Employers could provide employees investment advice under house bill. (news briefs).Employers would be able to offer professional investment advice (including advice on how to invest for retirement) to their employees under a bill passed recently by the House of Representatives that is supported by the accounting profession. H.R. 2269 would repeal The Annulment or abrogation of a previously existing statute by the enactment of a later law that revokes the former law. The revocation of the law can either be done through an express repeal the Employment Retirement Income Security Act's ban on investment advice paid for by employers, with some restrictions, so those employers would not be held responsible for professional financial advice they make available to their employees. Under the bill, employers could provide financial advice to their employees by contracting with investment advisers registered under state or federal law, banks, insurance companies and registered brokers or dealers. The Senate is expected to consider this issue this year. A law passed last year that the AICPA AICPA See American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). pushed for took a first step toward allowing employers to provide professional investment advice. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Act of 2001 amended the Internal Revenue Code The Internal Revenue Code is the body of law that codifies all federal tax laws, including income, estate, gift, excise, alcohol, tobacco, and employment taxes. These laws constitute title 26 of the U.S. Code (26 U.S.C.A. § 1 et seq. so that "qualified retirement planning Retirement financial planning refers to a collection of systems, methods, and processes which, in their aggregate, support a family unit's (client's) desire to achieve a state of financial independence, such that the need to be gainfully employed is optional. services" for employees and their spouses, when paid for by the employer, are considered to be an employer de minimus fringe benefit fringe benefit Any nonwage payment or benefit granted to employees by employers. Examples include pension plans, profit-sharing programs, vacation pay, and company-paid life, health, and unemployment insurance. that is excludable from gross income and wages for employment tax purposes. |
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