DOL & IRS Ramping Up Enforcement
Posted on Wed, Sep 07, 2011
The DOL & IRS are ramping up enforcement efforts for retirement plan compliance.
The Obama administration has been increasing the IRS and DOL staff to combat the large number of retirement plans that it says are not compliant with retirement planning rules and regulations.
The DOL says 77% of 401(k) plans are non-compliant in some form.
At a recent conference John Carl president of the Retirement Learning Center discussed the increased enforcement efforts. While 2009 was a bad year for the economy, Carl said, it wasn’t so bad for DOL — it added 997 employees that year — with 70% of those employees added to its enforcement division. The department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), for instance, saw a 28% budget increase in 2009, and EBSA added 29 enforcement personnel.
The targets for the IRS are U.S. companies owned by foreign entities; 403(b) plans; and small business owners.
