Pension law in the United States generally refers to the federal statutes and regulations governing: labor law regarding the establishment (primarily ERISA), maintenance, and termination of pension plans; tax treatment of pension plans and pension distributions; provisions of securities law relevant to pension plans; pension-related bankruptcy laws; protection against age discrimination and other requirements imposed on pensions. Pension law also incorporates judicial decisions with respect to those federal statutes and regulations.
Pension plans and benefits may also be subject to state law.
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The primary law governing the establishment, maintenance, and termination of pension plans in the United States is the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). ERISA includes various provisions of labor law, as well as provisions of tax law that parallel certain provisions in the Internal Revenue Code. (Tax law provisions of ERISA will be separately addressed in the tax law section below.)
Various federal tax provisions of the Internal Revenue Code apply to pension plans. Similar rules apply to profit-sharing plans and stock bonus plans, which are commonly used for retirement savings. Significant portions of these tax law provisions parallel portions of ERISA (see discussion in a preceding section of this article).
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