Bloomberg BNA has reported on non-binding treasury remarks that imply the “fiscal year” transitional rules in the employer shared responsibility proposed regulations that were published on January 2, 2013, apply to non-calendar year plans. On February 7, 2013, Mireille Khoury, special counsel in the Office of Chief Counsel at the Internal Revenue Service and Kevin P. Knopf, attorney-adviser in Treasury’s Office of Benefits Tax Counsel, spoke at the annual Joint Meeting of the Great Lakes, Gulf Coast, and Pacific Coast Area Tax-Exempt and Government Entities Division councils and Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Pension Liaison groups. Bloomberg reports that Khoury spoke of the transitional relief for non-calendar year health plans for 2014 that allows employers that were sponsors of non-calendar year plans as of December 27, 2012 to have until the 2014 start date of their plan year for brining their plans into compliance with the shared responsibility rules. Welcome relief for those health plans that are non-calendar year and non-fiscal year? Maybe. These remarks may be unofficial, but they are welcome support for the contention that “fiscal year plans” – the phrase used in the regulations – includes all non-calendar year plans. Read more
