To help cafeteria plan participants address challenges arising from the COVID-19 crisis, the Internal Revenue Service recently issued guidance allowing employers to make a number of participant-friendly changes under their cafeteria plans. While employer adoption of these more flexible rules is voluntary, plan sponsors should work with third-party administrators, insurance providers and legal advisors to ensure that the new provisions are properly adopted, documented and communicated.
In a recent webinar, Jake Mattinson and Sarah Raaii discussed the basics of health savings accounts (HSAs) and health flexible spending accounts. They provided an overview of the various regulations surrounding HSA, such as eligibility requirements, high deductible health plans, and contributions and distributions, and cafeteria plans. Additionally, they analyzed the differences between HSAs and Health FSAs and HRAs.
The IRS and US Department of Treasury have issued final and temporary regulations which address benefit and self-employment tax issues regarding partners in a partnership which is the sole owner of a second, wholly owned legal entity. The regulations are intended to clarify that where the partners are separately working for the second legal entity, such individuals may not be treated as employees, and must be treated as self-employed individuals for both self-employment and employee benefit plan purposes. As a result, the partners may not be provided the tax benefits provided employees with respect to benefit plans such as cafeteria plans, parking and transit benefits, health benefits and health insurance.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued Notice 2015-86, which provides some additional clarification, in the form of questions and answers, on the treatment of same-sex spouses under tax-qualified retirement plans and health and welfare plans, including cafeteria plans, as a result of the June 26, 2015, decision from the Supreme Court of the United States in Obergefell v. Hodges.
Subscribe
