Defined benefit plan

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a new Publication 15-B, Employer’s Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits, for use in 2026.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released Instructions for Form 8915-F, Qualified Disaster Retirement Plan Distributions and Repayments.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has released a final rule updating the table for determining expected retirement ages for participants in pension plans undergoing distress or involuntary termination to reflect valuation dates falling in 2026. The rule also provides mortality assumptions for use with PBGC’s missing participants program for determination dates in 2026.

The Internal Revenue Service has posted the 2026 tax year version of Form 1042-S, Foreign Person’s U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding. Form 1042-S is used by IRA custodians, trustees, and issuers to report payments to nonresident aliens, including distributions from IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement plans. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a Major Disaster Declaration on December 19, 2025, for the following disasters.

• Kansas Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding, for the incident period July 17 - July 22, 2025.
• Montana Severe Storms and Flooding, for the period from December 10, 2025, and continuing.

The Internal Revenue Service released the 2026 Publication 15-A, Employer’s Supplemental Tax Guide (Supplement to Pub. 15, Employer’s Tax Guide). This publication, as a supplement to Publication 15, contains specialized and detailed employment tax information supplementing the basis information provided in Publication 15, including information for pensions and annuities. 

The Internal Revenue Service has released the 2026 tax year Form W-4R, Withholding Certificate for Nonperiodic Payments and Eligible Rollover Distributions.

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.