"The key revisions, which include changes related to provisions in the [SECURE Act], include:

• A consolidated Form 5500 reporting option for certain groups of defined contribution retirement plans -- defined contribution group (DCG) reporting arrangements.
• Improved reporting by multiple-employer plans (MEPs), including pooled employer plans (PEPs).
• A change in the participant-counting methodology for determining eligibility for simplified reporting alternatives available to small plans.
• A breakout of reporting of administrative expenses paid by the plan on a plan's financial statements.
• Further improvements in financial and funding reporting by PBGC-covered defined benefit plans.
• The addition of selected Internal Revenue Code compliance questions to improve tax oversight and compliance of tax-qualified retirement plans.
• Technical and conforming changes as part of the annual rollover of forms and instructions."

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"Employers with defined contribution plans that have a more restrictive timeline for using forfeitures may consider amending their plan documents to require forfeitures to be used no later than 12 months following the end of the plan year in which the forfeitures were incurred.... [W]hile the proposed regulations allow plans to use forfeitures to pay plan administrative expenses, nothing in the regulations would impact previous guidance from the [DOL] specifying that plan assets can only be used to pay reasonable expenses that are not settlor expenses[.]"  MORE >>

"[M]any beneficiaries of IRAs and other retirement accounts who are subject to the '10-year payout' rule under the [SECURE Act] will have to comply with an additional requirement and take a taxable withdrawal distribution from the retirement account in each year during the 10-year payout period. This change will apply as early as 2023 to all individuals and qualifying trusts who are not permitted to use age and the IRS tables to stretch required minimum distributions over their entire life expectancies."  MORE >>

"The court's decision on the key issue was relatively straightforward: A plaintiff cannot state an ERISA imprudence claim based simply on the comparison of the alleged underperformance a plan's fund relative to the performance of selected 'comparators.' " [Beldock v. Microsoft Corp., No. 22-1082 (W.D. Wash. Feb. 7, 2023)]  MORE >>

"In partially granting summary judgement to ASA and vacating the DOL interpretation that [individualized advice provided on a] 'regular basis' includes IRA rollovers, the court determined that the FAQ was an unreasonable interpretation of the current fiduciary definition because it improperly removes the inquiry as to whether a person is a fiduciary to an ERISA plan." [American Securities Association v. DOL, No. 22-0330 (M.D. Fla. Feb. 13, 2023)]  MORE >>

36 pages. "After passage of ARP, PBGC quickly drafted SFA regulations, provided guidance for multiemployer plans, established an SFA application review process, and launched the SFA program.... However, the Corporation did not formally assess and document fraud risks, sufficiently define risk tolerances, establish review procedures for exceptions, formalize final review procedures, or design a control that would ensure timely review of SFA applications. As such, current procedures are not sufficient to ensure timely delivery of accurate SFA amounts to eligible plans." [Report No. EVAL-2023-08 Feb. 24, 2023]  MORE >>

"[Freedom to Invest in a Sustainable Future Act (HR 1119)] would amend [ERISA] to permit the consideration of ESG factors in retirement plan investing. It would also amend ERISA to include the updated 'tiebreaker' rule: If a sponsor is deciding between multiple investment options, they could use 'collateral' ESG factors if competing options would otherwise serve equally 'the plan's economic interests.' "  MORE >>

"Disaster-area taxpayers in most of California and parts of Alabama and Georgia now have until Oct. 16, 2023, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments ... Previously, the deadline had been postponed to May 15 for these areas." [See updated Disaster Relief Notices for California (CA-2023-02), Alabama (AL-2023-01) and Georgia (GA-2023-01)]  MORE >>

"Generally, an organization filing 10 or more returns or statements (previously more than 250) in a calendar year will be required to file electronically in 2024. The regulations also require e-filing of certain returns and other documents not previously required to be e-filed.... Filers must aggregate almost all return types covered by the regulation to determine whether a filer meets the 10-return threshold."  MORE >>