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School Zone
New IRS Regulation
Pertaining to DCPS Employees with Tax-Sheltered
Annuities
Effective January 1, 2009, a new IRS
regulation is mandating a higher level of accountability
for the operation of 403(b) plans.
Due to the additional responsibility
assigned to the employers who sponsor such programs,
four Florida major education groups joined hands to
request that the Independent Benefits Council (IBC)
outline requirements and review proposals to develop a
model plan and select vendors who provide the best
quality, service, and pricing for employees statewide.
The four education groups are as follows:
-The Florida Education Association (FEA)
-Florida Association of District School Superintendents
(FADSS)
-Florida School Boards Association (FSBA)
-The Florida Association of School Administrators (FASA)
The Model Plan
includes five authorized providers: AIG Retirement (VALIC),
AXAEquitable, American Century Investment, Plan Member
Financial, Waddell and Reed. In addition, ING Retirement
is available as a participating company through DCPS
since they met all the criteria established by the IBC.
Click here
for a complete list
of providers and representatives with their contact
information.
Salary reduction contributions may only
be made to the companies who meet the new IRS
requirements and are authorized by the school board
effective January 1, 2009. All current TSA deductions
will continue unless otherwise directed through the last
paycheck in December. Employees who have accounts with
authorized companies listed above will be able to
continue deductions in 2009 without any further action.
However, for those employees who
currently have deductions with companies which will no
longer be participating effective January 1, 2009, your
deductions to those companies will stop. You may leave
your funds in said accounts or transfer the funds to one
of the authorized companies. The decision should be
made only after investigating the impact of surrender
fees or withdrawal charges, if any. To continue
contributions to a tax-sheltered program, you should
contact the list of authorized providers or refer to
their websites for additional information. A new salary
reduction agreement will need to be submitted to the
Risk Management/Employee Benefits Department in order to
initiate a deduction with an authorized company.
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