Understanding Employee Benefits and key developments in the employee benefits field and items of interest to our clients. MORE

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On November 1, 2024, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2024-80, which sets forth the 2025 cost-of-living adjustments affecting dollar limits on benefits and contributions for qualified retirement plans. The IRS also announced the health savings account (HSA) and high deductible health plan (HDHP) annual deductible and out-of-pocket expense adjustments earlier this year

On October 26, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2020-79, which sets forth the 2021 cost-of-living adjustments affecting dollar limits on benefits and contributions for qualified retirement plans. The IRS also announced the dollar limitation for employee salary reductions for contributions to health flexible spending arrangements in Revenue Procedure 2020-45. The

On Friday, June 19, 2020, the IRS released Notice 2020-50 which provides additional guidance regarding the coronavirus-related distributions (“CRDs”) and coronavirus-related loans and loan repayment delays (“CR Loan Relief”) made available to certain retirement plan participants affected by COVID-19 under the CARES Act. The notice expands, and in some cases modifies, previous guidance issued by

Since the coronavirus (COVID-19) first emerged as a serious health emergency, Congress has moved quickly to pass three major pieces of legislation designed to address the public economic and health crises caused by the pandemic. According to reports, House Democrats have prioritized multiemployer pension reform in previous negotiations regarding coronavirus relief legislation, and are likely

On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which addresses the public economic and health crisis related to the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The CARES Act includes a temporary provision that allows employers to make tax-free student loan payments on behalf of employees pursuant

On September 23, 2019 the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued final regulations amending the rules for hardship distributions from 401(k) and 403(b) plans (the “Final Regulations”). The Final Regulations modify the hardship requirements to reflect statutory changes and directives introduced by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017

On June 13, 2019 the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Labor and Department of the Treasury released final regulations that create new healthcare coverage options for employers and employees. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/06/20/2019-12571/health-reimbursement-arrangements-and-other-account-based-group-health-plans

The new coverage options come in the form of two new types of health reimbursement arrangements (“HRAs”), one which allows employers to