Headlines about "SEPs"

Gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com.
[Official Guidance] 'Retirement News for Employers', Fall 2011 Edition, Published by IRS
Articles include: Paying Retirement Plan Benefits; Maximize Your Retirement Savings in 2012 [through salary deferral contributions]; SEPs and SIMPLEs; Disaster Relief for Retirement Plans and IRAs; Exam Director Discusses Priorities For The Current Fiscal Year. (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

Best Retirement Plans for the Self-Employed
"A SEP and a solo 401(k) are two good options for freelancers and people who operate a sideline business." (The Kiplinger Washington Editors)

[Guidance Overview] Updated Chart of IRS and Social Security Limits Reflects 2012 Limits
For the first time since 2009, the limitations on retirement plans and Social Security contributions have been raised. Chart shows the new limits for 2012. (Calhoun Law Group, P.C.)

[Guidance Overview] SEP Contributions Attributable to Earnings As Common Law Employee of Foreign Government Were Nondeductible Excess Contributions
"In addition to disallowing the individual's deduction for the excess SEP contribution, the court agreed that the individual must pay the appropriate excise tax." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)

Partners Can't Have Individual SEP Plans, Says IRS
"Partners or members of an LLC taxed as a partnership are considered employees for retirement plan purposes, and thus cannot have individual SEP plans, according to the IRS. Only an employer can maintain and contribute to a SEP plan for its employees." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

[Guidance Overview] EBSA Seeks Comments on Alternative Method of Compliance for Certain SEPs
"The regulation is intended to relieve sponsors of non-model SEPs from ERISA's Title I reporting and disclosure requirements by prescribing an alternative method of compliance." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

[Official Guidance] EBSA Notice of Proposed Extension of Information Collection Request Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations; Alternative Method of Compliance for Certain SEPs
"Currently, the [EBSA] is soliciting comments on the proposed extension of the collection of information included in the alternative method of compliance for certain simplified employee pensions regulation . . . ." (U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)

IRS Advisory Committee Invites Service-Providers to Small Business Retirement Plans to Answer Survey by Year-End
Excerpt: "This [anonymous] survey is not being carried out or conducted by the IRS, but by the volunteer members of the ACT who advise the IRS on employee benefits issues. It is for informational purposes only and will assist the ACT in making recommendations to the IRS about how it may enhance its relationship with small employers and the compliance efforts of their retirement plans." (IRS Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities)

IRS Advisory Committee Invites Small Business Retirement Plan Sponsors to Answer Survey by Year-End
Excerpt: "This [anonymous] survey is not being carried out or conducted by the IRS, but by the volunteer members of the [Advisory Committee] who advise the IRS on employee benefits issues. It is for informational purposes only and will assist the ACT in making recommendations to the IRS about how it may enhance its relationship with smalls that maintain employer retirement plans." (IRS Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities)

[Guidance Overview] IRS announces 2011 limits on contributions and benefits
The limits were not increased for 2011 over the 2010 limits. Chart shows limits from 1996 through 2011. (Calhoun Law Group, P.C.)

Did You Know the IRS Publishes Transcripts of Many of Its Online Phone Forums for EB Practitioners?
Some of the previous phone forums include links to audio recordings and a copy of the 'handout' in addition to a transcript! Three cheers for the folks at IRS Employee Plans. (Internal Revenue Service)

[Official Guidance] IRS 'SEP Plan Pitfalls' Phone Forum Is Today at 2 p.m. Eastern Time
Excerpt: "Join Mikio Thomas from Employee Plans Customer Education and Outreach and Avaneesh Bhagat from Employee Plans Voluntary Compliance for this 90-minute presentation where you will learn how to use the IRS SEP Plan Fix-It Guide to identify and correct mistakes the IRS frequently sees in SEP plans. In addition, the IRS will provide tips you can share with your clients on how they can avoid these errors in the future." (Internal Revenue Service)

[Guidance Overview] Book Excerpt: Contingent Workers & Employee Benefits (PDF)
57 pages. Excerpt: "This chapter discusses how the courts have dealt with the Code and ERISA in ascertaining: whether and under what circumstances contingent workers have been found eligible to participate in a service recipient's benefit plans; and whether a service recipient is in fact the actual employer in cases where the contingent worker was employed by a [Professional Employer Organization]." (Daniel N. Janich, Esq. of Greensfelder law firm; from BNA's book, 'ERISA Litigation,' copyright 2008)

[Guidance Overview] Chart of 415, Etc., Limits Updated for News Release IR-2009-94
The chart of maximum limits subject to inflation indexing at Carol V. Calhoun's employee benefits site has now been amended to include the newly announced 2010 limits. Among other things, the chart shows limits under sections 415, 403(b), 401(k), and 457, as well as the Social Security wage base and Social Security and Medicare tax rates, for 1996-2010. (Calhoun Law Group, P.C.)

