4, ¢, 4, Tax Reform Will Force Complete Realpraisal of Current Employee Benefit Packages and a Return to the Basics
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E B R I EMPLOYEE BENEFIT RESEARCH INSTITUTE OCIOBER 1986 NUMBER FIFTY-NINE 4, ¢, 4, Tax reform will force complete realpraisal of current employee benefit packages and a return to the basics. 4,4,4, Tax Reform and Employee Benefits The recently enacted tax reform legislation makes dramatic changes in employee benefits both through the numerous provisions directly affecting benefits and through the overall reduction in individual income tax rates. The changes in the pension and welfare benefit area are intended to produce more comparable employee benefit coverage of rank and file employees and of highly compensated employees. Pension changes, assuming that plans are maintained, increase the number of vested workers through faster vesting schedules, increase pension amounts for rank and file employees by limiting the coordination with Social Security benefits, and mandate broader and more comparable coverage of rank and file employees. Higher-paid employees, however, suffer potential losses in benefits: restrictions on 401(k) salary reduction contributions ($7,000 cap, tighter nondiscrimination rules, and inclusion of all after-tax contributions as annual additions under the section 415 limits); a new limit of $200,000 on the amount of compensation that may be taken into account under all qualified plans; a new excess benefit tax of 15 percent on most annual distributions over $112,500; and sharply reduced maximum benefits payable to early retirees under defined benefit plans. Changes in welfare benefit areas aim for the same effect: an intended broadening of benefits because of tighter nondiscrimination rules that also could reduce tax-favored benefits payable to the higher paid. Government staff have argued that reduced tax- favored benefits for the highly paid employees may be viewed as more comparable coverage of rank and file and highly paid when considered in terms of dollars, versus percent of compensation. In all, the employee benefit changes are less punitive than those originally contained in the 1984 Treasury proposal. Favorable tax treatment is retained for most benefits, except education assistance, group legal services, and van pooling, which lose the income tax exclusion. Also, nondiscrimination rules for medical and group life insurance coverage are much more flexible than the original Treasury proposal, and permit a greater disparity between highly paid and rank and file employees. Still, dramatic effects may be anticipated. The reduction in marginal tax rates will remove a significant force that historically contributed to the growth in employee benefits, and future growth will be slowed; coverage may not improve and may actually decline in the small business sector, where a top rate of 28 percent for the owners and a 15 percent rate for 80 percent of taxpayers may make cash more attractive than benefits, which are also more difficult to administer under the new rules. The desirability of deferring compensation for nonretirement purposes under qualified plans is also called into question, because of new penalties on early withdrawals and the expectation that future tax rates may be higher than current rates. Finally, because of the new restrictions on the higher-paid, many employers will face the option of removing the higher-paid from their general qualified benefit plans, which could result in deterioration in benefits for rank and file employees. As more of their compensation is provided through nonqualified plans, the higher compensated might "lose their stake" in the general benefit plan. Obviously, whether nondiscrimination rules cause expanded and more comparable coverage of rank and file employees, or reduce tax-favored benefits for the highly paid, will differ from employer to employer. Employee benefits will remain an important piece of total compensation, but the changes in their tax effectiveness may prompt a reevaluation of overall benefits and a return to the basic purposes employee benefits were intended to fulfill: the promotion of economic security and human resource needs. A monthly periodical devoted to expert evaluations cac a single employee benefit issue Table of Contents Abstract 1 Introduction 4 A New Tax Structurewith New Tax Rates 4 Basic RateStructure 4 Implicationsof a New Basic RateStracture 8 ComparingAfter-TaxandPretaxSavings 9 Contributionsto and Distributionsfrom QualifiedPlans 14 IncludibleCompensation 15 Tax DeferralunderQualifiedPlans 15 Indexationof Limits 15 Tighteningthe 25 PercentLimitation 15 Reducing AllowableEarlyRetirementBenefits 15 Impositionof Excise Taxes on Distributionsabove $112,500 16 Cost-of-Living Arrangements 16 Deductionsfor Conlributions 17 Excise Tax on Reversionsof