2018

IRS Announces 2019 Adjustments

CDHC Flexible Spending IRS Transit and Parking Section 132

Today, the IRS announced Revenue Procedure 2018-57 which provides the 2019 cost-of-living increases for inflation for certain items. In 2019, the:

  • Annual healthcare flexible spending account (FSA) contribution limits will increase $50 from the current amount of $2,650 to $2,700
  • Monthly limit for transit and parking will increase $5 from the current amount of $260 to $265
  • Annual maximum reimbursement for a qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangement (QSEHRA) will increase $100 for individual coverage from the current amount of $5,050 to $5,150, and the maximum reimbursement amount will increase $200 for family coverage from the current amount of $10,250 to $10,450

As a reminder, on May 10, 2018, the IRS announced 2019 health savings account (HSA) contributions limit increases. In 2019, the annual HSA contribution limit for individual coverage will increase $50 from the current $3,450 to $3,500, and the family coverage contribution limit will increase $100 from the current $6,900 to $7,000.

If you have any questions, please contact your Service Delivery Manager for more information. 

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ABG Presents Donation to Safe Passage

The senior management team at American Benefits Group was pleased to present this contribution on July 26th, to Sarah Smith, Director of Development, Safe Passage, an organization dedicated to the prevention and protection from domestic violence. In recognition of ABG being recognized as the 2018 Alegeus APEX winner for Operational Excellence and Efficiency, we were honored to select Safe Passage as our charitable recipient. 

https://safepass.org/about/

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2018 APEX award for Operational Efficiency and Excellence from Alegeus leadership

Cafeteria Plans CDHC COBRA

American Benefits Group (ABG) of Northampton MA, a leading national benefits service and solution provider in the health benefits industry has been recognized by healthcare benefits payments giant Alegeus as the 2018 APEX Award winner for Operational Efficiency and Excellence. The award was presented at the Alegeus National Conference on May 16th in Orlando Florida.

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HSA Family Maximum Contribution for 2018 to Remain at $6,900

Cafeteria Plans Compliance and Regulatory Health Savings HSA

On April 26, 2018, the IRS announced (through Rev. Proc. 2018-27) that the 2018 HSA maximum family contribution is reverting back to the original $6,900. As reported in March the IRS had previously announced a decreased limit of $6,850 (Rev. Proc. 2018-18).

In restating the original limit of $6,900, the IRS shared many reasons for the decision, including taxpayer complaints that the $50 limit reduction imposed “numerous unanticipated administrative and financial burdens” for those that had already maxed out their contributions before the reduction was announced, and administrators who had to modify their systems to reflect the reduction. Most interestingly, some stakeholders had pointed out the fact that Section 223 of the IRC requires the IRS to publish the annual inflation adjustments by June 1 of the preceding calendar year.

As a result of the new announcement, HSA eligible individuals with family coverage may now contribute up to $6,900 for 2018. Employers wanting to take advantage of the increased limit will need to make the appropriate adjustments in their payroll and benefits administration systems, if they had previously change the systems to reflect the $6,850 limit.

A further complication comes with the new announcement: Some employees had already maxed out the $6,900 before the March 5, 2018, reduction announcement. To help the employees avoid the 6 percent excise penalty tax for excess contributions, the employers already completed the corrective action of distributing the excess $50. Now, with the limit back at $6,900, that $50 is no longer considered an excess contribution. If the $50 was associated with employer contributions or employee pretax contributions, it would now be considered a nonqualified distribution, subject to a 20 percent excise penalty tax (plus income tax). To avoid the tax, the employees will need to work with the employer and HSA bank/trustee to repay the $50 to the HSA. The repayment will need to take place by April 15, 2019. Again, this last complication only applies to those employees who maxed out their contribution prior to March 5, 2018, due to employer or employee pretax contributions and whose employers had already refunded the excess $50 to them. 

Rev. Proc. 2018-27 »

IRS Announces Change to 2018 Family HSA Contribution Limit

Cafeteria Plans Compliance and Regulatory HSA IRS

On March 5, 2018, the IRS released Rev. Proc. 2018-18 (as part of Bulletin 2018-10). Due to changes made in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017 tax reform), certain adjustments needed to be made to inflation amounts. One of those adjustments is to the annual family contribution for HSA's in 2018. The family max contribution is decreased from $6,900 to $6,850. The single contribution limit remains unchanged at $3,450.

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