By Andrew Oringer, Barry Salkin, Jon Schultze and Ari Sonneberg Both supporters and opponents of the consideration of environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) goals can point to decisions by...
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The Unclean Hands and In Pari Delicto Doctrines
The Unclean Hands and In Pari Delicto Doctrines - Barry Salkin, Wolters Kluwer Benefits Law Journal, Spring 2025, Volume 38, No. 1
Corporate Transparency Act Litigation Continues to Induce Whiplash
In the most recent installment of the soap-opera-like saga that has unfolded around the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a stay of the injunction preventing...
DOL Updates Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program
In 2002, the Department of Labor (DOL) adopted the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP). VFCP, modified in 2005 and 2006, is designed to encourage employers and plan fiduciaries to...
No Rest for the Weary: Department of Justice asks Supreme Court to Issue a Stay of Nationwide Injunction Against Corporate Transparency Act (CTA)
For some attorneys, the last week and a half of 2024 was an opportunity for a bit of R & R before resuming customary work activities. Alas, that was not the case for attorneys at FinCEN and the...
Pencils Down: Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) Injunction Back in Effect
Our Law Alerts tend to be measured in tone, avoiding hyperbole. A court decision or IRS or DOL regulation may be unexpected or unanticipated, and we would characterize it as such, and then describe...
Texas District Court Issues Nationwide Preliminary Injunction Against Enforcement of Corporate Transparency Act (CTA)
When page 1 of a District Court decision on a challenge on constitutional grounds to an action by a governmental entity cites Marbury v. Madison, that is not a good sign for the government agency....
Proceeding With a Pseudonym Under ERISA
Proceeding With a Pseudonym Under ERISA - Barry Salkin, New York University Review of Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation 2024 Update, November 2024
FinCEN Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements Due by Year End for Many Organizations
In 2021, Congress enacted the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”), creating a new beneficial ownership reporting requirement. The purpose of the CTA was to make it more difficult for bad actors to...
IRS Issues Final Regulations on Non-U.S. Tax Withholding Under Deferred Compensation Plans, IRAs and Commercial Annuities
By Barry Salkin The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and the Treasury Department on October 21, 2024, issued final regulations under Sections 3405(a) and 3405(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of...
Employers are Lagging to Implement IRS’ 401(K) Student Loan Matching Guidelines
Employers are Lagging to Implement IRS’ 401(K) Student Loan Matching Guidelines - Barry Salkin, Black Enterprise Magazine, October 30, 2024 (PDF)
IRS Issues Interim Guidance on Matching Contributions Made on Account of Qualified Student Loan Repayments
IRS Issues Interim Guidance on Matching Contributions Made on Account of Qualified Student Loan Repayments - Marcia Wagner, Barry Salkin and Jon Schultze, 401(k) Advisor, October 2024
IRS Provides Guidance on Application of SECURE 2.0 Act’s Coverage of Long-Term, Part-Time Employees
By Jon Schultze and Barry Salkin In Notice 2024-73, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued guidance on the application of certain non-discrimination rules to long-term, part-time employees in...
401(k) Student Loan Match Perk Hindered by Employer Hesitation
401(k) Student Loan Match Perk Hindered by Employer Hesitation - Barry Salkin, Bloomberg Law, September 30, 2024 (PDF)
Inferences and Specificity in Committee Meetings
Inferences and Specificity in Committee Meetings - Marcia Wagner and Barry Salkin, 401(k) Advisor, September 2024
Directed Trustees
Directed Trustees - Barry Salkin, Wolters Kluwer Benefits Law Journal, Vol. 37, No. 3, Autumn 2024
Code Section 1042 Transaction Gone Awry
It is often the case under the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) that adherence to procedural rules is crucial to secure tax benefits. Failure to meet these procedural conditions can result in...
IRS Issues Interim Guidance on Matching Contributions Made on Account of Qualified Student Loan Repayments
Starting in 2024, Section 110 of the SECURE 2.0 Act allows employers to make matching contributions to Section 401(k), 403(b) and governmental 457(b) plans, and SIMPLE IRAs (which have analogous but...
A New “One Percent” Tax Issue – Proposed IRS Regulations on the Excise Tax on Stock Repurchases
The Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), in an April 2024 follow-up to IRS Notice 2023-2, issued proposed regulations dealing with the one-percent excise...
Retirement Security Rule Stayed
Last week was not a good week for the Department of Labor (“DOL”) in Texas. On July 25, the District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, in a civil action filed by the Federation of Americans...
