional 401(k) payouts.

And unlike traditional 401(k)s, which generally mandate required minimum distributions (RMDs) after age 70-1/2, Roth 401(k)s have no RMDs (except for beneficiaries who inherit them).

Popularity increasing

Data indicates that the popularity of Roth 401(k)s is increasing. For example, survey results released by global consultancy Willis Towers Watson earlier this year revealed that 70% of responding employers now offer Roth features within their 401(k) plans. That’s a notable rise from results of the firm’s earlier surveys — namely, 46% in 2012 and 54% in 2014. We can help you further explore the benefits, risks and overall feasibility of adding a Roth 401(k) to your benefits lineup.

Starting slow with a SIMPLE IRA

For certain employers, particularly small businesses, introducing a retirement plan for employees may seem like a daunting task. The company owner may feel that providing a full-blown 401(k) plan is his or her only choice, but that’s far from true.

There are other options to consider that are relatively easier to administer and usually less costly to set up and maintain. One such plan is a SIMPLE IRA.

Requirements and restrictions

The acronym SIMPLE stands for “Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees.” (And, of course, IRA stands for “individual retirement account.”) The concept behind these plans is to allow employers with 100 or fewer employees to provide a retirement plan without running into the often-confusing complexities of 401(k) plans. A SIMPLE IRA may even be a viable option for self-employed individuals.

Naturally, these plans still have some requirements and restrictions. Although eligible employees may contribute to their accounts themselves — which isn’t the case for pensions, for example — those annual contributions are less than those allowed for 401(k)s. In 2018, an employee can contribute up to $12,500, or up to $15,500 if the employee is 50 or older. (As of this writing, these amounts for 2019 had not yet been announced.)

There’s also a required match from the employer. Generally, you must choose between:

  • Matching contributions of up to 3% of an employee’s compensation, or
  • Nonelective contributions of 2% of an eligible employee’s compensation.

An employer’s contributions are tax-deductible and employee contributions are made on a pretax basis. Thus, the payment of taxes is deferred until distributions begin.

No testing

If you have no plan, you might want to consider a SIMPLE 401(k) plan. These are like SIMPLE IRAs when it comes to contribution limits and employer matching, but participants in a SIMPLE 401(k) may take out loans. Some organizations have employees who really appreciate this feature, though it makes plan administration a little more challenging for the employer.

Under either of the SIMPLE offerings, employers avoid the nondiscrimination tests — a key component of regular 401(k) plans. (These tests, which involve a calculation based on the organization’s employees, may serve to restrict the allowable contributions of higher-earning employees unless there’s a sufficient level of participation by those earning less.)

A critical step

Please note that the deadline for setting up a SIMPLE IRA for 2018 has already passed. But you could begin exploring the idea now with an eye toward establishing this or another retirement plan for your employees for next year. To discuss further, please contact us.