irs

The IRS has issued guidance for qualified retirement plans that escheat certain accounts of unresponsive or missing participants or beneficiaries to state unclaimed property funds.

The IRS has issued a pre-publication version of final regulations on the default tax withholding rate to be applied to periodic and annuitized distributions from retirement plans.

The IRS has announced an extension of deadlines for completing certain time-sensitive tax-related acts for Alabama victims of Hurricane Sally.

IRS Notice 2020-68 provides guidance on the SECURE Act, and on the Bipartisan American Miners Act, which is also part of FCAA.

The IRS has posted Notice 2020-72, guidance on factors used in certain defined benefit (DB) pension plan minimum funding and present value calculations.

The IRS grants extensions for completion of certain tax-related acts to victims of severe storms in Michigan and an earthquake and after-shocks in Utah.

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.