Last week, the IRS issued Notice 2018-68 containing initial guidance on the amendments to section 162(m) made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”), including the transitional relief for written binding contracts. On balance, the guidance is not particularly favorable to taxpayers, as it takes a narrow view of the grandfathering relief for arrangements in effect under prior law, particularly for arrangements with negative discretion, and a broad view of the new group of…
Almost all plan documents contain some level of administrative provisions outlining how the plan is intended to operate (e.g., number of committee members, quorum, etc.). Plan sponsors often view these provisions as “boilerplate” with little or no meaning. In actuality, these are substantive provisions of the plan and failure to follow those provisions can have substantial consequences. The Consequences Failure to follow the terms of the plan document is a potential qualification issue under IRS…
The IRS has issued guidance in Notice 2017-46 (the “Notice”) relaxing the rules applicable to U.S. financial institutions that require the collection of foreign taxpayer identification numbers (Foreign TINs) from U.S. nonresident aliens. Under anticipated amendments to temporary regulations that are described in the Notice, withholding agents will be required to collect a Foreign TIN and date of birth (in the case of an individual account holder) on a foreign person’s beneficial owner withholding certificate (e.g., a…
As most employers are aware, the obligation to report non-qualified deferred compensation (NQDC) that complies with Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 409A is currently suspended, but non-compliant NQDC is required to be reported in Box 12 of an employee’s Form W-2. Employers should also be aware of the additional Form W-2 reporting requirements that may apply to NQDC, including equity awards that are considered NQDC, such as deferred restricted stock units: the obligation to report…
On April 21, 2017, the Trump Administration issued Executive Order 13789, which instructed the IRS to review all “significant tax regulations” issued on or after January 1, 2016 to identify as targets for modification, rescission or delayed effectiveness any regulations that (i) impose an undue financial burden on U.S. taxpayers; (ii) add undue complexity to the Federal tax laws; or (iii) exceed the statutory authority of the IRS. Having completed this review, earlier this month,…