IRS

December 29, 2021 – The IRS has issued a news release announcing the postponement of certain tax-related deadlines for victims of severe storms and tornados in Arkansas. The tax relief postpones various tax filing deadlines that began December 10, 2021. Affected individuals and households who reside or have a business in Craighead, Jackson, Mississippi, Poinsett, and Woodruff counties, as well as taxpayers with records located in the covered area that are needed to meet covered deadlines, qualify for relief.

December 28, 2021 – The IRS has issued a news release announcing the postponement of certain tax-related deadlines for victims of severe storms, straight-line winds, and tornados in Illinois. The tax relief postpones various tax filing deadlines that began December 10, 2021. Affected individuals and households who reside or have a business in Bond, Cass, Coles, Effingham, Fayette, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Menard, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Pike, and Shelby counties, as well as taxpayers with records located in the covered area that are needed to meet covered deadlines, qualify for relief.

December 28, 2021 – The IRS has issued a news release announcing the postponement of certain tax-related deadlines for victims of severe storms and flooding in Alabama. The tax relief postpones various tax filing deadlines that began October 6, 2021. Affected individuals and households who reside or have a business in Jefferson and Shelby counties, as well as taxpayers with records located in the covered area that are needed to meet covered deadlines, qualify for relief.

The IRS has issued Notice 2022-2, which contains updated guidance on factors used in certain defined benefit (DB) pension plan minimum funding and present value calculations. Updates include the corporate bond monthly yield curve, the corresponding spot segment rates used under Internal Revenue Code Section (IRC Sec.) 417(e)(3), and the 24-month average segment rates under IRC Sec. 430(h)(2). IRC Sec. 417 contains definitions and special rules for minimum survivor annuity requirements in DB plans. IRC Sec. 430 addresses minimum funding standards for single-employer DB plans.

The IRS has issued a news release announcing the postponement of certain tax-related deadlines for Kentucky victims of severe storms, flooding, and tornadoes. The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting December 10. The areas included in the relief are Caldwell, Fulton, Graves, Hopkins, Marshall, Muhlenberg, Taylor, and Warren counties.

On November 19, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5376, the Build Back Better Act ("BBB Act" or "the Act"). Following quickly on the heels of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the BBB Act contains several retirement and benefits provisions that may affect financial organizations, service providers, and consumers. This bill has gone through numerous revisions as it made its journey to the House floor for a vote. It will now go to the Senate, which will likely make further revisions. So the Act’s final version—if passed by both the House and Senate—may be different from the current version.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (the Act), signed by President Biden on November 15, 2021, includes extensions to the single employer pension funding relief originally provided in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). Other provisions include modifications to the mandatory 60-day postponement period, which grants relief to taxpayers for certain tax-related acts due to federally declared disasters and new reporting requirements for transactions involving digital assets. The effective dates vary—pension funding relief provisions apply to plan years beginning after December 31, 2021; the disaster relief changes are effective for federally declared disasters that occur after November 15, 2021; and the new reporting requirements for digital assets apply to information reports required to be filed after December 31, 2023.

The IRS has issued a fourth draft of the 2022 Form W-4P, Withholding Certificate for Periodic Pension or Annuity Payments. In it, the IRS indicates that while final versions of the redesigned Form W-4P and Form W-4R will be released for 2022, based on comments received on prior drafts from stakeholders, the IRS will postpone requirements to begin using the redesigned forms until January 1, 2023. Payors should update their system programming for these new forms but may otherwise continue to use the 2021 Form W-4P.

The IRS has issued its initial 2021-2022 Priority Guidance Plan, in which it describes guidance projects in the current fiscal year. Many items in the plan have appeared in prior years’ Priority Guidance Plans.

The IRS has released Revenue Procedure 2021-37, providing procedures for the issuance of opinion letters and the timing requirements of remedial amendment periods for Cycle 2 approvals of 403(b) plans. The guidance aligns the 403(b) pre-approval process with the 401(a) process in several ways.