Kirk Sherman

About Kirk Sherman

Since 1984, I have focus­ed on key employee com­pen­sa­tion, deferred com­pen­sa­tion strate­gies, and insurance-based com­pen­sa­tion.

Comparing 2011 Form 990 to 2010

Kirk Sherman on 03/05/2012

The IRS 2011 Annual Report & 2012 Work Plan reports: FY2011 marked the end of the three-year phase-in of the redesigned Form 990. [T]his means the lead-up time is over, and the redesign has begun to pay off by pro­vid­ing … Con­tinue read­ing →

Comments Off

The Future of Noncompetes

Kirk Sherman on 12/28/2011

Thou­sands of non­qual­i­fied deferred com­pen­sa­tion plans use non­com­pete restric­tions as sub­stan­tial risks of for­fei­ture (SRFs) to defer taxes under 457(f). If the yet-to-be pub­lished 457(f) guid­ance does as expected and “dis­al­lows” non­com­petes, the restric­tions will still have a role to … Con­tinue read­ing →

Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

Repeat Lesson from Great-grandfathered 457(f) Plans

Kirk Sherman on 12/20/2011

Indi­vid­u­als who par­tic­i­pated in a tax-exempt organization’s non­qual­i­fied deferred com­pen­sa­tion plan on August 16, 1986, are not sub­ject to 457(f). Rather, they are taxed on basic con­struc­tive receipt prin­ci­ples, the same as par­tic­i­pants in plans spon­sored by tax­able employ­ers. That … Con­tinue read­ing →

Tagged , , | Comments Off

§ 457(f) regs to “clean-up” § 409A

Kirk Sherman on 12/08/2011

A key IRS attor­ney said last week that the § 457(f) reg­u­la­tions will be used as a vehi­cle to do some § 409A “clean-up.” He also referred to the ini­tial guid­ance being pro­posed rules. These com­ments seem to indi­cate that … Con­tinue read­ing →

Tagged , , | Comments Off

Advanced notice of proposed rules gives glimpse of IRS position on federal credit unions’ §§ 457(b) and (f) plans

Kirk Sherman on 11/09/2011

This week the IRS pub­lished draft pro­posed rules defin­ing gov­ern­ments and gov­ern­ment related enti­ties for qual­i­fied plan pur­poses. 76 FR 69172. Resolv­ing a six-year con­tro­versy, the draft rules also state that for pur­poses of non-qualified deferred com­pen­sa­tion plans, fed­eral credit … Con­tinue read­ing →

Tagged , , , | Comments Off

IRS announces pension plan limits for 2012

Kirk Sherman on 10/25/2011

The IRS bumped the 2012 elec­tive defer­ral limit for 457(b) plans from $16,500 to $17,000, along with a num­ber of infla­tion adjust­ments. High­lights include: The elec­tive defer­ral (con­tri­bu­tion) limit for employ­ees who par­tic­i­pâté in 401(k), 403(b), most 457(b) plans, and … Con­tinue read­ing →

Tagged , | Comments Off

IRS releases Priority Guidance Plan

Kirk Sherman on 09/14/2011

Last week the IRS released its 2011–2012 Pri­or­ity Guid­ance Plan, detail­ing the areas it will focus on in its work year that began July 1. There aren’t any sur­prises or new items of sig­nif­i­cance to key employee com­pen­sa­tion. It is … Con­tinue read­ing →

Tagged , , | Comments Off

IRS Walks Back September Date

Kirk Sherman on 06/16/2011

Recent chat­ter about the new 457(f) reg­u­la­tions being pub­lished in Sep­tem­ber may have been pre­ma­ture. Cheryl Press, the senior IRS attor­ney who was quoted as tar­get­ing the Sep­tem­ber date, on June 15 stated that her pro­jec­tion might be “wish­ful think­ing.” … Con­tinue read­ing →

Tagged , , | Comments Off

Interview re: Proposed Incentive Compensation Rules for Credit Unions

Kirk Sherman on 04/12/2011

Aaron Stein­berg from the Safety & Sound­ness Report turned to Kirk Sher­man of Sher­man & Pat­ter­son for a dis­cus­sion about new pro­posed rules regard­ing incen­tive com­pen­sa­tion in credit unions. The arti­cle reviews key pro­vi­sions of the pro­posed rules and out­lines … Con­tinue read­ing →

Tagged , | Comments Off

Section 457(f) Regulations — Getting Closer to Publication?

Kirk Sherman on 03/11/2011

After nearly a year’s silence, Cheryl Press, an IRS Senior Attor­ney work­ing on the reg­u­la­tions, addressed the reg­u­la­tions on March 10, 2011. Speak­ing at a con­fer­ence, she did not address when the reg­u­la­tions might be issued, but instead described a … Con­tinue read­ing →

Tagged , , , , | Comments Off