IRS issues guidance for employee benefit plans in wake of Obergefell decision.
The IRS has provided guidance on how the Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that struck down a four-state same-sex marriage ban, will affect qualified retirement, health, and welfare plans. The IRS noted that, while that decision requires states to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, these marriages have already been recognized for federal tax law purposes under Windsor and the IRS’s post-Windsor guidance; therefore, there won’t be much of an effect. But the IRS stated that some plan sponsors may alter aspects of their employee benefit plans, or how their plans are administered, in response to Obergefell. In addition, some plan sponsors have asked for clarification of the application of Obergefell to certain changes to employee benefit plans, such as a discretionary expansion of benefits that is not required under the federal tax rules.