by Michael T. Graham, Maureen O’Brien and Ashley McCarthy.
A recent federal district court decision defeats a long-standing assumption that a foreign corporate parent would not be subject to personal jurisdiction for a suit seeking payment of pension liabilities merely by acquiring a U.S. subsidiary.
To read the full article, click here.
by Michael T. Graham, Joseph S. Adams and Patrick D. Ryan.
The PBGC announced that it may lessen ERISA Section 4062(e) enforcement for employers in strong or moderately strong financial condition. However, the PBGC will continue to enforce its prior Proposed Rule on ERISA Section 4062(e) liability.
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by Ira B. Mirsky, Karen A. Simonsen, Todd A. Solomon and Adrienne Walker Porter
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires certain U.S. taxpayers holding foreign financial assets, including an interest under a foreign pension or deferred compensation plan and foreign equity awards, to report those interests beginning with this tax filing season. Taxpayers who fail to meet their obligation to file Form 8938 are subject to significant penalties.
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by Nancy S. Gerrie and Jeffrey M. Holdvogt
The Puerto Rico Treasury Department recently issued guidance (Circular Letter No. 12-02) allowing certain retirement plans qualified under the Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code, including dual-qualified plans that are also qualified under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, to file a copy of Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF as the plan’s annual Puerto Rico return in lieu of filing Puerto Rico Form 480.7(OE). The new procedures, effective beginning with the annual filing for the 2011 tax year, will allow retirement plans sponsors with employees in Puerto Rico to satisfy their annual Puerto Rico filing requirement with Form 5500.
The Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code generally requires employers that maintain a retirement plan qualified in Puerto Rico to file, on an annual basis, Form 480.7(OE), Information Return of Income Tax-Exempt Organizations. However, for tax years beginning on and after January 1, 2011, employers that maintain plans that are subject to the provisions of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and that have previously submitted an application to the Puerto Rico Treasury Department for a determination that the plan is qualified under the Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code, may comply with the annual Puerto Rico filing requirement by filing a copy of the corresponding Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF as the plan’s annual return in lieu of filing Puerto Rico Form 480.7(OE).
Plan sponsors that elect to file Form 5500 to satisfy the Puerto Rico annual return requirement must still complete the part of Form 480.7(OE) containing the biographical data of the plan on the first page of Form 480.7(OE) and attach a copy of Form 5500 as the annual filing. Either Form 5500 or Form 480.7(OE) must be filed by July 31 following the calendar year close or the last day of the seventh month following the fiscal year close of the trust (if Form 480.7(OE) is filed) or the plan year (if Form 5500 is filed), unless a request is filed for an automatic extension to October 15 following the close of the year for a calendar plan year. Plan sponsors that request an extension of time to file the Form 5500 with the U.S. Department of Labor still must request an extension of time for the Puerto Rico filing separately by filing Model SC 2644 prior to the filing deadline of the Form 480.7(OE). The Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code imposes a penalty of $500 per form for failure to timely file the annual report.
by Joseph S. Adams, Stephen Pavlick and David Diaz
Two years after the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) jointly issued a high-profile Request for Information regarding how defined contribution plans can better provide lifetime income, the IRS and Department of the Treasury have issued some initial guidance. DOL guidance, expected to further underscore the importance of the issue, is anticipated “in the near future.”
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by Stephen Pavlick, Daniel Senecoff and Alan Nesburg
Under some defined benefit plans, participants receive a portion of the benefit as an annuity and a portion as a lump sum. Sponsors of such plans should review the method used for calculating these benefits, particularly annuity benefits, to determine whether the combined value of both portions meets the minimum present value requirements for lump sums. Recent proposed IRS regulations include an interpretation of current law that may differ from the way some plans have been administered.
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by Diane Morgenthaler, Susan Schaefer and Lisa Loesel
The U.S. Department of Labor recently issued guidelines for the electronic distribution of mandatory investment and fee disclosures for participants in self-directed account plans subject to ERISA. This guidance may help plan administrators implement the new rules for the disclosure of quarterly and annual plan-related information, but still contains affirmative participant approval requirements for the electronic distribution of all initial disclosure notices and mandated investment-related information to participants. Prior to August 2012, plan sponsors and administrators of calendar-year plans should familiarize themselves with the new guidelines to determine what mandatory disclosures will be made in electronic format (if any), and whether their plans have sufficient systems and administrative capabilities to provide the mandatory disclosures in an electronic format.
To read the full article, please click here.
by Natalie M. Nathanson, Stephen Pavlick and Adrienne Walker Porter
New Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 8955-SSA (the Annual Registration Statement Identifying Separated Participants with Deferred Vested Benefits) replaces the Schedule SSA of the Form 5500 annual report. Section 6057(a) of the Internal Revenue Code requires plan administrators of retirement plans subject to the vesting standards under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to report information on separated participants with deferred vested benefits that have not commenced. Starting with the 2009 plan year, plan administrators are required to provide information on separated participants with deferred vested benefits on the new IRS Form 8955-SSA. Form 8955-SSA will generally be required to be filed by the last day of the seventh month after the plan year ends, but the IRS extended the general filing deadline for the 2009 and 2010 plan years until the later of January 17, 2012, or the due date that generally applies for filing Form 8955-SSA for the 2010 plan year.
To read the full article, please click here.
by Nancy S. Gerrie and Jeffrey M. Holdvogt
On December 21, 2011, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2012-6, which provides welcome relief for U.S. employers with qualified employee retirement plans that cover Puerto Rico employees. Notice 2012-6 provides that the IRS will extend the deadline for employers sponsoring plans that are tax-qualified only in Puerto Rico (ERISA Section 1022(i)(1) Plans) to continue to pool assets with U.S.-qualified plans in group and master trusts described in Revenue Ruling 81-100 (81-100 group trusts) until further notice, provided the plan was participating in the trust as of January 10, 2011, or holds assets that had been held by a qualified plan immediately prior to the transfer of those assets to an ERISA Section 1022(i)(1) Plan pursuant to a spin-off from a U.S.-qualified plan under Revenue Ruling 2008-40.
Notice 2012-6 also extends the deadline for sponsors of retirement plans qualified in both the United States and Puerto Rico (dual-qualified plans) to spin off and transfer assets attributable to Puerto Rico employees to ERISA Section 1022(i)(1) Plans, with the resulting plan assets considered Puerto Rico-source income and not subject to U.S. tax.
There are now two separate deadlines:
For more information on the issues related to participation of ERISA Section 1022(i)(1) Plans in 80-100 group trusts, see “IRS Permits Puerto Rico-Qualified Plans to Participate in U.S. Group and Master Trusts for Transition Period, Extends Deadline for Puerto Rico Spin-Offs.”
For more information on the issues plan sponsors should consider with respect to a dual-qualified plan spin-off and transfer of assets attributable to Puerto Rico employees to ERISA section 1022(i)(1) plans, see “IRS Sets Deadline for Transfers from Dual-Qualified to Puerto Rico-Only Qualified Plans.”
by Diane M. Morgenthaler, Natalie M. Nathanson and Maureen O’Brien
The IRS recently extended the deadline for defined benefit plan sponsors to adopt amendments to comply with Section 436 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code). Code Section 436 was added by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) and contains limitations on benefit payments and accruals for defined benefit plans that do not meet the funding targets required by PPA.
Please click here for a discussion of the new deadlines.
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