Menu
Tax Notes logo

Retirement Group Echoes Concerns About Multiple Employer Plan Rules

OCT. 1, 2019

Retirement Group Echoes Concerns About Multiple Employer Plan Rules

DATED OCT. 1, 2019
DOCUMENT ATTRIBUTES
  • Institutional Authors
    Insured Retirement Institute
  • Code Sections
  • Subject Area/Tax Topics
  • Jurisdictions
  • Tax Analysts Document Number
    2019-38625
  • Tax Analysts Electronic Citation
    2019 TNTF 197-20

October 1, 2019

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
CC:PA: LPD:PR (REG – 121508-18)
Room 5203
P.O. Box 7604
Ben Franklin Station
Washington, DC 20044

Re: Multiple Employer Plans
RIN 1545-BO97

To Whom It May Concern:

On behalf of our members, the Insured Retirement Institute (“IRI”)1 appreciates the opportunity to provide comments in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the “Proposal”) regarding Multiple Employer Plans (“MEPs”) issued by the Department of the Treasury (the “Department”) and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) on July 3, 2019. The Proposal would provide an exception, if certain requirements are met, to the application of the “unified plan rule” for a defined contribution MEP in the event of a failure by an employer participating in the plan to satisfy a qualification requirement or to provide information needed to determine compliance with a qualification requirement.

Small businesses face financial and administrative challenges, as well as legal risks, when offering a retirement plan to employees. As a result, many do not offer a retirement savings plan for their employees. Allowing small businesses to band together to achieve economies of scale, and delegate responsibility for sponsoring the plan to a professional plan fiduciary, would facilitate their offering a retirement plan and expand access to a workplace plan for more workers. For MEPs to be more broadly utilized, however, employers who participate in MEPs and their employees must be protected from any negative consequences caused by the acts or omissions of other employers under the “unified plan rule.” IRI has long supported federal legislation that would address this issue, such as the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the “SECURE Act”), and we commend the Department and the IRS for seeking to address the issue through the Proposal.

We have reviewed the comment letter submitted to the Department and the IRS by the American Council of Life Insurers (“ACLI”). We share the concerns described therein regarding the specific approach taken in the Proposal, and we support and agree with the recommendations made by ACLI to address those concerns.

* * * * *

Thank you again for the opportunity to provide these comments. If you have questions about our views on the Proposal, or if we can be of any further assistance in connection with this important regulatory effort, please feel free to contact the undersigned at jberkowitz@irionline.org or 202-469-3014.

Sincerely,

Jason Berkowitz
Chief Legal & Regulatory Affairs Officer
Insured Retirement Institute
Washington, DC

FOOTNOTES

1The Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) is the leading association for the entire supply chain of insured retirement strategies, including life insurers, asset managers, and distributors such as broker-dealers, banks and marketing organizations. IRI members account for more than 95 percent of annuity assets in the U.S., the top 10 distributors of annuities ranked by assets under management, and are represented by financial professionals serving millions of Americans. IRI champions retirement security for all through leadership in advocacy, awareness, research, and the advancement of digital solutions within a collaborative industry community.

END FOOTNOTES

DOCUMENT ATTRIBUTES
  • Institutional Authors
    Insured Retirement Institute
  • Code Sections
  • Subject Area/Tax Topics
  • Jurisdictions
  • Tax Analysts Document Number
    2019-38625
  • Tax Analysts Electronic Citation
    2019 TNTF 197-20
Copy RID