"About the only positive aspect of these rules is that they treat the leased employee’s benefits under the leasing organization’s plan(s) as if they were provided by the recipient organization. Under the right circumstances, this aspect of the rule can help the recipient organization avoid adverse income tax consequences under its plans where it does not cover the leased employees."  MORE >>

"Each of the first two ASG rules requires some degree of overlapping ownership and at least one of the organizations must be involved principally in the performance of services. Generally, an organization will not be considered a service organization if capital is a material income-producing factor (e.g., a substantial portion of the gross income of the business is attributable to investment in inventories, plant, machinery, or other equipment)."  MORE >>

"Backdoor Roth IRA conversions offer three main tax advantages, including income tax free growth, income tax free withdrawals in retirement, and no required minimum distributions (RMDs). ... IRS reporting requirements apply, including filing Form 8606 for nondeductible IRA contributions."  MORE >>

"Since September 30, 2025, the CPI has increased by about 3.2%. Projecting monthly increases of 0.25% through September 2026 results in an annual increase of about 4.2% for our 8-month actual/4-month forecast projection."  MORE >>

"[The authors] estimate that eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits would reduce the system's funded status from the Trustees' 2026 estimate of 75.6% to about 71%. It would also hasten the projected trust fund exhaustion date.... 71% is still an overstated figure because it is based on SSA assumptions (which still may be optimistic) and the flawed 75‑year projection period ... Social Security's funded status -- measured using a flawed and possibly optimistic long‑term metric -- remains in the 70%-75% range and is deteriorating each year due to Valuation Date Creep."  MORE >>

"While the reality check shows no evidence of 'runaway retirement benefits,' that finding does not mean that benefits are optimally designed. The U.S. has a wide range in earnings, and workers' earnings are strongly correlated with life expectancy. A situation where low earners die early and high earners live much longer undermines many of the progressive aspects of the benefit design. The challenge in putting together a solvency package for Social Security is to correct a structure that increasingly benefits higher earners."  MORE >>

"Until the proposed regulations are issued, the Notice provides interim guidance on the expansion of Section 4960's definition of 'covered employee' under the OBBBA. The Notice clarifies that, following the enactment of the OBBBA, Section 4960's definition of covered employee now includes: [1] Any employee of an ATEO who was one of the five highest-compensated employees for a tax year beginning after December 31, 2016, and before January 1, 2026, and [2] All current and former employees of an ATEO for each tax year beginning after December 31, 2025."  MORE >>