Regulatory Updates

April 27, 2018 – The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has re-established $6,900 as the 2018 health savings account (HSA) contribution limit for individuals with family coverage under a high deductible health plan (HDHP). This limit was previously announced as $6,900 in May 2017, but was revised to $6,850 in March 2018 due to an inflation…

Effective April 1, 2018, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, a branch of the Department of Transportation, will begin enforcement of the following if a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) driver is found not using an electronic logging device (ELD) or automatic onboard recording device (AOBRD), which is required while operating a CMV. • The driver could be cited for not properly recording…

March 7, 2018 – In Internal Revenue Bulletin 2018-10, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) describes changes to the limit on health savings accounts (HSAs) as prescribed by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. For calendar year 2018, the annual limitation on deductions under Internal Revenue Code Section 223(b)(2)(B) for an individual with family coverage…

January 24, 2018 – On Jan. 22, 2018, President Donald Trump signed into law a short-term continuing spending resolution to end the government shutdown and continue funding through Feb. 8, 2018. The continuing resolution impacts three taxes and fees under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Specifically, the continuing resolution: Delays implementation of the Cadillac tax…

January 5, 2018 – On Dec. 22, 2017, President Donald Trump signed into law the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Act). The Act makes significant changes to the federal Internal Revenue Code (Code), including changes that impact employee benefits. Effective for 2018: Employers cannot deduct expenses associated with qualified transportation fringe benefit programs; Employees cannot…

The DOT has recently added opioids as one of the drugs tested for in the Federal Drug Testing Program. Does this concern you? If your organization’s Drug and Alcohol policy specifies the other drugs included in the policy, then you are required to add opioids to that list. If you do not include other drugs,…

December 22, 2017 – The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued Notice 2018-06 to extend the deadline for furnishing forms under sections 6055 and 6056 for 2017 to March 2, 2018, from January 31, 2018. The notice also extends the good-faith transition relief from penalties related to 2017 information reporting under Sections 6055 and 6056. There is no…

December 20, 2017 – The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it is accepting injury and illness reports through Dec. 31, 2017. Establishments affected by OSHA’s new electronic reporting rule that have yet to submit data may still do so without penalty through the end of the year. OSHA’s original first deadline for electronic reporting was July 1, though…

September 18, 2017 – Equifax, one of the largest credit reporting agencies in the United States, was recently the victim of a massive cyber attack, potentially compromising the personal information of 143 million people. The breach itself occurred between mid-May and July 2017 when cyber criminals gained access to sensitive data by exploiting a weak…