"The IRS is hosting a virtual meeting with pre-approved plan providers and mass submitters to discuss technical and procedural requirements for the upcoming 4th cycle 401(a) defined contribution pre-approved plan submission period. When: Wednesday, January 17, 2024 ... This meeting is intended for those providers and mass submitters who draft pre-approved plans and plan to apply for a 4th cycle opinion letter under Revenue Procedure 2023-37 ."   MORE >>

"Complete Form W-4P to have payers withhold the correct amount of federal income tax from your periodic pension, annuity (including commercial annuities), profit-sharing and stock bonus plan, or IRA payments."   MORE >>

Rev. Dec. 2023. "Eligible small employers use this form to claim the credit for qualified startup costs incurred in establishing or administering an eligible employer plan."   MORE >>

"What's New: The repayment period for a qualified 2018 disaster distribution ends 3 years and 1 day after the distribution was received. This is particularly important if your qualified 2018 disaster distribution was received in 2020." [Also available: 2023 Form 8915-C ]   MORE >>

Rev. Jan. 2024. "Use Form 8915-F for 2021 and later disasters. Also, use it after 2020 instead of Form 8915-E, for coronavirus-related and other 2020 disasters."   MORE >>

"[This calendar] is intended to alert sponsors of retirement plans governed by [ERISA] to some of the significant regulatory dates for 2024. It ... assumes that a plan is being administered on a calendar year basis by an employer using a calendar fiscal year."   MORE >>

"It appears that the [DOL] has communicated to third-party software developers that the electronic filing option for Form 5558 should be disabled and that electronic filing of the Form 5558 will not be available starting Jan. 1, 2024, to extend the filing deadline for a 2023 Form 5500[.]"   MORE >>

"Pending resolution of one or more of these cases, it is appropriate for plan sponsors now to review the forfeiture provisions of their defined contribution plans ... [If] fiduciaries are given discretion as to how forfeitures should be allocated, consideration should be given to providing some objective process mandating the basis on which such decisions are made."   MORE >>

"[A]ttempts to sue plan fiduciaries for choosing one type of low-cost target-date fund versus other options appear to be petering out, in part due to a string of losses. However, an area of increased litigation, and focus, is emerging in a series of complaints targeting how retirement plan forfeitures are being used by plan sponsors."   MORE >>

"Administration officials repeatedly mention 'trust and confidence' in both the rule text and their public comments since its release. Their challenge is to shoehorn an agent's one-time sale of an annuity into the established understanding of a relationship of 'trust and confidence' between an advisor and client."   MORE >>

"It has become axiomatic in the annuity industry that existing processes for transacting in annuities are outdated and must be replaced by digital capabilities. This research supports that contention and provides context in terms of quantifying the likely impact of achieving a full digital experience (i.e., the virtual elimination of paper processing and wet signatures), It also explores the financial professional view of the necessary elements of a digital experience that will drive them to adopt new processes and embrace annuities more fully."   MORE >>

"[The complaint's] definition of 'RKA' recordkeeping services includes plan administrative fees that are not recordkeeping, and even includes some accounting and legal services that are not even paid to the recordkeeper.... The Form 5500 does not provide reliable data to calculate per-participant fees ... Despite years and hundreds of lawsuits, plaintiff lawyers still have no national database to support their fiduciary imprudence claims that large retirement plans pay the artificially low amounts asserted in the lawsuits." [Ruebell v. Tyson Foods, Inc., No. (W.D. Ark. complaint filed Nov. 11, 2023)]   MORE >>

"The standard mileage rate for transportation or travel expenses is 67 cents per mile for all miles of business use.... The standard mileage rate is 14 cents per mile for use of an automobile in rendering gratuitous services to a charitable organization under Section 170.... The standard mileage rate is 21 cents per mile for use of an automobile: [1] for medical care described in Section 213; or [2] as part of a move for which the expenses are deductible under Section 217(g)."   MORE >>

10 pages. "[T]wo student loan management program options are gaining significant attention as they allow employer contributions in different ways: Student loan direct payment program and student loan retirement matching program. [This article describes] these programs in detail to help employers determine the best approach for the organization's objectives and employee demographics."   MORE >>