Undue Influence Claims Under ERISA
Undue Influence Claims Under ERISA - Barry Salkin, Benefits Law Journal, Volume 37, No. 2, Summer 2024
Mutual Mistake Under ERISA
Mutual Mistake Under ERISA - Barry Salkin, Benefits Law Journal, Vol. 37, No. 1, Spring 2024
Exhaustion – NYU Review of Employee Benefits
Exhaustion - Barry Salkin, NYU Review of Employee Benefits, October 2023
Dewan and Beyond – The Creation, Codification, and Implementation of QDROs 2024
Dewan and Beyond – The Creation, Codification, and Implementation of QDROs 2024 – Regina Mandl, Barry Salkin, Ari Sonneberg and Marcia Wagner, panelists, Pennsylvania Bar Institute CLE webinar,...
Longstanding Internal Revenue Service Position Called into Question
By Barry Salkin, Michael Schloss and Mark Greenstein Recently, several class action lawsuits have been filed challenging the permissibility of plan language providing discretion as to how...
Developments on the ESOP Front
By Jon Schultze, Andrew Oringer and Barry Salkin Employee stock ownership plans (“ESOPs”) are retirement plans that provide employees with the opportunity to own stock of their employer. Congress...
The Retirement Security (Nee Fiduciary) Rule Rides Again
By Michael Schloss, Andrew Oringer, Barry Salkin, John Sohn and Stephen Wilkes Earlier this week, on October 31, 2023, the Department of Labor (the “Department”) rolled out its long anticipated new...
Prepare for Upcoming Changes to Defined Contribution Plans Long-Term, Part-Time Employees
The SECURE Act of 2019 (the “2019 Act”) and the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (the “2022 Act”) made many significant changes to retirement plans and how they operate. Several provisions became effective...
ERISA Section 3(21)(A) and Discretion
ERISA Section 3(21)(A) and Discretion - Barry Salkin, Benefits Law Journal, Vol. 36 No. 3, Autumn 2023 (PDF)
IRS Delays Roth Catch-up Contribution Change to Defined Contribution Plans
By John Schultze and Barry Salkin One of the changes made by the SECURE 2.0 Act requires that catch-up contributions made by employees with FICA compensation from an employer sponsoring a 401(k),...
IRS Issues Guidance on Taxation of Restricted Stock Units to Employees Working in United States and Abroad
By Barry Salkin In a global economy, it will frequently be the case that employees of multinational organizations will be employed in both the United States and abroad. In Chief Counsel Advice...
Departments Consider Potential Safe Harbor for Nonquantitative Treatment Limitations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act Regarding Network Adequacy
By Dannae Delano, Roberta Casper Watson and Barry Salkin On July 25, the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the “Departments”) issued proposed regulations and other...
CMS Recommends Extension of Special Enrollment for Individuals Losing Medicaid and CHIP
By Roberta Watson, Dannae Delano and Barry Salkin Employers frequently provide group health plan coverage for their employees through pre-tax contributions to a cafeteria plan. Elections under a...
Departments Issue Guidance on No Surprises Act and Limitations on Cost Sharing Under the Affordable Care Act
By Dannae Delano, Roberta Watson and Barry Salkin In FAQ Part 60, the Departments of Health and Human Service, Treasury, and Labor (the “Departments”) addressed limitations on cost sharing under the...
IRS Issues Transitional Guidance for Required Minimum Distributions
By Jon Schultze and Barry Salkin In response to changes made by the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0) to the required minimum distribution (“RMD”) rules of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”),...
Departments Propose Regulations on Short-Term Limited Duration Insurance and Indemnity Insurance Excepted Benefits
By Dannae Delano, Roberta Casper Watson and Barry Salkin On July 7, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury (the “Departments”) issued proposed regulations modifying the...
Significant Changes Made to IRS Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System
By Dannae Delano, Seth Gaudreau and Barry Salkin The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, Division T of Public Law No. 117-328 (“the Act”) includes dozens of provisions that affect retirement plans and...
Massachusetts Division of Insurance Provides Special Enrollment Period for Loss of COBRA Coverage
By Dannae Delano, Barry Salkin and Roberta Casper Watson As we have previously described in client alerts, the end of the National Emergency and the cessation of the outbreak period on July 10,...
