Employee Stock Ownership Plans (“ESOPs”) are federally qualified employee benefit programs governed by U.S. law. Since our president and founder, John Menke, wrote some of the original ESOP legislation in 1974, more than 25 additional laws have been passed to promote and broaden the benefits of ESOPs. In general, ESOPs offer owners of companies tax…
I. PROVISIONS AFFECTING ESOPS S Corp UBIT Exemption The unrelated business income tax (“UBIT”) exemption that currently applies to S corporation ESOPs, together with the related §409(p) anti-abuse provisions, have been made permanent. These provisions were scheduled to expire at the end of 2010. As the result of PPA, these provisions have been made permanent,…
I. INCREASES IN CONTRIBUTION, DEDUCTION AND BENEFIT LIMITS Contribution Deduction Limits. The limit on an employer’s deduction for contributions to a non-leveraged ESOP or a profit sharing plan is increased from 15% to 25% of participants’ aggregate compensation. 401(k) deferrals are not counted for purposes of the deduction limits. However, 401(k) deferrals will be included…