Simplified Pension Plan Lets Money Go in and Out at the Same Time
Excerpt: "Unlike the rules for traditional individual retirement accounts, you receive a real break here for your self-employed status in your simplified employee pension plan, said Ed Slott, an IRA expert who has a Web site at www.irahelp.com. You can keep contributing even though you are required to withdraw, he said. 'It's a quirky thing. With traditional IRAs, contributions have to stop once you start taking required withdrawals,' Slott said. 'But with self-employed plans, there's no end as long as you have earnings from the business.'" (Chicago Tribune)

[Guidance Overview] Chart of 415, Etc., Limits Updated for News Release IR-2008-118
The chart of maximum limits subject to inflation indexing at Carol V. Calhoun's employee benefits site has now been amended to include the newly announced 2009 limits. Among other things, the chart shows limits under sections 415, 403(b), 401(k), and 457, as well as the Social Security wage base and Social Security and Medicare tax rates, for 1996-2009. (Calhoun Law Group, P.C.)

Small Businesses Face Deadlines for SEPs, SIMPLEs
Excerpt: "Small business owners who are thinking about setting up retirement plans for their employees should be aware that there are two important deadlines coming up in October that affect the plans known as SIMPLEs and SEPs." (USA TODAY)

[Guidance Overview] Employee Plans' Examinations of Salary Reduction SEPs (SARSEPs) Have Revealed Error Trends
Excerpt: "The IRS advises plan sponsors to perform diligent reviews of their SARSEP plans in order to avoid these errors. Because SARSEPs were grandfathered in 1996 by the Small Business Job Protection Act, plans in existence prior to 1997 may continue, but no new SARSEPs could be established after December 31, 1996. Currently, there are an estimated 30,000 SARSEPs, according to the IRS." (Wolters Kluwer)

[Official Guidance] Aug. 14 Special Edition of IRS Employee Plans News: Announcing Rev. Proc. 2008-50, Including Survey to Practitioners (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "[The] Self-Correction Program . . . has been expanded with respect to employers who discover failures in their plans and have begun the correction process. The time by which a plan sponsor substantially corrects a significant operational failure, and is thereby entitled to use SCP, has been liberalized . . . . [Excess annual additions in DC plans under section 415] will be corrected in accordance with the provisions of this revenue procedure . . . . Streamlined Voluntary Correction Program Application Procedures . . . have been significantly expanded to include the following failures: . . . " (Internal Revenue Service)

[Official Guidance] Text of Rev. Proc. 2008-50: Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, Updating and Expanding Rev. Proc. 2006-27 (PDF)
179 pages; the document's table of contents does not include page numbers, but it is the version released to the public today. See pages 8 through 10 for a summary of the modifications being made to the previous version of EPCRS (Rev. Proc. 2006-27). Excerpt: "This revenue procedure updates the comprehensive system of correction programs for sponsors of retirement plans that are intended to satisfy the requirements of § 401(a), 403(a), 403(b), 408(k), or 408(p) . . . but that have not met these requirements for a period of time. . . . This revenue procedure modifies and supersedes Rev. Proc. 2006-27." (Internal Revenue Service)

[Guidance Overview] SEP Fix-It Guide Available from the IRS (PDF)
14 pages. Excerpt: "Tips on how to find, fix, and avoid common mistakes in SEP plans." (Internal Revenue Service)

