• An Early 'Christmas Gift' from Congress May Arrive—Year-End 'Minibus' Would Repeal Several Tax Rules
• Reminder to Update Benefits Access
• Systems Unavailable—December 31
• Holiday Closings—Christmas and New Year's Day

An Early 'Christmas Gift' from Congress May Arrive—Year-End 'Minibus' Would Repeal Several Tax Rules

This week, Congress' House of Representatives passed two year-end "minibus" packages that offer some tax relief for many employers and plan sponsors in The United Methodist Church (UMC). The bills repeal the so-called parking lot tax on tax-exempt employers and the Cadillac plan tax on high-cost employer health plans. The bills also clarify that non-QCCOs (non-qualified church-controlled organizations) such as children's homes, older adult facilities, hospitals and universities can continue to participate in denominational church plans, like Wespath's United Methodist Personal Investment Plan (UMPIP). This is welcome news for many UMC plan sponsors and employers. The government's minibus funding packages received bipartisan approval in the House, and similar Senate approval is expected later this week. Any bill passed by Congress does not become law until it is signed by the President.

The following provisions impact UMC plan sponsors and employers:

• Repeal of UBIT parking lot tax—The bill repeals the Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT) for certain fringe benefit expenses, including parking and other transportation benefits for employees. The UBIT tax on parking and transportation fringe benefits was part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that took effect in January 2018.
   
  Wespath—as a standing member of the multidenominational Church Alliance—actively supported repeal of the UBIT parking tax, including supporting this Church Alliance comment letter in February 2019. More information about the parking tax was provided in the December 14, 2018 issue of On Board Express.
   
• Repeal of the Cadillac tax—The so-called "Cadillac tax" was a provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), designed to apply an excise tax on high-cost health insurance plans in an attempt to lower health care costs. Congress previously had delayed implementation of the Cadillac tax for several years.
   
• Non-QCCO clarification—The legislation clarifies the ability of certain church-controlled organizations—including some church-affiliated children's homes, daycare programs, older adult facilities, hospitals and universities—to provide retirement benefits for employees through employer 403(b)(9) retirement plans like Wespath's UMPIP.

Reminder to Update Benefits Access

As the year-end approaches, we would like to remind all conferences to please be timely with updates to Benefits Access for all participant-related changes effective January 1, 2020. The January 1, 2020 data in Benefits Access is used for the actuarial valuations performed in 2020 for the 2022 contributions. It is important for this data to be accurate and up-to-date.

The January 1, 2020 pay rates entered into Benefits Access impact the 2022 Denominational Average Compensation (DAC), and to the extent this data is not current, the DAC will not be either. Also, updates to appointment percentages for January 1, 2020 impact the 2020 actuarial liabilities and the resulting 2022 contributions. Therefore, it is important that the Benefits Access system is updated timely for January 1, 2020 data changes.

Please contact your Conference Liaison or Plan Sponsor Manager with any questions.

Systems Unavailable—December 31

Wespath Portal, Benefits Access (participant and plan sponsor portals), Contribution Management, Wespath Institutional Investor Portals and the Comprehensive Benefit Funding Plan will be unavailable Tuesday, December 31 at 8:00 p.m. through the early evening of January 1, 2020, to allow for system maintenance and updates.

We apologize for any inconvenience this brief outage may cause.

Holiday Closings—Christmas and New Year's Day

Wespath will close at 3:00 p.m., Central time, on Tuesday, December 24, and will remain closed through Wednesday, December 25, in observance of Christmas. Wespath will also be closed on Wednesday, January 1, in observance of New Year's Day. Customer service assistance will be unavailable during these times.

Benefits Access for participants can be used to access account information and complete transactions 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The automated phone system, accessible by calling 1-800-851-2201, will also be available for participants.

The Wespath Institutional Investor Portal and Benefit Access Portal for Plan Sponsors will be available to plan sponsors, conferences and institutions.

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