IRS Announces Retirement Plans Navigator Website for Small Businesses
From the September 17, 2009 EBIA Weekly
Available at: http://www.retirementplans.irs.gov
The IRS has announced a new website to encourage small businesses to establish retirement plans, including 401(k) plans, for their employees. The website, called the IRS Retirement Plans Navigator, is designed to help employers choose the right retirement plan for their business and includes information on maintaining those plans and correcting common plan errors. Among the types of retirement plans available for small businesses are several IRA-based plans that are simpler to administer than 401(k) plans, some of which can include a deferral feature.
The website includes a side-by-side comparison, by plan type, of various retirement plan features (e.g., deferrals, employer contributions, plan loans) and requirements (e.g., nondiscrimination testing, Form 5500). The page titled “Correct a plan” includes links to the IRS’s online compliance checklist and fix-it guide for 401(k) plans. (For more information, see our articles at http://www.ebia.com/WeeklyArchives/401k/Statutes/18919 (checklist) and http://www.ebia.com/WeeklyArchives/401k/Statutes/19195 (fix-it guide) (subscription required).) The website lists additional resources that may be of interest to retirement plan sponsors, with links to other IRS and DOL websites, IRS publications, video clips, and a glossary of commonly used terms. And for those with questions not addressed on the website or its related resources, there is contact information for the IRS’s Employee Plans Customer Account Services.
EBIA Comment: This new IRS website will be a useful tool to assist small businesses in selecting from the various retirement plan designs available and staying on top of compliance issues. Although some of the resources on the website are not new (e.g., various publications for small business retirement plans and the 401(k) plans checklist and fix-it guide), it is helpful to have this information housed in one easy-to-navigate website. For more information, see EBIA’s 401(k) Plans manual at Sections III (“Overview of 401(k) Plans and Sponsoring Employers”) and XXXIV (“Correcting Plan Mistakes: Overview and Common Errors”). Also, for a refresher course on 401(k) basics, sign up for our recorded web seminar “401(k) Plans for Rookies.” For more information, please visit http://www.ebia.com/WebSeminars/401k/Beginner/19728.
Contributing Editors: EBIA Staff.
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