ERISA News

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has issued a disaster declaration for severe winter storm, straight-line winds, flooding, landslides, and mudslides in Washington, for the period of November 3, 2022 – November 8, 2022.

Employers with qualified retirement plans may allow participants to take hardship distributions if they have incurred expenses and losses because of a FEMA-declared disaster, and their principal residence or place of employment at the time of the disaster is located in an area designated by FEMA as eligible for individual disaster assistance.

If the employer permits hardship distributions for expenses and losses related to a federally declared disaster, participants can check fema.gov/locations to determine if they are located in a disaster area designated for individual assistance.

The IRS may also issue relief related to this disaster for certain tax-related deadlines. Additional information can be found at irs.gov/newsroom/tax-relief-in-disaster-situations and will be announced here if such relief is granted.

The Department of Labor has published in the Federal Register several inflation-adjusted penalty amounts for certain failures associated with qualified retirement plans.

• Per day, for failure to properly file a plan annual report (Form 5500 series); penalty rises from $2,400 to $2,586
• Per day, for failure to properly provide a plan black-out notice, or notice of right to divest employer securities (each recipient being a separate failure); penalty rises from $152 to $164
• Per day, for failure to provide DOL-requested documents; penalty increases from $171 to $184 (not to exceed $1,846 per request)
• Failure to properly provide benefit statements and maintain records vis-à-vis former participants and beneficiaries; penalty rises from $33 to $36 per required statement
• Failure of a fiduciary to comply with the prohibition on certain types of distributions from defined benefit pension plans with certain liquidity shortfalls; maximum penalty rises from $18,500 to $19,933 (penalty will be the amount of any distribution, if less)

Additionally, penalty amounts for certain failures associated with group health plans have been updated as follows.

• Failure to provide the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (“SBC”); penalty rises from $1,264 to $1,362 per failure
• Failure to comply with the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), and failure to comply with disclosure requirements under Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP); penalty rises from $127 to $137 per participant, per day
• Failure to meet filing requirements for multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWA); penalty increases from $1,746 to $1,881 per day

These adjustments for 2023 are made under the authority of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act and are in effect for any of the described penalties that are assessed after January 15, 2023.

The IRS has issued Revenue Procedure (Rev. Proc.) 2023-4, which updates guidance on determination letter submission procedures. Changes from the prior year Rev. Proc. 2022-4 include the following.

• Sections 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 19, and 20 and Appendix B have been revised to provide the procedures for obtaining a determination letter with respect to a § 403(b) individually designed plan, beginning June 1, 2023. Appendix A adds user fees for these submissions.
• Sections 6.02 and 16 are revised to provide that Form 5307, Application for Determination for Adopters of Modified Nonstandardized Pre-Approved Plans, and Form 5316, Application for Group or Pooled Trust Ruling, may be submitted electronically beginning June 1, 2023, and must be submitted electronically beginning July 1, 2023, including payment of the user fee.
• Sections 3 and 31 and  Appendix A reflect the temporary suspension of the opinion letter program for prototype IRAs (Traditional, Roth and SIMPLE IRAs), SEPs (including salary reduction SEPs (SARSEPs)), and SIMPLE IRA plans.
• Section 02 of this revenue procedure reflects changes to the scope of determination letters.
• Appendix A has been modified to increase certain user fees.

A new Appendix G has been added which provides a checklist for applications for nonbank trustee approval letters.

Retirement legislation has been a welcome area of bipartisan cooperation in the U.S. Congress, marked by a history of Republican and Democratic bill co-sponsorship and support. A recent example is the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act—the SECURE Act—passed and signed into law in 2019. The SECURE Act has been hailed as the most important retirement enhancement legislation in more than a decade.

The IRS has announced the postponement of certain tax-related deadlines for victims of severe winter storms, flooding, and mudslides in California. The tax relief postpones various tax filing deadlines that began on January 8, 2023. Affected individuals and households who reside or have a business in Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Los Angeles, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Monterey, Napa, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Ventura, Yolo, and Yuba counties, as well as taxpayers with records located in the covered area that are needed to meet covered deadlines, qualify for relief.

In addition to extending certain tax filing and tax payment deadlines, the relief includes completion of many time-sensitive, tax-related acts described in IRS Revenue Procedure 2018-58 and Treasury Regulation 301.7508A-1(c)(1). Affected taxpayers with a covered deadline on or after January 8, 2023, and before May 15, 2023, will have until May 15, 2023, to complete the acts. This includes filing Form 5500 series returns that are required to be filed on or after January 8, 2023, and before May 15, 2023.

"Affected taxpayer" automatically includes any individuals who live, and businesses whose principal place of business is located, in the covered disaster area. Those who reside or have a business located outside the covered disaster area, but have been affected by the disaster, may contact the IRS to request relief.

