irs guidance

The IRS has issued Notice 2020-51, providing additional guidance on the 2020 suspension of RMDs that generally must be taken annually by IRA owners, retirement plan participants, and beneficiaries. 

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020, signed into law by President Trump on March 27, 2020, suspended for the 2020 tax year the general requirement that annual distributions must be taken from tax-favored retirement plans and IRAs when an account owner reaches RMD age, or annually by some account beneficiaries. The timing was problematic for some, who—before the CARES Act enactment—had already in 2020 taken distributions they believed to be required, but under the waiver are not. 

Among the details provided in Notice 2020-51 are the following.

• Extends the normal 60-day rollover period to permit repayments through August 31, 2020, of waived 2020 RMD amounts
• Allows repayments without regard to the one-per-12-month rollover limitation
• Permits repayment by nonspouse beneficiaries of waived 2020 required distributions—these repayments will not violate the statutory prohibition on nonspouse indirect (60-day) rollovers
• Provides a sample plan amendment for defined contribution plans
• Includes a 12-item question-and-answer section related to the 2020 RMD waiver 

The IRS has issued Notice 2020-50, providing additional guidance on several aspects of the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, legislation enacted in March of this year in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

A “qualified individual” who has experienced health or financial effects from the COVID-19 pandemic is eligible for certain retirement plan distribution, penalty exemption, plan loan and loan repayment, taxation, and repayment benefits.

Qualified Individual Further Defined

Initial guidance defines a “qualified individual” as

• an individual (or the spouse or dependent of the individual) who is diagnosed with the COVID-19 disease or the SARS-CoV-2 virus in an approved test; or
• an individual who experiences adverse financial consequences as a result of being quarantined, being furloughed or laid off or having work hours reduced due to such virus or disease, being unable to work due to lack of child care due to such virus or disease, closing or reduced hours of a business owned or operated by the individual due to such virus or disease, or other factors as determined by the Treasury Secretary.

Notice 2020-50 adds new circumstances to the definition of “qualified individual.”

• An individual who has experienced a reduction in pay (or self-employment income) due to COVID-19, or has had a job offer rescinded or a start date for a job delayed due to COVID-19.
• A person whose spouse or a member of her household has
  • been quarantined, furloughed or laid off, or had work hours reduced due to COVID-19;
  • been unable to work because of a lack of childcare due to COVID-19,
  • had a reduction in pay (or self-employment income) due to COVID-19; or
  • had a job offer rescinded or a start date for a job delayed due to COVID-19.
• A person whose spouse or a member of her household has experienced the closing or a reduction of hours of their business due to COVID-19.

For purposes of applying these additional factors, a member of the individual’s household is someone who shares the individual’s principal residence.

CARES Act Loans

Notice 2020-50 provides examples of how to apply the special plan loan provisions of the CARES Act, and includes a safe harbor method. In addition, the Treasury Department and IRS recognize that there may be additional reasonable ways to administer loan repayments under the CARES Act.

This guidance is being further analyzed, and additional details will be shared.

On May 28, 2020, the IRS issued limited additional relief that extends deadlines for certain time-sensitive actions related to tax-advantaged savings arrangements. Most awaited was an extension for providing information returns for IRAs, health savings accounts (HSAs), Archer medical savings accounts (MSAs), and Coverdell education savings accounts (ESAs). These information returns are Form 5498, IRA Contribution Information, Form 5498-SA, HSA, Archer MSA, or Medicare Advantage MSA Information, and Form 5498- ESA, Coverdell ESA Contribution Information.

Deadlines for providing these information returns to the IRS and to account owners had previously been extended by IRS Notice 2020-23 through July 15, 2020, in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The deadline for annual contributions to these accounts was also extended to July 15, 2020. This presented custodial organizations and service providers to these accounts with the dilemma of reporting contributions that could be received as late as the deadline for their reporting.

Notice 2020-35 now provides a six-week window after the July 15, 2020, contribution deadlines in which organizations can prepare and provide these information returns to the IRS and to account owners.

Other Deadlines Not Extended

Notice 2020-23 extended many other deadlines to July 15, 2020, including completing rollovers, making retirement plan loan payments, filing Form 5500, Annual Return, Report of Employee Benefit Plan, as well as numerous others. These deadlines are not extended by the latest guidance in Notice 2020-35.

Extensions Granted by Notice 2020-35

The following are among the limited number of deadlines extended by Notice 2020-35.

• Providing Form 5498-series information returns for IRAs, ESAs, HSAs, and MSAs. (Providing these information returns after August, 31, 2020, will be subject to IRS penalty, which will be calculated from September 1, 2020, through the date the information returns are actually provided.)
• Close of the 403(b) plan remedial amendment period remains at June 30, 2020, this guidance making official an earlier IRS website announcement.
• Adoption by a defined benefit pension plan of a pre-approved plan document, filing a request for a determination letter under the second six-year cycle, or certain other actions with respect to disqualifying provisions have a deadline of July 31, 2020.

Notice 2020-35 also extends to July 15, 2020 (not August 31), several items not previously granted extensions. These include the following.

• Application for a funding waiver by a defined benefit pension plan that is not a multi-employer (union) plan.
• Filing IRS Form 5330, Return of Excise Taxes Related to Employee Benefit Plans, and paying these excise taxes.

During the last few months, the Department of Labor (DOL), Treasury Department, and Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) have jointly issued multiple pieces of guidance intended to provide much needed relief to those suffering economic hardships from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In this article, we’ll explain how the most recent relief affects employee welfare benefit plans.