[Guidance Overview] Taxpayer Required to Include SEP Distribution in Gross Income, According to Tax Court
Excerpt: "A taxpayer was required to include in his gross income a $25,000 distribution from his individual retirement account-based simplified employee pension (SEP) that the taxpayer failed to roll over to another IRA. In addition, the taxpayer was liable for the IRC Sec. 72(t) 10% additional tax on premature distributions. These were the conclusions of the U.S. Tax Court in Atkin v. Commissioner (Docket No. 5266-05. T.C. Memo. 2008-93)." (Wolters Kluwer)

Establishing an IRA for Simplified Employee Pension Contributions
Excerpt: "An employer must make its SEP plan contributions to each eligible employee's traditional IRA, which may be referred to as a SEP IRA in this case. A SEP contribution may not be made to a Roth IRA." (Wolters Kluwer)

[Opinion] The Payroll IRA Plan of S. 1141 and H.R. 2167: It's PIP – Or Is It?
Excerpt: "An idea that has been wafting about in legislative halls and hearing rooms, in print and electronic media, and in assorted other venues for several years is to make employers in small businesses set up a payroll deduction facility for their employees not covered by employer-sponsored retirement plans, for the purpose of easing the making of contributions to an IRA established by or on behalf of the employee. . . . The PIP is more than just an idea. It has been embodied in several federal legislative proposals . . . . H.R. 2167 was one of the main topics discussed at a recent hearing on IRAs by the Ways & Means Committee's subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, which has moved the legislation into the spotlight." (Alvin D. Lurie, Esq.)

[Guidance Overview] Tax Court Case Upholding IRS's Disallowance of Deductions for Contributions to Faulty SEP
Excerpt: "Know how the attribution rules under Section 318 of the Internal Revenue Code can sometimes wreak havoc for employers under the controlled group provisions? The taxpayer here tried to apply his 'creative' interpretation of the attribution rules by arguing that it didn't matter that contributions were not made for the wife because the SEP contributions made on behalf of the husband should be 'attributed' to the wife. It is no surprise that the Tax Court didn't buy that argument." (Attorney B. Janell Grenier via Benefitsblog.com)

[Opinion] A Reconsideration of Tax Expenditure Analysis (PDF)
87 pages. Excerpt: "This document, prepared by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation . . . reconsiders the utility of the JCT Staff's current implementation of tax expenditure analysis. . . . Driven off track by seemingly endless debates about what should and should not be included in the 'normal' tax base, tax expenditure analysis today does not advance either of the two goals that inspired its original proponents: clarifying the aggregate size and application of government expenditures, and improving the Internal Revenue Code." (U.S. Congress, Joint Committee on Taxation)

Small Employers and SEP-IRAs Can Be a Good Match
Excerpt: "SEP-IRAs deliver retirement benefits without the higher cost and administrative burden of 401(k)s. Employers contribute to them on behalf of workers once per year, based on the performance of the company. There is no set contribution rate, unlike the standard practice of employee payroll deductions and guaranteed company matches in 401k(s). SEP-IRAs are most commonly used by small businesses owners, such as consultants, realtors, psychologists, IT contractors or physician groups." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)

Customer Has SEP IRA & SIMPLE IRA -- Can He Transfer Them into His Existing Traditional IRA?
Excerpt: "An individual may transfer his/her Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees of Small Employers (SIMPLE) IRA to a traditional IRA after two years from the initial contribution date." (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services)

Chart: Cost-of-Living Adjustments for IRAs, SEPs, Saver's Tax Credit, SARSEP, and SIMPLE Plans (PDF)
3 pages. (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services)

IRS Announces Pension Plan Limitations for 2008; 402(g) Elective Deferral Limit Still $15,500
Excerpt: "The annual compensation limit under Sections 401(a)(17), 404(l), 408(k)(3)(C), and 408(k)(6)(D)(ii) is increased from $225,000 to $230,000. The dollar limitation under Section 416(i)(1)(A)(i) concerning the definition of key employee in a top-heavy plan is increased from $145,000 to $150,000. . . . The limitation used in the definition of highly compensated employee under Section 414(q)(1)(B) is increased from $100,000 to $105,000. . . . Administrators of defined benefit or defined contribution plans that have received favorable determination letters should not request new determination letters solely because of yearly amendments to adjust maximum limitations in the plans." (Internal Revenue Service)

