BOSTON, April 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Wagner Law Group, widely recognized as the country’s top ERISA and employee benefits law firm, has again broken new ground by receiving IRS approval of its volume submitter 403(b) plan. The IRS’s new pre-approved 403(b) plan program represents the first opportunity for tax-exempt 403(b) plan sponsors, such as charitable and educational organizations, public schools, churches and church-related organizations, to bring certainty of compliance to the their 403(b) arrangements. The IRS approval of The Wagner Law Group’s 403(b) volume submitter plan bolsters the firm’s position at the forefront of the 403(b) plan document and compliance realm.
A volume submitter plan is a pre-approved plan that has an IRS advisory letter on which adopters of the plan can rely with respect to the form of the plan, including various options (as described below) that have been subject to IRS review. Since the IRS has never issued determination letters for 403(b) plans (as it has for tax-qualified retirement plans), The Wagner Law Group’s new pre-approved volume submitter 403(b) plan represents an excellent opportunity for sponsors of 403(b) plans to have their plan language approved in advance.
By adopting a volume submitter plan before April 2020, the IRS deadline for bringing 403(b) plans into compliance with relevant IRS regulations that became effective in 2009, a plan sponsor may retroactively correct defects in its plan document back to January 1, 2010 (or, if later, the adoption date of the 403(b) plan). Eligible employers that failed to adopt a written 403(b) plan document by the end of 2009 now have a unique chance to easily redress that failure, by adopting The Wagner Law Group’s pre-approved 403(b) plan and submitting it to the IRS under the 403(b) Voluntary Correction Program (VCP), to receive a clean bill of health from the IRS.
The Wagner Law Group’s unparalleled volume submitter 403(b) plan has flexible design options to meet the needs of most 403(b) plan sponsor, including the following available features:
- Pre- and post-tax elective deferrals, and employee contributions;
- Automatic enrollment including QACAs and EACAs;
- Various eligibility and service-counting options;
- Employer matching and discretionary contributions, with several allocation options;
- Safe harbor matching provisions;
- Hardship withdrawal and loan provisions; and
- Various vesting alternatives.
The Wagner Law Group:
The Wagner Law Group has been dedicated to the highest standards of integrity, excellence and thought leadership and is considered to be amongst the nation’s premier ERISA and employee benefits law firms. The firm’s six offices - Boston, Washington D.C., St. Louis, Palm Beach Gardens, San Francisco and Tampa - provide unparalleled legal advice to its clients, including large, small and nonprofit corporations and individuals and government entities. Its 27 attorneys combine many years of experience with a variety of backgrounds. Seven of the attorneys are AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and six of the firm’s attorneys are Fellows of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel.