ERISA News

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 has released 2025 Form 945, Annual Return of Withheld Federal Income Tax, and correlating instructions.

The Senate passed by unanimous consent two proposals aimed at strengthening Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) — S. 1728, the Employee Ownership Representation Act, sponsored by Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and S. 2403, the Retire Through Ownership Act, co-sponsored by Senators Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Tim Kaine (D-VA).

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 Internal Revenue Service has provided draft Instructions for Form 5498-ESA, Coverdell ESA Contribution Information, for the 2026 tax year. Form 5498-ESA is used to report Coverdell education savings account beneficiary and custodian/trustee information, tax identification and account numbers, annual contributions, and rollovers.

The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued Advisory Opinion 2025-04A, addressing how a lifetime income investment may satisfy the requirements to be a qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) in a defined contribution plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).