Defined benefit plan

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) has introduced S. 2964, the Emergency Relief for Federal Contractors Act of 2025.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued Revenue Ruling 2025-21 which contains the applicable federal rates (AFR) for November 2025.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued final regulations implementing catch-up contribution requirements introduced by the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0). These final regulations follow the proposed regulations released in January 2025, as detailed in a previous Washington Pulse.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a draft 2026 Form W-4P, Withholding Certificate for Periodic Pension or Annuity Payments. Form W-4P is used to withhold federal income tax from periodic retirement plan and IRA payments. Periodic payments are installment payments taken at regular intervals over a period of more than one year.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released draft Instructions for 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 Office of Management and Budget has received a proposed rule from the Department of Labor (DOL) titled "Requirement to Provide Paper Statements in Certain Cases-Amendments to Electronic Disclosure Safe Harbors”, pursuant to the requirements of the SECURE 2.0 Act.

The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation has issued a final rule updating interest assumptions under the asset allocation regulation for plans with valuation dates in the fourth quarter of 2025. These interest assumptions are used for valuing benefits under terminating single-employer plans. The rule is effective July 31, 2025.

The Senate has confirmed Daniel Aronowitz as Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) as part of a slate of nominees by a 51 to 47 vote. Mr. Aronowitz was nominated by President Trump on February 11, 2025.

The IRS has released a draft 2026 Form W-4R, Withholding Certificate for Nonperiodic Payments and Eligible Rollover Distributions.

Effective September 17, 2025, the prime interest rate decreased to 7.25 percent. The prime interest rate is largely determined by the federal funds rate, as set by the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).