This article applies primarily to ABP client service partners who are accountants and financial advisors.  Do you have clients who don't currently sponsor a tax-qualified retirement plan but contemplate doing so?  There is a seldom-used federal tax credit that may help those businesses recover all or a portion of plan start-up costs and other administrative expenses.

Eligible Plans: The start-up plans tax credit is available to businesses that establish a new SEP, SIMPLE IRA, 401(k), pension, or other qualified plan.

Qualifications: The plan sponsor firm must...

Safe harbor 401(k) plans have become a very popular plan design over the last decade. By providing an opportunity for company principals to maximize deferrals and also providing a minimum level of savings for all participants, the Safe Harbor design is attractive to both employers and employees.

If you have discussed the idea of a Safe Harbor 401(k) plan during recent annual planning with your clients, you need to be aware of an important date. October 1st is the latest date that a client can adopt Safe Harbor provisions to be effective for the 2016 calendar year...

When IRS and DOL officials are asked to identify the most frequent compliance failures on the part of 401(k) and 403(b) plan sponsors, the late deposit of employee deferrals is consistently at the top of the list. 

Background

Under ERISA, amounts deducted from participants' paychecks become plan assets as of the earliest date on which such contributions can reasonably be segregated from the employer's general assets.  A number of years ago, the DOL issued confusing guidance that referred to an outside plan deposit date of the 15th business day of the month followi...

The Spring 2016 issue of Benefit Bylines was devoted exclusively to regulatory issues impacting (or potentially impacting) employers who sponsor private retirement plans and their employees. There have been further developments on several fronts throughout the past couple of months that are discussed briefly here. (Each of the headings below refers to the title of the corresponding article in the Spring Newsletter).

DOL Fiduciary/Conflict of Interest Proposal Stirs Controversy

As anticipated, the DOL did issue "final" fiduciary advice/conflict-of-interest regulati...

Under ERISA, the Plan Administrator has the ultimate fiduciary responsibility for the overall operation of the plan, including the investment of plan assets and various administrative functions. Unless another individual or party is designated in the plan documents, the employer is by default the Plan Administrator. The employer can delegate various investment and administrative responsibilities to others but most professionals agree that it is impossible for an employer to delegate responsibilities in a manner that eliminates all fiduciary responsibility and as...