On December 29, 2022, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (CAA 2023)—which serves to fund the federal government for a full year—was enacted. Included in CAA 2023 is a provision granting a two-year extension allowing high deductible health plans (HDHPs) to waive the deductible for telehealth and other remote care services without causing plan participants to lose the ability to contribute to a health savings account (HSA). The two-year extension is in effect January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2024.

Highlights regarding the extension are as follows:

• Telehealth services do not need to be preventive or related to COVID-19 to qualify for the relief;
• An employer is not required to waive the deductible for telehealth services;
• The relief applies on a monthly basis rather than a plan year basis. As a result, non-calendar year HDHPs that provide first dollar coverage for telehealth services must modify their plan design mid-year effective January 1, 2025;
• Employers who offer a fully-insured HDHP should contact their insurance carrier to confirm the insurer will continue to provide first dollar coverage for telehealth services; and
• Employers who will continue to waive the deductible for telehealth services should communicate this extension to individuals covered under a HDHP.

Yesterday, President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 into law, which included the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. As previously announced, both the Senate and the House approved the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, last week.

The IRS has released a proposed rule titled Use of an Electronic Medium to Make Participant Elections and Spousal Consents. The proposed regulation provides an alternative to in-person witnessing of spousal consents required to be witnessed by a notary public or a plan representative and clarifies that certain special rules for the use of an electronic medium for participant elections also apply to spousal consents.

The regulation is proposed to apply beginning on the date that is six months after publication of the Treasury decision adopting these rules as a final regulation in the Federal Register. However, taxpayers may immediately rely on the proposed rule. This guidance comes as previous temporary relief from the physical presence requirements expires at the end of the year.

Under the proposal, a plan may accept a spousal consent witnessed remotely by a notary public provided that

• The signature of the person signing the spousal consent is witnessed by the notary public using live audio-video technology,
• Requirements related to access, authentication, review and confirmation are met,
• The remote witnessing is consistent with state law requirements that apply to the notary public

The proposed rule also sets forth remote witnessing rules for spousal consents witnessed by a plan representative. A plan may accept spousal consent witnessed remotely by a plan representative, provided that

• The signature of the person signing is witnessed using live audio-video technology
• Requirements related to access, authentication, review and confirmation are met, and
• The remote witnessing satisfies the following five requirements
  • The person signing the spousal consent must present a valid photo ID
  • The live audio-video conference must allow for direct interaction between the person signing and the plan representative
  • The person signing must transmit by electronic means a legible copy of the signed document directly to the plan representative on the same date that the spousal consent is signed
  • The plan representative must acknowledge that the signature has been witnessed and transmit the consent and acknowledgement back to the person signing the consent
  • A recording of the audio-video conference during which the spousal consent was signed remotely must be made and retained by the plan representative

The rule makes several other clarifications — including defining spousal consent and specifying that rules regarding use of an electronic medium for participant elections also applies to spousal consents — and modifies Example 3 in the regulation to demonstrate applicability of requirements with respect to spousal consent.

The proposal is set to be published on December 30, 2022. Comments must be made within 90 days of publication in the Federal Register.

The IRS has announced the postponement of certain tax-related deadlines for victims of severe winter storm in New York. The tax relief postpones various tax filing deadlines that began on December 23, 2022. Affected individuals and households who reside or have a business in Erie and Genessee counties, as well as taxpayers with records located in the covered area that are needed to meet covered deadlines, qualify for relief.

In addition to extending certain tax filing and tax payment deadlines, the relief includes completion of many time-sensitive, tax-related acts described in IRS Revenue Procedure 2018-58 and Treasury Regulation 301.7508A-1(c)(1). Affected taxpayers with a covered deadline on or after December 23, 2022, and before April 18, 2023, will have until April 18, 2023, to complete the acts. This includes filing Form 5500 series returns that are required to be filed on or after December 23, 2022, and before April 18, 2023.

"Affected taxpayer” automatically includes any individuals who live, and businesses whose principal place of business is located, in the covered disaster area. Those who reside or have a business located outside the covered disaster area, but have been affected by the disaster, may contact the IRS to request relief.

A final rule from the IRS titled “Electronically Filed Returns” has left The Office of Management and Budget.

The IRS released a proposed rule in July 2021 regarding electronic filing requirements for certain information returns, pursuant to the Taxpayer First Act of 2019. The proposed regulations reduce the threshold above which filers must electronically file from 250 to 100 returns for the 2022 calendar year. For filings required after calendar year 2022, the threshold would be further reduced to 10 returns.

A February 2022 publication of the 2022 tax year General Instructions for Certain Information Returns (Forms 1096, 1097, 1098, 1099, 3921, 3922, 5498, and W-2G) released by the IRS indicates its intent to issue regulations that reduce the 250-return requirement for 2022 tax returns, and that if final regulations are issued and effective for 2022 tax returns required to be filed in 2023, IRS will provide further communication regarding the change. Until final regulations are issued, however, the number remains at 250, as reflected in these instructions.