In BNA Tax & Accounting Webinar, IRS and Expert Practitioners Explain How to Avoid Section 409A Disasters

ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Get ready.  The IRS is signaling more Section 409A enforcement.  The agency's recent audit activity and document requests requiring comprehensive disclosures about plans and individuals subject to Section 409A confirm this trend.  Plan document and operational errors should be identified and corrected to avoid heavy tax penalties, according to a team of panelists in an upcoming BNA Tax & Accounting webinar, 409A: New Corrections Program for Nonqualified Plans, on January 28.

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"The new IRS guidance provides a means to correct plan document violations of Section 409A," explains BNA senior tax analyst Sharon Fountain. "However, timing is important. Under a special transition rule, for example, corrections must be made by the end of 2010."

Experts from the IRS and the Groom Law Group will analyze new IRS guidance on correcting Section 409A plan document failures and will discuss opportunities and potential pitfalls under the guidance.  The panel will identify commonly occurring hazards -- including ambiguous plan terms and impermissible definitions and payment events, to name just a few -- and will offer practical solutions to help tax planners avoid costly and damaging results.

This webinar will:

• Identify opportunities to correct certain document failures with limited or no income inclusion or additional taxes
• Review the scope of this relief based on whether the correction affects plan operation within one year of the correction
• Analyze common document correction scenarios and any related operational correction requirements
• Highlight clarifications in the new guidance that certain common plan provisions do not result in document failures
• Note clarifications to the operational correction program in the new guidance
• Discuss any alternatives to the operational and document correction programs

This 60-90 minute webinar will start at 12:30 pm ET. Continuing education credits are available.

About the Speakers

Stephen B. Tackney, Senior Counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, IRS, Washington, DC.

Brigen L. Winters is a principal at Groom Law Group, Chartered, where he co-chairs the firm's Policy and Legislation practice group and also works with the firm's Executive Compensation, Plan Design and Taxation, Multiemployer/Taft-Hartley Plans, and Health and Welfare practice groups.  His practice includes counseling plan sponsors and financial institutions regarding deferred compensation, tax-qualified, and health and welfare arrangements, and advising individual employers, coalitions, and trade associations on legislative and regulatory matters.

Mr. Winters returned to the firm in January 2002 after serving for three years as majority tax counsel to the House Committee on Ways and Means. Over the last several years, Mr. Winters has worked extensively on executive and nonqualified deferred compensation issues, including compliance and plan design issues related to Section 409A. He has also worked extensively on the pension funding and other changes that were enacted as part of the Pension Protection Act of 2006.

Jeffrey W. Kroh is a principal at Groom Law Group, Chartered, where he works with the firm's Executive Compensation and Plan Design and Taxation practice groups. His practice focuses on the design and administration of executive deferred compensation plans, equity compensation plans, and qualified retirement plans for large public and private companies. Prior to Groom, he worked on matters relating to a broad spectrum of tax, securities law, and ERISA issues as an employee benefits generalist.

Mr. Kroh has written articles and assisted clients on various topics relating to executive compensation such as the design and compliance of nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements under Section 409A, TARP restrictions for certain financial institutions, annual and long-term bonus plans, change in control and severance arrangements, equity compensation, and other "top-hat" plan and deferred compensation issues.

Register for this webinar and obtain further information about CLE and CPE credits, go to:  http://www.bnatax.com/CLE-CPE-Information/ or call 1-800-372-1033, menu Option 6, then Option 1. The fee is $249 for BNA subscribers, $299 for nonsubscribers.

To receive automatic, email notification of upcoming BNA webinars that may be of interest to you, go to: http://www.bna.com/emailsignup.htm

About BNA Tax & Accounting Webinars

BNA Tax & Accounting is the foremost source of tax and accounting research, news, practice tools, and guidance for tax attorneys, CPAs, corporate tax managers, estate planners, and financial accountants.  Designed for today's busy practitioners, our webinars offer the same expertise and relevance that are the hallmark of all BNA Tax & Accounting resources. In just 60-90 minutes, practitioners gain in-depth knowledge on a current tax or accounting topic from experts in that area -- and benefit from practical applications that can be put to work immediately. Conference attendees have the opportunity to ask the speakers questions, and may be eligible to earn CLE or CPE credits -- all from the convenience of their own office or conference room.

SOURCE BNA Tax & Accounting