May 13, 2014
IRS: Conducting 50 Audits for Section 409A
– Broc Romanek, CompensationStandards.com
In his blog, McGuireWoods’ Steven Kittrell reports that the IRS announced last week that it has selected 50 companies to get a special 409A audit (also see this Groom memo). The lucky winners have already won the audit lottery by being selected for an employment tax audit. In the 409A component, the IRS auditors will be looking at:
– initial deferral elections;
-subsequent deferral elections; and
– payments, including the six-month delay for specified employees.
The inclusion of the six-month delay indicates that all of the recipients of this IRS 409A review will be public companies. The focus will be on the top 10 highest compensated employees.