Contributing Author: Dianne Schechter Federal law requires “qualified” plans under the Internal Revenue Code to pay retirement benefits in a special payment form unless the benefit plan participant chooses a different form and his or her spouse agrees to the choice in writing. This special paym...
Bill Cornwell and Tom Doyle lived in a brownstone in the West Village of Manhattan for more than 50 years. Cornwell was the sole owner of the four-unit apartment building. However, about ten years ago, Cornwell wrote a will leaving all of his belongings to his partner Doyle, including the brownst...
Small businesses in this country were built by hard work and dedication. Business owners have spent so much time building their companies that they may not be sure what the future will hold when they eventually have to hand the reigns to their children or grandchildren. The key to succession plan...
Commencing January 1, 2017, employees working for private-sector employers located in California that do not currently offer their employees participation in an employer-sponsored qualified retirement plan will have the opportunity to participate in the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings...
When a company is looking to hire new employees it may be a sign that the business is growing. With additional workers your company may be able to step-up production, increase sales and provide better customer service. Hiring new workers can also give you a financial bonus if you qualify for Cali...
Getting involved in your first company can be an exciting time. When talking with your partners about a new product or service it can be hard to focus on the more mundane tasks of incorporation, agreements, and contracts. However, when you encounter challenges down the road, the lack of a proper ...
The filing deadline is not until Tuesday, April 18th, 2017. However, it is not too early to start thinking about your 2016 taxes. There were a number of federal and California-state tax changes in 2016 which may impact how much you will have to pay in taxes. Tax brackets are going up and so are ...
Tax time can be stressful for everyone, especially those responsible for handling their company's business tax filing. Every year the tax code changes and taxpayers have to stay up to date with all the new rules at the state and federal level. Even after checking everything twice, your company's ...
If you elect to receive a distribution to an IRA or qualified retirement plan in the form of a rollover, the distribution must be rolled over by the 60th day after the day it is received in order to qualify for tax-free rollover treatment under the Internal Revenue Code. Absent a waiver or exten...
After turning 70½, all individuals must make required minimum distributions (RMDs) from an individual retirement account (IRA), SIMPLE IRA, or SEP IRA. The money you're required to withdraw gets added to your taxable income. Failure to take your RMD by year-end could result in excise tax of 50% o...
Creating a successful business is not easy. It takes time, money, and a lot of hard work. Running a business can be stressful, and when problems arise, business partners can turn on each other. However, when business partners are friends or family, a business disagreement can have a long-term neg...
As business owners, retiring comfortably is certainly a goal in addition to working to build and protect company assets. Saving for retirement should also be a priority for employees, and employers can assist in providing them the means to do so. For young workers, thinking about retirement savin...
Contributing Author: Dianne Schechter There are two basic types of pension plans: defined contribution plans and defined benefit plans. Defined benefit plans are premised upon a guarantee by the employer that the employee will, at retirement, receive a specific benefit determined in advance by a...
When should you begin estate planning? It is really never too early to start planning for the future. Unfortunately, most people wait too long to start making those difficult decisions. Some people never get around to planning their estate until it is too late. As a result, loved ones may be grie...
Today, many employers are faced with the difficulty of finding missing participants when terminating the employer's retirement plan. In light of this difficulty, the Retirement Protection Act of 1994 initially created the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's (PBGC) missing participant program f...
The Form 5500 (Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan) series, including all required schedules and attachments, is used to report information regarding employee benefit plans and Direct Filing Entities (DFEs). Plan administrators or sponsors are required to file Form 5500 for retirement p...
A 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan that allows employees to save or invest a part of their paycheck before taxes are taken out. Taxes on the money invested are not due and payable until the money is withdrawn from the employee's 401(k) plan account. The following are s...
The Internal Revenue Service recently lowered the fees for employers to participate in the Voluntary Correction Program (VCP). The revised fee schedule for employee plan user fees are effective February 1, 2016. The new reduced VCP submission fees are as follows: Number of Participants ...
The IRS has a long history of encouraging compliance by sponsors and administrators of qualified benefit plans with the operational and administrative requirements of the Internal Revenue Code. One of its methods of encouragement was its adoption of the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System...
Plan sponsors of defined contribution plans utilizing either a volume submitter (VS) or Master & Prototype (M&P) plan (i.e., “pre-approved plans”) may be surprised to learn that a restated (or “updated”) version of their plan document must be adopted no later than April 30, 2016. See Inte...
Plan sponsors of employee benefit plans subject to the requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) are required to annually file a Form 5500 with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The Form 5500 was developed by the DOL in cooperation with the Internal Revenue Service (IR...
To: Financial Advisors New DOL fiduciary rules make advice by a financial advisor to a participant to take a lump sum from a Qualified Plan a fiduciary matter, even if you are not the Plan's advisor. Thus—caveat emptor as: It is a fiduciary matter you can be sued over and disciplined by regu...
On October 23, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service announced cost-of-living adjustments which will be affecting dollar limitations for qualified pension plans for the 2015 tax year. Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code provides for annual dollar limitations on benefits and contributions under ...
In a recent joint press release, the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that same-sex married couples will be recognized as legally married for all federal tax purposes. The ruling applies regardless of where the couples reside so long as they were married in a juris...
CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR KRISTINE M. CUSTODIO, ADVANCED CERTIFIED PARALEGAL On August 29, 2013, the Internal Revenue Service hosted a phone forum titled, How to Prepare for an IRS Employee Plans Audit. IRS Director of Employee Plans Examinations, Monica Templeman, Esq., emphasized that strong intern...