Articles

Creditor protection for tax qualified plans and IRAs. How safe is your pension? The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 brought much-needed clarity to debtor and creditor rights relative to retirement assets in a federal bankruptcy proceeding. Read this article by ERISA experts, Richard A. Naegele and Mark P. Altieri, for an indepth analysis of the new bankruptcy bill and how it protects retirement plan assets. Both are with the firm Wickens, Herzer, Panza, Cook & Batista Co. in Avon, Ohio.

2007 Federal Tax Update -- Year in Review. Tax lawyer, Matthew Kadish, from Kadish, Hinkel & Weibel in Cleveland, gives us a 12 month review of major tax developments. Read this superb article for a great oversight of the year in review. Matt also invites us to visit his firm's websight where the entire 100+ page outline is available.

Fewer 401(k) Savers Would be Facing Inadequate Nest Eggs if Advisers Defined Their Contribution Rate. This article authored by SBCA Director, James E. Turpin, MSPA, was recently published in The ASPPA Journal. James is the president of The Turpin Consulting Group Inc., of Albuquerque, NM.

The Time We Saved The City describes the behind the scene efforts to bail out NYC from it payroll budget crisis of 1975 written by SBCA Special Counsel, Alvin D. Lurie.

The Small Business Council of America (SBCA) urges Congress to limit the application of Internal Revenue Code Section 409A to publicly traded companies.

The Small Business Council of America (SBCA) urges Congress to pass the SIMPLE Cafeteria Plan Act of 2007 – S. 555.

The SBCA is working to bring certainty to the current estate tax system now. The 2001 Tax Act created a legal landscape that makes it impossible for small business owners and other taxpayers to plan their estates with any predictability. This unpredictability has undermined taxpayer confidence in the estate tax system.

Impact of Tax Reform on the Small Business - Everybody in Washington is talking about the “tax gap.” This is the new buzz
word for the difference between the amount of tax revenue the federal government would receive if all Americans paid their taxes compared to what it actually receives. In 2006, IRS estimated the tax gap to be $290 billion for tax year 2001. Thus, if everybody paid their fair share of taxes, the government’s deficit would be significantly reduced. No wonder Congress and the Administration are exploring ways to close the tax gap. Read this white paper to find out SBCA's ideas for closing the tax gap.

"Pension Parity: Addressing the Inequities Between Retirement Plan Options for Small and Large Businesses- How Can We Increase Small Business Employee Converage?" Statement of Paula A. Calimafde on Behalf of SBCA before The Subcommittee on Finance and Tax of The Committee on Small Business of The United States House of Representatives

Impact of Tax Reform on the Small Business Retirement Plan System - More than 19 million American workers are covered by the small business retirement plan system. These small business employees enjoy very generous annual retirement plan contributions from their employers, often in the range of five to ten percent of compensation. If some of the tax reform proposals being discussed by the Administration, Treasury and the Congress become law, it is highly probable that these company contributions will come to a halt and these small business employees will be at risk of losing this valuable retirement plan coverage in the future. This article by Paula Calimafde, Paley Rothman, Bethesda, MD, shows how dependent the small business retirement plan system is on tax incentives and how an unintended result of the move to reduce taxation on savings will be the demise of the very successful voluntary retirement plan system.

Post-Retirement Health Insurance as an Employee-Provided Benefit - Michael P. Coyne - From time to time we are asked about post-retirement health insurance as a fringe benefit in a closely held business. Can it be provided on a discriminatory basis? Is there any problem if the employee pays for the benefit? Can of the benefit to be modified or terminated after someone retires? The answer to these questions may surprise you. Read this article by benefits expert, Mike Coyne to find out whether this benefit can be provided in a closely held business. Mike Coyne also reviews the "newest" retirement plan idea, the Section 412(i) Plan. Read this article to understand why the IRS is looking at this retirement plan product that is actually decades old. Michael Coyne, Esq. Waldheger Coyne Cleveland, Ohio

Cafeteria Plans - Cafeteria plans allow employees to select from a variety of benefits and to use pre-tax dollars to acquire the benefits most useful to them. The cafeteria plan encourages health care coverage and dependent care coverage, (hopefully, in the future, long term care insurance).. Existing statutes and regulations, however, discourage small business from offering cafeteria plans to their employees. Read this reprint of a chapter from the NYU Review of Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation by Paula Calimafde and Deborah Cohn from Paley, Rothman to find out how Section 125 can be modified to increase sponsorship of cafeteria plans by small business.

Working Spouses in the Family Business - Many working spouses in small businesses often forgo being on the payroll to save on social security taxes. Read this article by employee benefits expert, Greg Matthews, to find out whether this policy makes sense under the new tax law. Greg Matthews, Matthews Benefit Group, Inc., St. Petersburg, Florida

401(k) Safe Harbor Retirement Plan Options. Read about one of the most exciting retirement plan designs available today - the 401(k) safe harbor plan. Learn how to eliminate the complicated anti-discrimination testing and allow all employees - highly compensated and non-highly compensated to contribute up to $11,000 ($12,000 for employees over 50) to a 401(k) plan. One of the biggest headaches of a 401(k) plan is the extra testing that needs to be done each year to compare the amounts allocated to the highly paid versus other employees. A 401(k) plan can automatically satisfy the ADP and ACP tests without any annual testing, unlike a regular 401(k) plan, if the plan satisfies one of the new 401(k) safe harbors. Leading tax attorney, Al Martin, explains the new rules and requirements of the 401(k) safe harbor plan. Al Martin, Esq., Lathrop & Gage, of Overland Park, Kansas.

© SBCA 2006
Neither SBCA Inc., nor any individual member of this association assumes any liability for any action taken based on any articles contained herein.