The Employee Plans Office is responsible for ensuring that plan sponsors, individuals and benefits practitioners understand and comply with the tax law governing retirement plans and IRAs. It’s part of the Tax-Exempt and Government Entities Division of the IRS. Departments of the Employee Plans office Determinations – Reviews retirement plan documents and gives assurance to plan sponsors that their documents are written according to the rules Technical – Provides private letter rulings on certain limited topics to individual requestors Voluntary Compliance – Administers IRS programs that allow plan sponsors to correct self-identified problems in plan documents or operations Examinations – Reviews taxpayer books and records to ensure that plans provide the promised benefits and comply with all relevant laws Customer Account Services – Answers account and basic retirement plan-related questions Administrative responsibility for retirement plans The Employee Plans Office was created in 1974, following enactment of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, to help protect the retirement benefits of employees. Under ERISA, jurisdiction over employee benefit plans was divided among the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. The IRS primarily looks at participation, vesting and funding issues. The DOL primarily looks at fiduciary responsibility and prohibited transactions. The PBGC insures a minimum guaranteed benefit under certain pension plans. Although jurisdiction is divided among the IRS, DOL and PBGC, ERISA requires them to coordinate their activities. Related Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council (IRSAC) Recommendations for employee plans from our public advisory council Retirement Planning (MyMoney.gov) Tools for retirement planning Statistical information on retirement plans Private Pension Plan Bulletin – Abstract of Form 5500 Annual Reports DOL statistics on plans, participants, assets, income and expenses based on Form 5500 filings PBGC Annual Report PBGC statistics on defined benefit plans, including multiemployer plans Pension Insurance Data Book Detailed statistics on PBGC program operations and benefit protection
