The Disaster Tax Relief and Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2017 and Agency Relief for Employee Benefit Plans Impacted by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria

[...]a variety of tax and enforcement relief has been issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS),1 the Department of Labor (DOL),2 and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).3 The following is a summary of the relief granted by the Disaster Relief Act and the agencies (capitalized terms a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Employee Benefit Plan Review 2018-02, Vol.72 (5), p.15-17
Main Authors: Gelula, Karen E, Kalman, Yael I, Vogt, Erik D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
2017 AD
Airports
Compliance
Deadlines
Deferred compensation
Defined benefit plans
Defined contribution plans
Disaster relief
Disaster victims
Employee benefits
Employers
Employment
Enforcement
Executive compensation
Fines & penalties
Hardship distributions
Hurricanes
Loans
Retirement plans
Tax administration
Taxation
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Summary:[...]a variety of tax and enforcement relief has been issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS),1 the Department of Labor (DOL),2 and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).3 The following is a summary of the relief granted by the Disaster Relief Act and the agencies (capitalized terms are defined at the end of this article): DEFINED CONTRIBUTION RETIREMENT PLAN RELIEF Qualified Hurricane Distributions An Eligible Retirement Plan is permitted to make a distribution that meets the following requirements (Qualified Hurricane Distributions): * The distribution is made during the period beginning on the applicable Designated Disaster Date and ending on January 1, 2019, to a Qualified Individual. * The amount of the distribution, when combined with such distributions from all Eligible Retirement Plans of the employer, is not in excess of $100,000 (reduced by any qualified hurricane distributions received by the individual in all prior taxable years).Pursuant to the Disaster Relief Act, a participant who received a hardship distribution after February 28, 2017, and before September 21, 2017, which was for the purpose of, but unable to be used for, the purchase or construction of a principal residence in a Disaster Area may make one or more contributions (totaling the amount of the distribution) to an Eligible Retirement Plan to which rollover contributions of such distribution could be made.Relief from Certain DOL Enforcement Actions and PBGC Deadlines The DOL will not enforce penalties for failure to timely forward participant contributions and loan repayments to an employee benefit plan due to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma provided that the employer and the plan's service providers act reasonably, prudently and in the interest of employees to comply as soon as practical.DEFINITIONS * Designated Disaster Date means August 23, 2017, for Hurricane Harvey, September 4, 2017, for Hurricane Irma, and September 16, 2017, for Hurricane Maria. * Disaster Area means the area in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands that is entitled to federal assistance as listed at FEMA.gov. * Eligible Retirement Plan means a plan described in Internal Revenue Code Section 402(c) (8)(B) (such as a 401(k) plan, a 403(b) plan or a governmental 457(b) plan). * Impacted Participant means a participant whose principal residence or place of employment was located in a Disaster Area on the applicable Designated Disaster Date. * Impacted Family means a parti
ISSN:0013-6808