Please Take Survey by IRS Advisory Group: Improving the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System
Are an attorney, accountant, actuary, consultant, third-party administrator, financial services provider, or other kind of retirement plan practitioner? Please help an official IRS advisory group supply the IRS with ideas for improving the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, by completing this online survey or emailing your response to the group. The deadline is the end of next week (October 19). These recommendations will address, but not be limited to, the directive to the Secretary of the Treasury under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 to continue updating and improving EPCRS. (IRS Advisory Committee (ACT) on Tax Exempt and Government Entities)

Excellent Resource for Breaking Courts of Appeals Cases on ERISA Matters
The link we've provided for you sorts the cases by date; newest cases appear up top. Definitely one to bookmark! (FindLaw.com)

Chart: Comparative Features of Alternative Plans
SEP, Profit Sharing, Money Purchase and Defined Benefit Comparison Chart as of July 13, 2007. (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)

Saving with a SEP IRA Retirement Plan
Excerpt: "When planning for retirement, one option for some people is the SEP IRA. The SEP IRA stands for simplified Employee Pension Individual Retirement Account. This is a special type a retirement plan designed for small business and the self-employed." (Best Syndication)

BenefitsLink Named 'Best of the Web' by Human Resource Executive Online
We're the only site in the 'Benefits' category! Thanks for letting us share this news with you. Excerpt: "With that in mind, we considered it fitting to present in this anniversary issue 10 of the best HR Web sites and 10 of the best HR blogs for your browser's Favorites/Bookmarks list. . . . [I]f it's about benefits, you'll find something about it on BenefitsLink. Just a cruise down its left side navigation/links bar, and you quickly get the idea how they chose the site's name back in 1995." (Human Resource Executive Online; free registration required)

Text of April 2007 'Special Edition' of 'IRS Employee Plan News' (PDF)
2 pages; brief but useful 14-point overview of final regulations under section 415, addressing limitations on benefits or contributions under qualified and certain other retirement plans. (Internal Revenue Service)

Text of Final 415 Regs from Federal Register (Typeset, Shorter than Yesterday's Linked Version) (PDF)
55 pages. (Internal Revenue Service)

Text of Final Regs on Section 415: Limits on Benefits and Contributions Under Qualified Plans (PDF)
Yow; 210 pages. Excerpt: "This document contains final regulations under section 415 . . . , including updates to the regulations for numerous statutory changes since comprehensive final regulations were last published under section 415. The final regulations also make conforming changes to regulations under sections 401(a), 401(a)(9), 401(k), 402, 416, and 457, and make other minor corrective changes to regulations under sections 401(a)(4), 414(s), 457, and 924." (Internal Revenue Service)

New Resource: ERISA and Employee Benefits Search of the Web's Best Articles and Sites
The ERISA and Employee Benefits Search of the Web's Best Articles and Sites is our new, customized search engine specifically designed for employee benefits professionals. It's powered by Google.com, and searches only the most important, thorough and timely articles and sites that have been handpicked by the editors at BenefitsLink.com over the past 10 years. If your job involves employee benefit plan compliance, administration, design and policy, the new search engine is for you! (BenefitsLink.com)

Kutak Rock COLA Chart for 2007 Also Shows How 2008, 2009 and 2010 Figures Will Be Calculated
For each of the as-yet undetermined limitation figures, the chart prepared by the Kutak Rock law firm contains a handy brief explanation of how each particular figure will be calculated for 2008 and future years. For example, some figures are indexed in $500 increments; others in increments of $1,000 or $5,000, etc. (Kutak Rock LLP)

From Federal Register: Final Regs on Electronic Media for Benefit Notices, Elections and Consents (PDF)
12 pages. Excerpt: "These regulations generally apply to applicable notices provided, and participant elections made, on or after January 1, 2007. . . . The participant election rules in these regulations extend the use of electronic media to the notice and election rules applicable to plans that are subject to the QJSA requirements of section 417. . . . [T]heseregulations do not adopt the suggestion that spousal PINs be permitted in lieu of the physical presence requirement . . . ." (Internal Revenue Service)

The links shown above have been gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com. Each article's publisher is shown above in parentheses. Opinions expressed in each article are those of the article's publisher, not necessarily those of BenefitsLink.com, Inc. or any web site that displays these headlines in a "frame." You should contact the listed publisher for copyright information about any particular article or to inquire into the right to use the article in any manner.