ERISA News

Expanding access to retirement savings is essential for millions of workers, and Representative Richard Neal’s (D-MA) Automatic IRA Act delivers a clear path forward. Ascensus supports this common‑sense step to close coverage gaps, strengthen long‑term retirement readiness, and improve financial resilience for workers and their families.

Representative Richard Neal (D-MA), House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member, has reintroduced the Automatic IRA Act.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued Revenue Ruling 2026-02 which contains the applicable federal rates (AFR) for January 2026.

The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) jointly released the 2025 Form 5500, Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan, the 2025 Form 5500-SF, Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan, and their respective instructions and schedules. 

The Internal Revenue Service has posted draft 2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-QA and 5498-QA, Distributions From ABLE Accounts and ABLE Account Contribution Information. 

The Internal Revenue Service has released a December 2025 version of Form 8915-F, Qualified Disaster Retirement Plan Distributions and Repayments. Form 8915-F is used to report certain qualified disaster distributions and repayments of qualified disaster distributions, including 2021 and later disasters.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a Major Disaster Declaration on December 12, 2025, for Washington severe storms, straight-line winds, flooding, landslides and mudslides, for the incident period of December 9, 2025, and continuing.

President Trump has issued an Executive Order (EO) Protecting American Investors from Foreign-Owned and Politically Motivated Proxy Advisors. The order is aimed at proxy advisors that prioritize politically-motivated agendas—like “diversity, equity, and inclusion” and “environmental, social, and governance” ahead of investor returns. The EO contends that two foreign-owned proxy advisors control more than 90 percent of the proxy advisor market, constituting a significant influence on publicly traded companies.

The House of Representatives has passed the Incentivizing New Ventures and Economic Strength Through Capital Formation (INVEST) Act by a vote of 302 to 123.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued Revenue Ruling 2026-1, containing the covered compensation tables for the 2026 plan year.