The Washington Report
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February 7, 2018
Legislative/Executive
House Passes Funding Bill; Off to Senate for Consideration
On February 6, 2018, the House passed a continuing resolution (H.J. Res. 128) that would continue to fund government agencies and operations through March 23, 2018. Included in the bill are provisions related to community health centers and extensions for a number of expiring health programs. The bill moves to the Senate, where passage is uncertain. If the Senate does not pass the House version of the measure, the Senate must edit, pass, and then return the continuing resolution to the House for another vote. Funding for the government expires February 8.
The full text of H.J. Res. 128 is available here.
Retirement
RS Confirms 2018 Pension Plan Limitations Not Affected by Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017
On February 6, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 does not affect the tax year 2018 dollar limitations for retirement plans announced in news release IR 2017-177 and detailed in Notice 2017-64.
The tax law provides dollar limitations on benefits and contributions under qualified retirement plans, and it requires the Treasury Department to annually adjust these limits for cost of living increases. Those adjustments are to be made using procedures that are similar to those used to adjust benefit amounts under the Social Security Act. As the recently enacted tax legislation made no changes to the section of the tax law limiting benefits and contributions for retirement plans, the qualified retirement plan limitations for tax year 2018 previously announced in the news release and detailed in guidance remain unchanged.
The February 6, 2018, IRS news release is available here.
IRS Notice 2017-64 is available here.
The October 19, 2017, IRS news release (IR 2017-177) is available here.
Aon Publications
2018 Aon Compliance Calendar—Significant Compensation and Benefit Due Dates
Aon is pleased to present its 2018 Compliance Calendar to help plan sponsors identify significant compensation and benefit due dates for retirement and health and welfare plans. This Compliance Calendar includes relevant dates involving plan disclosures, contribution and distribution requirements, and various plan-related regulatory filings.
This Compliance Calendar assumes a plan administered on a calendar year basis by an employer with a calendar fiscal year. In general, the information for pension plans applies to single employer plans; other plans, such as multiemployer plans (e.g., Taft-Hartley plans) or government plans, may be subject to different requirements, and are not included. Additionally, certain compliance dates related to group health plan coverage or retiree prescription drug coverage have been included where applicable.
The Compliance Calendar is intended to alert the reader to some of the more significant dates for 2018 and is not intended to identify all compliance obligations or due dates.
The 2018 Aon Compliance Calendar is available here.