The subject of taxation of employee benefits made rare headlines earlier this month when a New York grand jury indicted the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, for tax crimes relating to unreported fringe benefits. The indictment alleges that Weisselberg intentionally failed to report and pay taxes on over $1.75 million of

The IRS recently issued FAQs regarding the temporary, 100% COBRA subsidy created by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“Rescue Plan Act”).  This subsidy is available to “Assistance Eligible Individuals” for COBRA continuation coverage during the period April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021.  We previously covered developments relating to the COBRA subsidy in

As the economy and public health situation gradually move to a more hopeful phase in Connecticut, employers and HR administrators will benefit from staying on top of current legal developments and trends in employee benefits.  Let’s discuss two timely topics in employee benefits: (1) incentives for getting COVID-19 vaccines; and (2) extended time for employees

HR administrators, employers, employees, and even independent consultants are all well-advised to remember the approaching March 15th deadline for the distribution of annual bonuses and many other forms of compensation that were earned in 2020.

Ever-lurking tax traps wreaked on businesses and individuals by Section 409A of the Tax Code makes each year’s due date

We have been getting questions about the extent to which employers may encourage their employees to obtain COVID-19 vaccines when they become eligible.  There are a couple of thorny legal issues that may arise when employers offer incentives in connection with a voluntary employer-sponsored COVID-19 vaccination program.  We are aware that several large employers are

Contained within the recent Stimulus Bill is the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020. Section 214 of that Act provides flexibility for Health Flexible Spending Accounts (Health FSA) and Dependent Care Accounts (DCA).

Background

HFSAs and DCAs have certain limitations and restrictions known as the ‘use or lose’ rule, which generally provide

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that the amount employees may contribute to their 401(k) and 403(b) plans next year remains at $19,500.  The IRS announced this week its inflation adjustments for 2021, including:

  • Overall contribution limit for defined contribution plans increases from $57,000 to $58,000 (but see catch-up contributions below).
  • Catch-up contributions for

Administrators of 401(k) plans and other ERISA-covered retirement plans now have much greater freedom to electronically distribute required plan documents to participants, beneficiaries and other individuals, under final rules recently issued by the U.S. Department of Labor.  Whether employers choose to migrate to a new electronic delivery system at this point in time remains to