CCH Issues Special Tax Briefing on Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008

Riverwoods, ILL – CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business and a leading provider of tax, accounting and audit information, software and services has issued a Special Tax Briefing on the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 (CCHGroup.com).

Of special concern to older taxpayers, the Act suspends – for 2009 only – the requirement that individuals over 70½ take required minimum distributions from their retirement plans such as IRAs and 401(k)s.

“This means that people will not be required to deplete their savings at a time when many accounts’ values have already been ravaged by declines in the stock market,” noted Mark Luscombe, JD, CPA, CCH principal federal tax analyst.

The Act did not address required minimum distributions for 2008. The CCH Briefing notes that the Treasury Department is considering some relief but has said it has “no timeframe” for any announcements.

The Act also addresses a number of issues for pension plans, easing funding requirements that have become difficult to meet as a result of the market downturn and also making a number of technical corrections to previous legislation. In addition, the Act makes it clear that rollovers of a dead person’s interest in a qualified plan to a non-spouse beneficiary is mandatory; the IRS had interpreted a provision in prior law as non-binding on plan administrators.

“The Act leaves some issues unaddressed, including a proposal made by President-elect Obama during the campaign that would allow greater access to retirement savings without penalty to help taxpayers cope with difficult economic times,” Luscombe noted. “But we’re looking forward to much more legislation in 2009.”

To read the CCH Special Tax Briefing on the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008, go to http://tax.cchgroup.com/legislation/2008-Work-Retire-Act.pdf.

About CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business
CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business (CCHGroup.com) is a leading provider of tax, accounting and audit information, software and services. It has served tax, accounting and business professionals since 1913. Among its market-leading products are The ProSystem fx® Office, CCH® TeamMate, CorpSystem®, CCH® Tax Research NetWork™, Accounting Research Manager® and the U.S. Master Tax Guide®. CCH is based in Riverwoods, Ill.

Wolters Kluwer is a leading global information services and publishing company. The company provides products and services globally for professionals in the health, tax, accounting, corporate, financial services, legal and regulatory sectors. Wolters Kluwer has annual revenues (2007) of €3.4 billion ($4.8 billion), maintains operations in over 33 countries across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific and employs approximately 19,500 people worldwide. Wolters Kluwer is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.wolterskluwer.com.