Since 2019, Congress has enacted three major pieces of legislation impacting retirement plans, significantly changing the retirement landscape. The legislation contained a number of amendments to the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, as amended, that impact employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, defined benefit plans, and even Puerto
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
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The Treasury and IRS have released final regulations implementing key SECURE 2.0 provisions, including the Roth catch-up requirement for high earners and
Seyfarth Synopsis: Earlier today, Treasury and the IRS issued highly-anticipated final regulations addressing several changes to the catch-up contribution provisions implemented by SECURE 2.0. Proposed regulations were issued earlier this year (see our Legal Update here), and administrative questions lingered following the issuance of the proposed regulations. The much-welcomed final regulations answer a number of open questions that we had been grappling with following the enactment of SECURE 2.0 and the issuance of the proposed regulations earlier this year. Below is a high-level overview of several pressing issues that have been addressed by the final regulations. We will be issuing a more comprehensive Legal Update on the final rules in the coming days.
Under the proposed regulations, designated Roth contributions made by a participant at any point within a calendar year must be counted towards satisfying the Roth catch-up requirement (“Roth Catch-Up Requirement”). This provision caused administrative concerns and several commenters asked that the final rules make this permissive so that plans had the choice as to whether to include Roth deferrals made by the participant at any point in the calendar year towards the Roth Catch-Up Requirement. The final regulations provide plan administrators that use the deemed Roth approach with some – but not universal – flexibility. The final regulations do not seem to go so far as making this optional approach available in all situations, which we will cover in the forthcoming Legal Update.
Continue Reading Final Catch-Up Rules: What Now? (Spoiler Alert: There is No Extension)
Seyfarth Synopsis: On August 19, 2024, the IRS issued Notice 2024-63 (the “Notice”) providing guidance for plan sponsors that wish to provide matching contributions based on eligible student loan repayments made by participants, rather than based only on elective deferrals, pursuant to the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. This post summarizes guidance under the Notice.
Section 110 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 codified rules that permitted plan sponsors to make a matching contribution to a 401(k), 403(b), SIMPLE or governmental 457(b) plan based on a participant’s “qualified student loan payment,” in addition to matching contributions on a participant’s elective deferral contribution to the plan. These rules already took effect this year, and the IRS has now issued welcome guidance on how this provision should be implemented.
Continue Reading Major SECURE 2.0 Guidance Issued: Extra Credit for Repaying Qualified Student Loans
Seyfarth Synopsis: As previously reported here, on December 20, 2023, the IRS issued Notice 2024-2 (the “Notice”) providing guidance on several outstanding questions related to provisions under SECURE 2.0. This blog post summarizes the guidance under the Notice for in-service distributions to terminally ill employees that qualify for a waiver from the 10%
Seyfarth Synopsis: Adding to the holiday joy of employee benefits practitioners nationwide, yesterday the IRS issued guidance on several outstanding questions related to SECURE 2.0. At this time of year, we are especially thankful that the guidance was issued on a day other than the day before or following a national holiday.
The so-called “grab
On November 24, 2023, the IRS issued highly anticipated proposed regulations concerning the provisions under SECURE and SECURE 2.0, requiring 401(k) plans to expand deferral eligibility for long-term part-time employees. The proposed rules answer a number of burning questions that have been lingering since 2019 when SECURE was first enacted. In this special episode, Seyfarth
True to form, the IRS released long-awaited proposed regulations during a long holiday weekend. This time they are narrowly focused on the eligibility rules for Long-Term Part-Time employees first introduced under the SECURE Act, and then expanded by SECURE 2.0. But, they did not disappoint, and are chock full of useful and detailed information on
This afternoon, the IRS issued Notice 2023-62, providing welcome guidance relating to the mandatory Roth catch-up provision under Section 603 of the SECURE Act 2.0 (“S2”), which is effective for plan years beginning after December 31, 2023. First, the Notice clarifies that catch-up contributions are still allowed after 2023, despite a technical glitch in S2. Second