Code Section 457(f) Conundrum: How to Handle Past Year Mistakes (from Vesting)
Code Section 457(f) Conundrum: How to Handle Past Year Mistakes (from Vesting) - Mark Poerio and Barry Salkin, LexisNexis Practical Guidance, March 31, 2023
Agencies Issue Guidance Regarding Effect of the End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) and National Emergency (NE) on Benefits
By Barry Salkin, Dannae Delano and Roberta Casper Watson On January 31, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared that a nationwide public health emergency (PHE) had existed...
The Duty of Impartiality
The Duty of Impartiality - Bary Salkin, author, Benefits Law Journal, Vol 36, No. 1, Spring 2023
IRS Issues Guidance on Nonfungible Tokens (“NFTs”) in IRAs and Tax-Qualified Individual Account Plans
By Barry Salkin and Jon Schultze Unlike ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) places almost no restrictions on the manner in which plan assets of individual retirement plans or tax-qualified...
IRS Issues Proposed Regulations Regarding Use of Forfeitures in Tax-Qualified Plans
By Jon Schultze and Barry Salkin Some of the IRS regulations dealing with tax-qualified plans predate ERISA and subsequent federal tax legislation, and have become outdated. However, sometimes it...
SECURE Act 2.0 Modification to Controlled Group and Affiliated Service Group Requirements
By Jon Schultze and Barry Salkin One of the less-discussed provisions of the recently enacted SECURE Act 2.0 makes two changes to the “family attribution” rules under Section 414 of the Internal...
Departments Issue Guidance Requiring First Annual “Gag” Attestation by December 31, 2023
By Dannae Delano, Roberta Casper Watson and Barry Salkin The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (“CAA”) is the most significant compliance challenge for employer health plan sponsors since the...
District Court Once Again Invalidates No Surprises Act Regulations
By Roberta Casper Watson, Dannae Delano and Barry Salkin The No Surprises Act directs the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the “Departments”) to establish a Federal...
Employee Benefit Plans
Employee Benefits Plans - Barry Salkin, contributing author, Start-Up & Emerging Companies: Planning, Financing & Operating the Successful Business, ALM
Secure Act 2.0 Litany of Retirement Change Presents Employers Enhanced Retirement Opportunities for Employees
Secure Act 2.0 Litany of Retirement Change Presents Employers Enhanced Retirement Opportunities for Employee - Marcia Wagner, Dannae Delano, Alexander Olsen, Kim Shaw Elliott and Barry Salkin,...
Who’s Liable When a Plan Participant is a Victim of Identity Theft
By Jordan Mamorsky and Barry Salkin Because of the scarcity of case law and regulatory guidance on the issues, any case that analyzes the liability of ERISA plan sponsors and service providers...
Proposed IRS Regulations Would Make Permanent the Availability of Remote Spousal Consent Elections
By Barry Salkin Longstanding Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) regulations with respect to spousal consent to a waiver of benefits require an election to be witnessed in the physical presence of a...
Congress Enacts Respect for Marriage Act
By, Barry Salkin, Roberta Watson and Jon Schultze n the ordinary course, we would not be advising clients that a statute that a Supreme Court held unconstitutional nine years ago was being removed...
First Circuit Illustrates the Importance of the Fiduciary Responsibilities of Health and Welfare Plan Sponsors and Severance Providers Under ERISA
First Circuit Illustrates the Importance of the Fiduciary Responsibilities of Health and Welfare Plan Sponsors and Severance Providers Under ERISA - Dannae Delano, Barry Salkin and Roberta Casper...
Superseding Cause Under ERISA
Superseding Cause Under ERISA - Barry Salkin, Benefits Law Journal, Vol. 35, No. 4, Winter 2022
Department of Labor Proposes Updates to the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program
In 2002, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) of the Department of Labor (“DOL”) established the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (“VFCP”), a free program designed to...
IRS Announces Expansion of Change in Status Rules for Cafeteria Plans
One of the basic rules under which cafeteria plans operate is that elections are irrevocable except in certain limited circumstances. Further, even when those limited circumstances apply, the change...
IRS to Permit Determination Letters in Limited Circumstances for Individually Designed Code Section 403(b) Plans
Historically, an important element of compliance for tax-qualified plans under Code Section 401(a) or 403(a) was the submission of a request for a favorable determination letter on the form of the...