QualifiedPlan Assets to Employer 17 UniformCommencementDatefor Benefits 17 T_atment of Distributions 17 Taxation of EarlyDisa'ibutions 18 Tax-ShelteredAnnuities 18 LoansunderQualifiedPlans 18 Tax-Favc_l Savings 18 IndividualRetirementAccounts (IRAs) 18 DeductibleIRAs 18 NondeductibleIRAs 20 spousalWAs 20 Inveslmentof IRAs 20 IRA Effective Dates 20 QualifiedCash or DeferredArrangements 20 Limits on Conlributions 20 401(k) NondiscriminationRequirements 20 HardshipWithdrawalsand Other Distributions 21 Participation 21 Tax-ExemptandState and Local GovernmentEmployers 21 EmployerMatchingContributionsand EmployeeConlributions 21 UnfundedDeferredCompensationArrangements(Section 457 Plans) forTax-ExemptEmployers 21 DeferredAnnuity Contracts 22 Tax-ShelteredAnnuities 22 Simplified EmployeePensions 22 Section 501(c)(18) Plans 23 NondiscriminationRequirementsforQualifiedPlans 23 MinimumCoverageRulesfor QualifiedPlans 23 MinimumParticipationRule 23 NondiscriminationRules for 403(b) Tax-ShelteredAnnuities 24 Social SecurityIntegration 24 Uniform Definition of HighlyCompensatedEmployees 2_q DeterminingTop-HeavyStatus 25 Benefit Forfeitures 25 Vesting 25 2 @ EBRIIssueBrief October1986 Miscellaneous Pension and Deferred Compensation Provisions 26 Requirement That Collective Bargaining Agreements Be Bona Fide 26 Penalty for Ove_t_ement of Pension Liabilities 26 Treatment of Certain Fishing Boat Crews as Self-Employed Individuals 26 Cash Out of Certain Accrued Benefits 26 Time Required for Plan Amendments, Issuance of Regulations, and Development of Section 401(k) Master and Prototype Plans 26 Employee Leasing 26 Impli£ations for Defmed Benefit and Defmed ConUibution Plans 27 Statut_y Employee Benefit Exclusions 27 Health Insurance Costs of Self-Employed Individuals 27 Prepaid Legal Services 27 Employer-Provided Transporlation 28 Educational Assistance 28 Dependent Care Assistance 28 Faculty Housing 28 Ac_ued Vacation Pay 28 NondiscriminationRules 28 Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) 29 Additional Tax Benefits for ESOPs 29 Changes in Qualification Requirements for ESOPs 29 Technical Corrections 30 Tax Reform Act of 1984 30 Retirement Equity Act 30 COBRA 30 Revenue Projections under Tax Reform 30 Conclusion 31 Appendix 32 List of Tables Table 1: Estimated Budget Effects of HR. 3838, as Approved by the Conference Committee, for Pensions and Deferred Compensation, Employee Benefits, and ESOPs, Fiscal Years 1987-1991 5 Table 2: 1987 Transitional Individual Tax Rates 7 Table 3: 1988 Individual Tax Rates 8 Table 4: Savings Comparison for 15 Percent Bracket Taxpayers with and without 50 Percent Employer Matching Contribution 11 Table 5: Savings Comparison for 28 Percent Bracket Taxpayers with and without 50 Percent Employer Matching Contribution 13 Table 6: Change in Section 415 Limits for Maximum Early Retirement Benefits Payable under a Defined Benefit Pension Plan 14 Listof _ Chart 1: Savings Comparison for 15 Percent Bracket Taxpayers with and without 50 Percent Employer Matching Contn'bution, Early Withdrawal Lump Sum 10 Chart 2: Savings Comparison for 15 Percent Bracket Taxpayers with and without 50 Percent Employer Matching Contribution, Post-59 1/2 Lump Sum 1O Chart 3: Savings Comparison for 28 Percent Bracket Taxpayers with and without 50 Percent Employer Matching Contribution, Early Withdrawal Lump Sum 12 Chart4: Savings Comparison for 28 Percent Bracket Taxpayers with and without 50 Percent Employer Matching Contribution, Post-59 1/2 Lump Sum 12 Oetoi_ 1986 EBRI Issue Brief ¢ 3 41, Introduction (2) Coverageand nondiscriminationrulesshouldbe designed to assurethatlow- and middle-incomeemployeesactually The March1984EBRI Issue Brief ("BasicTax Reform: benefit fromplans. ImplicationsfoxEmployee Benefits") concludedwith the (3) Benefits providedto the "highlycompensated"on a tax- following point: "Basictax reformproposalswouldrequire favoredbasis shouldbe restrictedto those providedto other employersandemployees to rethinkthe entirebasis of employees(in the case of health and welfare plans)and by compensation."Final provisionsof the Tax ReformAct of bothdollarand percentagelimits (in the case of retirement 1986 (TRAC) will requirea reevaluationof trendsin programs). employeebenefits of recentyears. More specifically,with 80 (4) Tax deductionsforprogramsthatare not subjectto percentof taxpayersat the 15 percentmarginalbracket,tax coverageand nondiscriminationrules, such as individual savings can no longerbe used as the drivingmotivation for retirementaccounts(IRAs), shouldnot be availableto "high" establishingplans. Programsand plandesign will have to be income taxpayerswithpension coverage. framedin terms of meeting economicsecurityobjectives in (5) Defined benefitand defined contributionprogramsshould the most tax-effective manner,consistentwith human have a.commonprimarypurposeof deliveringincomeat