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Linda Keng

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Linda Keng can be reached at lkeng@joneswalker.com or 601.949.4960.

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In response to last year’s devastating hurricane season and other natural disasters, the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act, which is a part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the Act), included various relief provisions (similar to those under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2021 (CARES Act)), designed to assist individuals who suffered an economic loss as a result of these disasters. The Act, signed by former President Trump on December 27, 2020, provides individuals with increased access to their retirement plan accounts as well as plan loan and hardship distribution-related relief as described in more detail below. The relief under the Act generally expires on June 25, 2021.…

Continue Reading Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plans Disaster-Related Relief

In a September 2005 release soon after Hurricane Katrina, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reported that for the first time ever, the IRS and the departments of Treasury and Labor would provide broad-based relief to retirement plan participants affected by a major disaster. Broad-based relief has been provided since to residents of specific disaster areas, but the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, known as COVID-19, is a disaster that has affected all communities in the United States. On March 27, 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was quickly signed by President Trump.

Some employers and plan recordkeepers have been overwhelmed with calls from participants requesting plan loans or hardship distributions. Some plans do not allow loans or hardship distributions. Other plans allow hardship distributions, but existing rules may pose a problem for many participants.…

Continue Reading Sample Employee Notice for Coronavirus-Related Retirement Distributions