Arbitration of ERISA Plan Disputes
Arbitration of ERISA Plan Disputes - Jordan Mamorsky and Barry Salkin, Lexis Nexis Practical Guidance® Practice Note, November 2022
Recent Successful Challenges to IRS Actions and Positions
Recent Successful Challenges to IRS Actions and Positions - Barry Salkin, New York University 2022 Review of Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation
IRS Issues Important Guidance with respect to Required Minimum Distribution Regulations
By Jon Schultze and Barry Salkin The SECURE Act made significant revisions to the required minimum distribution rules under Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) Section 401(a)(9) that apply to defined...
Agencies Request for Comments on Issues Related to New Disclosures Under the No Surprises Act Indicate the Importance of Informing Marginalized Populations and Maintaining Privacy of Advance Health Care Information
By Roberta Casper Watson, Dannae Delano and Barry Salkin It should come as no surprise that most Americans do not have the information available to them that is necessary to make informed decisions...
Department of Labor Updates Guidance on Independence of Qualified Plan Accountants
Plan sponsors of large employee benefit pension plans are familiar with the requirement of audited financial statements for annual reporting purposes. That requirement is discussed in the DOL’s...
Some Nonfiduciary Liabilty Issues After Harris Trust
Some Nonfiduciary Liabilty Issues After Harris Trust - Barry Salkin, Bloomberg Tax, Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal, September 2022
Fiduciary Risk Management and Liability-Driven 401(k) Plan Design
Fiduciary Risk Management and Liability-Driven 401(k) Plan Design - Marcia Wagner and Barry Salkin, InvestSense, August 28, 2022 (PDF)
No Surprises in Agencies’ Reproposal of Independent Dispute Resolution Regulations on No Surprise Act Billing Arbitration
By Danae Delano, Roberta Watson and Barry Salkin Last November, we published a law alert regarding the first two rounds of regulatory guidance on the No Surprise Billing portion of the Consolidated...
HHS Again Proposes Nondiscrimination Regulations under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act
By Dannae Delano, Roberta Casper Watson and Barry Salkin Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability...
Department of Labor (“DOL”) Proposes to “Update” QPAM Exemption
One of the most frequently used of the prohibited transaction class exemptions is Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14, which provides an exemption for Qualified Plan Asset Managers (the...
Mandated Benefits: 2022 Compliance Guide Mid-Year Update
Mandated Benefits: 2022 Compliance Guide Mid-Year Update – Katherine Brustowicz, Dannae Delano, David Gabor, Virginia Peabody, Barry Salkin, Marcia Wagner and Roberta Casper Watson, Wolters Kluwer,...
Required Minimum Distribution Modifications Applicable to Defined Benefit Plans as Well
While most of the attention was on how the IRS’s proposed regulation would address tax-qualified defined contribution plans and IRAs, the IRS also took the opportunity to update the existing...
Accident and the Presumption Against Suicide Under ERISA; Benefits Law Journal
Accident and the Presumption Against Suicide Under ERISA - Barry Salkin, Benefits Law Journal, Summer 2022, Vol. 35, No. 2 (PDF)
Work Product in ERISA Context
Work Product in ERISA Context – Barry Salkin, Benefits Law Journal, Spring 2022, Vol. 35, No. 1 (PDF)
Are Brokerage Windows an Effective Way of Limiting Fiduciary Risk After Hughes v. Northwestern?
In Hughes v. Northwestern University, 142 S.Ct. 737 (January 24, 2022), the Supreme Court held that fiduciaries to self-directed defined contribution retirement savings plans are responsible for...
Would A Brokerage Window Limit An ERISA Plan’s Fiduciary Risk?
Would A Brokerage Window Limit An ERISA Plan’s Fiduciary Risk? – Barry Salkin and Mark Greenstein, Financial Advisor Mag, May 4, 2022 (PDF)
Plain, Ordinary Meaning v. Literal Meaning
Plain, Ordinary Meaning v. Literal Meaning – Barry Salkin, Journal of Deferred Compensation and Benefits: Nonqualified Plans and Deferred Compensation, Vol. 27, n0. 3, Spring 2022 (PDF)
Longstanding IRS Administrative Practice Invalidated
When agencies take controversial regulatory actions, it can be anticipated that those actions will be challenged in federal district courts as soon as they become operative, if not before. In other...
IRS Issues Proposed Regulations for Required Minimum Distributions Under the SECURE Act
The SECURE Act (the “Act”) made two major changes to the required minimum distribution rules under Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) Section 401(a)(9): it extended the required beginning date for...
IRS Issues Proposed Regulation to Give SECURE Act MEPS “Bad Apple” Relief
On March 28, 2022, the IRS issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to add a new section - 26 CFR section 1.413-3 Special Rules for Section 413(e) Plans - to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). 87...
Alternative Investments in Participant Directed Individual Account Plans: The Treatment of Private Equity Sleeves
Alternative Investments in Participant Directed Individual Account Plans: The Treatment of Private Equity Sleeves - Co-author, Bloomberg Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal, 50 CPJ Issue...
Alternative Investments in Participant Directed Individual Account Plans: The Treatment of Private Equity Sleeves
Alternative Investments in Participant Directed Individual Account Plans: The Treatment of Private Equity Sleeves – Marcia Wagner and Barry Salkin, Bloomberg Tax Management Compensation Planning...
DOL “Clarifies” Guidance on Private Equity Investments In Defined Contribution Plans
It has been a frequently stated observation that the policy position of the Department of Labor (“DOL”) on pension issues may vary a bit with the party occupying the White House. A recently issued...
Caution Clients Against IRA Asset Class Mistakes
Caution Clients Against IRA Asset Class Mistakes – Barry Salkin, PLANADVISER, February, 1, 2022 (PDF)
The Wagner Law Group Now Has 11 Fellows of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel – A Nationwide High
We are very proud to share that our firm now includes 11 Fellows of the prestigious American College of Employee Benefits Counsel. Fellows of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel...
Department of Labor Announces Temporary Enforcement Policy for Group Health Plan Service Provider Disclosures
By Roberta Casper Watson, Dannae Delano and Barry Salkin The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“CAA”) amended Section 408(b)(2) of ERISA to require that providers of brokerage services or...
HHS Reaffirms That Discrimination on Basis of Sex Under ACA Section 1557 Includes Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
By Roberta Casper Watson, Dannae Delano and Barry Salkin New guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) affirms that Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”), by...
Agencies Issue Interim Final Regulations on Prescription Drug and Health Care Spending Data Submission by Group Health Plans and Health Insurance Issuers
Section 204 of Title II of Division BB (“Section 204”) the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”) requires group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group health insurance...
IRS Proposes Delayed Effective Dates for Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) Filing Requirements
The IRS has, in years past, extended deadlines for employer and group health plan ACA reporting. The IRS will not issue extended deadlines for 2021 reporting due in the first quarter of 2022. In...
Agencies Issue Two Rounds of No Surprise Billing Guidance
By Roberta Casper Watson, Dannae Delano and Barry Salkin The No Surprises Act (“Act”), part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, enhances the ACA’s consumer protections by prohibiting...
Misuse of Participant Confidential Data
As we explained in our recent Law Alert, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) has become highly focused on the cybersecurity practices of plan sponsors and their service providers and has begun asking...
Some Additional Standing Issues Under ERISA
Liability-Driven Investing and Other De-risking Strategies for Pension Plans
View Printable PDF This practice note discusses defined benefit plan de-risking techniques that defined benefit plan sponsors can use to manage the volatility inherent in defined benefit plan...
IRS Issues Guidance on Qualified Birth or Adoption Distributions
View Printable PDF By Barry Salkin and Livia Quan Aber In 2020, most of the IRS guidance with respect to employee benefit plans has addressed issues arising under the CARES Act, but in recently...
Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 Passes Senate
by Barry Salkin, Roberta Casper Watson and Livia Quan Aber The Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”), which was enacted as part of the CARES Act, allows businesses to borrow funds that are guaranteed...
Employee Retention Tax Credit Under the CARES Act
by Barry Salkin, Roberta Casper Watson and Livia Quan Aber The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “FFCRA”) established tax credits under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and the Emergency...
Planning in the Age of a Pandemic: Estate Planning and CARES Act Considerations
Planning in the Age of a Pandemic: Estate Planning and CARES Act Considerations – Regina Mandl and Barry Salkin, The Wagner Law Group Free Webinar, May 6, 2020, 2:00 PM (ET) –Recording available...
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act Updated to Include Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act Provisions
by Roberta Watson, Barry Salkin and Virginia Peabody This Law Alert serves as an update to the Law Alert sent out on March 19, 2020 concerning the paid leave and group health plan provisions of The...
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act
by Roberta Watson, Barry Salkin and Virginia Peabody Effective no later than April 2, 2020, the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (the “Sick Leave Act”) and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave...
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; The New Federal Divorce Law
This article, authored by Regina Mandl, Esq. and quoting Barry Salkin, Esq., was published in the February 26, 2018 issue of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. I never have had a client who has said that...