The SECURE Act may bring significant changes to regulations over retirement savings plans. By making it easier for companies, especially small businesses, to offer retirement plans, participants will be able to ensure a steady income beyond their working years.
With an overwhelmingly strong approval from the House of Representatives last Thursday, many are hopeful that changes are on the horizon.
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As a plan sponsor, it’s your fiduciary responsibility to keep participants (existing and eligible), terminated employees with balances, and beneficiaries of deceased participants informed about your plan through disclosures outlined by the IRS and DOL. Make sure that your notices are on track by referring to this chart.
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The East Baton Rouge Parish Finance Department is alerting businesses that the sales and use tax rate within the parish will increase by 0.5% parish-wide. This will be effective for taxable sales or purchases occurring on or after April 1, 2019. The increase is due to last year’s vote that approved the MoveBR transportation plan. The new tax increases combined state and parish rates to 10.45% in the Baker and Central areas and to 9.95% elsewhere.
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The underpayment penalty waiver threshold is lowered from 90% to 85% of 2018 tax liability to help those who have under-withheld because of the tax reform law. It will also apply to individuals making quarterly estimates, but not to corporations.
The standard mileage rate has been increased to 58 cents/mile for 2019 along with adjustments to the charitable and medical mileage rates.
The agency announced tax season will begin January 28 with the released update to its contingency plans for government shutdowns and the expected impacts of a continuing shutdown on the tax filing season.
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If you’re utilizing the calendar year (January 1-December 31), here is a helpful list of deadlines to keep in mind for your employer-sponsored retirement plan.
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Next Year's Resolution:
Get your retirement plan in shape!
This resolution has a greater return than the latest fad diet because who really wants to give up carbs?
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The 2015 Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) repealed the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act (TEFRA) partnership audit procedures. These new rules are effective for returns filed for tax years beginning after 2017. Under the old rules, after an IRS audit of a partnership return, any adjustments to partnership tax items would then flow through to the partnership's partners, and the IRS would assess deficiencies against and collect them from the applicable partners. Under the new approach, adjustments to a partnership's items of income, gain, loss, deductions, and credits will be made at the partnership level. Any additional tax, penalty, or other amount related to the tax will also be determined and collected at the partnership level unless the partnership elects the alternative process known as a push-out election.
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In early November, the IRS announced cost of living adjustments that increased many of the limitations placed on retirement plans and other retirement-related items for the 2019 tax year. An overview of changes can be found below. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns on these changes.
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The Bipartisan Budget Act ena cted on February 9, 2018, provided legislation that eases hardship withdrawals from employer sponsored 401k and 403(b) retirement plans for plan years beginning after December 31, 2018.
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An amendment to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 was included in the December 2017 tax reform bill to allow eligible employers to receive a tax credit for providing paid time off to qualifying employees under certain circumstances.
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A new tax-saving vehicle called Qualified Opportunity Funds was created by the Tax Cut & Jobs Act to spur investment in distressed communities. The objective is to leverage some of the $6.1 trillion of unrealized gains in the marketplace today by allowing a deferral of gain recognition to allow funds to be put to work in the targeted communities. There are 33 opportunity funds identified in the great Baton Rouge Area, 44 in the New Orleans area, and a total of 150 in the state of Louisiana that provide opportunity for investment. To see the complete list of Qualified Opportunity Zones approved, visit the CDFI fund website.
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