William Byrnes' Tax, Wealth, and Risk Intelligence

Prof. William H. Byrnes

Robert Bloink, J.D., LL.M.

$1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Released Sunday night (August 1, 2021)

The 2,702-page bi-partisan “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021” has been released by the Senate. The bill may be downloaded from the U.S. Senate website here. The bill contains approximately $550 billion of new project spending and carries over an additional $650 billion from previously funded projects for a total of over $1.2 trillion in infrastructure spending that will begin in 2021 and most end in 2026.

But the bill contains many energy provisions and excise taxes as well as fees that will impact all segments of the energy industry. These provisions include billions of dollars for the industry for expenditure and incentives for carbon capture; clean hydrogen R&D; nuclear; among others. By example, $500,000,000 is provided for clean hydrogen technology R&D (see page 1550 at section 40314). The excise taxes and fees include the extensions of the highway-related taxes, superfund excise taxes, and customs user fees.

The major tax reform provisions addressing estate and gift tax, capital gains, carried interests, real estate exchanges, retirement plans, and high-income earners have been reserved to the forthcoming yet-to-be-agreed/released Democratic reconciliation bill. However, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 contains some new tax provisions including:

• Sec. 80501. Modification of automatic extension of certain deadlines in the case of taxpayers affected by Federally declared disasters.
• Sec. 80502. Modifications of rules for postponing certain acts by reason of service in combat zone or contingency operation.
• Sec. 80503. Tolling of time for filing a petition with the tax court.
• Sec. 80504. Authority to postpone certain tax deadlines by reason of significant fires.
• Sec. 80601. Modification of tax treatment of contributions to the capital of a corporation.
• Sec. 80602. Extension of interest rate stabilization.
• Sec. 80603. Information reporting for brokers and digital assets.
• Sec. 80604. Termination of employee retention credit for employers subject to closure due to COVID–19.

The automatic extension for certain tax deadlines for Federally declared disasters addresses the situation of multiple declarations relating to a disaster area which are issued within a 60-day period. A separate 60-day period shall be determined with respect to each such declaration pursuant to the bill’s language.

The bill contains hundreds of not-obvious federal grants and contract opportunities for business. By example of one provision related to education and training of workers, section 401513 includes $10 million dollars for FY2022 for government grants of 50 percent of the cost to provide ‘career skills training’ to identify and involve in training programs target populations of individuals who would benefit from training and be actively involved in activities relating to energy efficiency and renewable energy industries; and the ability to help individuals achieve economic self-sufficiency. The program students must concurrently receive classroom instruction and on-the-job training for the purpose of obtaining an industry-related certification to install energy efficient buildings.

Look in your Tax Facts Online app for our continuing analysis of this bill, the tax reform in the reconciliation bill, and other weekly intelligence.

Reminder: It’s Time to File Form 5500 for Employee Benefit Plans

It’s that time of year again. The deadline for filing Form 5500 for health plans and retirement plans with the IRS and DOL is July 31 for most calendar-year plans. The deadline is seven months after the end of the plan year. However, clients who aren’t yet ready to file should be advised that they may obtain a filing extension of up to 2.5 months. Penalties for failure to file Form 5500 on time have increased in recent years—and can equal as much as $2,000 per day in some cases. The forms are used by the IRS and DOL to identify potential compliance issues, so small business clients with employment benefits offerings should be advised to prepare the forms carefully and expect scrutiny. Form 5500 is filed under the penalty of perjury—for the employer who signs the document, not the service provider who prepared the document. For more information on Form 5500 filing requirements and increased penalties under the SECURE Act, visit Tax Facts Online. Read More

Related Questions:

3774. What requirements apply to matching contributions in the context of a 401(k) safe harbor plan?

3777. What are the requirements for a SIMPLE 401(k) plan?

Auto-Enrollment Popularity Soars Post-COVID

According to recent surveys, the majority of workers who have been automatically enrolled in employer-sponsored retirement savings plan have indicated that they are pleased with the decision. On the other hand, only about 30 percent of U.S. employers currently provide an auto-enrollment option. When asked whether they hoped their employer would offer financial wellness programs to help them better understand savings options, 80 percent of employees surveyed answered “yes”. At least one version of the “SECURE Act 2.0” bill would require a minimum 3 percent auto-enrollment rate for most newly adopted 401(k)s. Under the existing SECURE Act, small business owners may be entitled to a tax credit for adopting a plan that automatically enrolls employees. For more information on the tax credit, visit Tax Facts Online. Read More

Related Questions:

8553. When does a taxpayer qualify for the tax credit for the elderly and the permanently and totally disabled and how is the credit computed?

8554. When is a taxpayer entitled to claim the child tax credit?

PBGC Issues Interim Guidance on ARPA Special Financial Assistance for Multiemployer Pension Plans

The PBGC issued an interim final rule implementing the special financial assistance (SFA) rule for multiemployer pension plans in the American Rescue Plan Act. Eligible plans may apply to receive a lump-sum payment from a new Treasury-backed PBGC fund. Under the new rules, eligible plans are entitled to amounts that are sufficient to pay all benefits for the next 30 years. According to the PBGC interpretation, that means sufficient funds to forestall insolvency through 2051 (but not thereafter). Plans are entitled to receive the difference between their obligations and resources for the period. Surprisingly, the PBGC rule provides that SFA funds will be taken into account when calculating a plan’s withdrawal liability. However, plans are required to use mass withdrawal interest rate assumptions published by the PBGC when calculating withdrawal liability until the later of (1) 10 years after the end of the year in which the plan received the SFA or (2) the time when the plan no longer holds SFA funds. For more information on multiemployer pension plan withdrawal liability, visit Tax Facts Online. Read More

Related Questions:

3740. Are there any limitations on a pension plan’s ability to reduce participant benefit levels under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014?

3741. What procedures and notices are required in order for a pension plan to reduce participant benefit levels under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014?

Wealth & Risk Management Studies for Industry Professionals

The Texas A&M graduate programs for risk management for areas like wealth management, tax risk management, financial risk, economic crimes, ESG risk, are accepting applications for fall. Over 500 candidates are currently enrolled in the graduate courses yet maximum enrollment per course section is maintained at 30 so that each student receives meaningful feedback throughout the course from the full-time academic and professional part-time faculty. Check out the graduate program here: https://law.tamu.edu/distance-education

Texas A&M, an annual budget of $6.3 billion (FY2020), is the largest U.S. public university, one of only 60 accredited U.S. universities of the American Association of Universities (R1: Doctoral Universities – Highest Research Activity) and one of only 17 U.S. universities that hold the triple U.S. federal grant of Land, Sea, and Space! The law school has the #1 bar passage in Texas, and #1 for employment in Texas (and top 10 in U.S.)

• Ranked in top 20 public universities by Wall Street Journal / Times Higher Education (2020)
• #1 endowment for U.S. public universities, #7 overall
• #1 of U.S. public universities for a superior education at an affordable cost
• #1 for most CEOs employed by Fortune 500
• #1 employment outcome for law schools in Texas and in top 10 in the USA
• #1 bar passage in Texas
• Rank #11 by Money Best Colleges Report, 2021 and #5 in U.S. among public universities (Sources: U.S. Department of Education, Peterson’s, PayScale.com, Money/College Measures calculations)
• Texas A&M ranks #1 in Texas, #1 in the SEC, and #12 in the U.S. in Washington Monthly’s 2020 overall college rankings based on the quality of education, accessibility, graduation rates, student involvement, and research: see tx.ag/WashMonth20