Regulatory and Legislative

The IRS has issued Notice 2024-63 (Notice) providing guidance under Section 110 of SECURE 2.0 regarding employer matching contributions with respect to qualified student loan payments (QSLP). The Notice addresses several matters in question-and-answer format, including the following.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has released its first yield curve issued for ERISA 4044 calculations where the valuation date is on or after July 31, 2024, and before August 31, 2024.  PBGC’s ERISA 4044 regulation provides guidance on the actuarial assumptions used to determine the present value of benefits in involuntary and distress terminations of single-employer plans (e.g., interest, mortality, retirement age), and for other purposes. PBGC will update the Interest Assumption webpage monthly to reflect future yield curves.

The IRS has issued Revenue Ruling 2024-17 which contains the applicable federal rates (AFR) for September 2024. These rates are used for such purposes as calculating distributions from retirement savings arrangements that meet the requirements for substantially equal periodic payments (a 10 percent early distribution penalty tax exception), also referred to as “72(t) payments.”

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released final regulations that revise existing rules that apply to required minimum distributions (RMDs).

Representatives Brittany Pettersen (D-CO) and Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI) introduced the Helping Young Americans Save for Retirement Act to help more Americans ages 18 to 20 years old access employer-sponsored retirement plans.

Senators Katie Britt (R-AL), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Gary Peters (D-MI), have introduced S. 4917, the Retirement Fairness for Charities and Educational Institutions Act.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued Notice 2024-55, providing guidance on two provisions permitted under the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0); emergency personal expense distributions and domestic abuse victim distributions. The notice defines these distributions and explains the restrictions associated with taking such distributions, the self-certification rules, repayment details, and withholding and notice requirements.

The IRS has announced the postponement of certain tax-related deadlines for victims of severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, landslides, and mudslides in Kentucky.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released Revenue Procedure 2024-32, setting forth procedures by which the sponsor of a defined benefit plan subject to the funding requirements of IRC Sec. 430 may request approval for the use of a plan-specific substitute mortality table.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released final regulations regarding the use of mortality experience data for the COVID-19 pandemic period that supplement the methodology for developing substitute mortality tables provided in Treasury Regulation 1.430(h)(3)-2.