The Wagner Law Group Fills Tax-Qualified Retirement Plan Document Void

BOSTON, Sept. 20, 2017 -- The Wagner Law Group previously announced the development of its Private Determination Letter Program (“PDLP”) to fill the void left by the Internal Revenue Service’s (“IRS’s”) abandoning its decades-long determination letter program for ongoing tax-qualified retirement plans.  Such plans will no longer have an official mechanism to obtain assurance that they continue to meet tax-qualification requirements as the complex law and regulations governing tax-qualified plans change.  The PDLP addresses plan sponsors’ concerns that their plan documents remain compliant with the law as it evolves. 

The Wagner Law Group has noticed that many document providers, including, most recently, Principal Financial Group, have announced they will no longer maintain custom plan documents, including their own.  These providers will not only discontinue drafting individually designed documents, but, more importantly, they will cease providing operational, statutory and/or regulatory amendments for the plan documents they previously maintained.

The Wagner Law Group can fill the void left by these document providers as well.  Plan sponsors can rely on our attorneys’ unparalleled experience and expertise to prepare legally compliant plan documents and appropriate amendments to reflect applicable changes to the law.  The Wagner Law Group can also review plans under the PDLP as well as confirm that design changes made to a plan meet all requirements under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”).

The elimination of the ability of individually-designed retirement plan sponsors to regularly procure letters from the IRS confirming the tax-qualified status of their plan documents raises the legitimate concern of employers as to how to ensure their plan documents remain fully compliant with the ever-evolving law.  Now, the field of document providers willing to stand behind the legal compliance of their own documents is dwindling.

The Wagner Law Group can provide confidence to all types of plan sponsors, including for-profit, tax-exempt and government entities, that their individually-designed retirement plans, including 401(k) plans, profit sharing plans, defined benefit pension plans, money purchase pension plans, cash balance plans and employee stock ownership plans (“ESOPs”), are properly maintained and amended in order to protect their tax-qualified status.

For more information concerning The Wagner Law Group’s qualified plan services, contact Jon Schultze at (617) 357-5200, or visit www.wagnerlawgroup.com.

The Wagner Law Group:

The Wagner Law Group has been dedicated to the highest standards of integrity, excellence and thought leadership for over two decades.  The firm has seven offices, providing unparalleled legal advice to its clients, including large, small and nonprofit corporations as well as individuals and government entities across the country and worldwide. Its 29 attorneys combine many years of experience with a variety of backgrounds.  Seven of the attorneys are AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and six attorneys have been named to the prestigious Super Lawyers list for 2017.  The Wagner Law Group is certified as a woman-owned and operated business by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council.