Defined contribution plan

The IRS stated in its August 6, 2021 edition of the Employee Plans newsletter that employers that adopt retirement plans during the 2021 tax year, but before their 2020 tax filing deadline (including extensions) and elect to treat the plan as effective as of the last day of the 2020 tax year, as permitted by the SECURE Act, are not required to file a Form 5500 series for the 2020 tax year.

Senator Patrick Toomey (R-PA), has re-introduced the Long-Term Care Affordability Act, legislation that would permit tax-free retirement saving distributions of up to $2,500 per year—indexed for inflation—that are used to purchase long-term care insurance. The arrangements to which the legislation applies would include qualified retirement plans, 403(a) and 403(b) plans, governmental 457(b) plans, and IRAs.

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Lauren Underwood (D-IL) have introduced the Women’s Retirement Protection Act of 2021 in their respective chambers. The legislation is intended to address what some have identified as a gap between the retirement preparedness of women compared to their male counterparts—a gap seemingly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Key provisions of the legislation are as follows.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) and six other Democratic Senators have introduced the Encouraging Americans to Save Act (EASA).

The legislation is similar to past proposals introduced by Senator Wyden and other co-sponsors and includes the following.

The Department of Labor (DOL) has provided FAQs addressing questions about the timing of implementation of pension benefit statement lifetime income illustrations under the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act. The SECURE Act requires plan sponsors of ERISA-covered plans to disclose annually a projection of a lifetime income stream that could be generated by a participant’s total accrued benefit. Implementation is to be effective for benefit statements provided more than 12 months after the DOL issued guidance.

The IRS has released a pre-publication version of proposed regulations amending rules intended to increase the filing of electronic returns in accordance with the Taxpayer First Act of 2019. Additionally, the IRS has withdrawn previously proposed regulations regarding electronic filing that were published on May 31, 2018.

The IRS has issued a news release announcing the postponement of certain tax-related deadlines for Michigan victims of severe storms, flooding, and tornadoes. The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting June 25. Individuals and households that were affected and reside in the Washtenaw and Wayne counties, as well as taxpayers with records located in the covered area needed to meet covered deadlines qualify for relief.

The IRS issued Notice 2021-40, extending guidance released under Notice 2020-42 and previously extended by Notice 2021-03, which provided temporary relief from the physical presence requirements for certain elections that are made by participants and beneficiaries in qualified retirement plans and other tax-favored retirement arrangements. The additional extension provides relief through June 30, 2022. This includes signatures of those making an election ordinarily needing to be witnessed in the physical presence of a plan representative or notary public, including spousal consent and certain forms of distribution from retirement plans.

The IRS has released final regulations regarding the mandatory 60-day postponement of deadlines for certain time-sensitive, tax-related acts in circumstances of federally declared disasters, implemented under the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020.

The IRS has issued a news release announcing the postponement of certain tax-related deadlines for Louisiana victims of severe storms and flooding. The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting May 17. The areas included in the relief are Ascension, Calcasieu, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, and Lafayette parishes.