The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (P.L. 117-328) includes the Worker Opportunity, Readiness and Knowledge (WORK) Act, sponsored by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Jerry Moran (R-KS), which creates the Employee Ownership Initiative at the DOL to promote employee ownership and directs the DOL to provide formal guidance on the vital issue of properly valuing shares of company stock to be bought by an ESOP– a key rule long missing from the ESOP regulatory landscape. The law included new provisions allowing S corporation ESOPs limited use of section 1042 tax deferral.
The ESOP Association
ESOP Association Resources
Dec. 20
Congressional negotiators early this morning released the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 which includes numerous top priority provisions sought by The ESOP Association on behalf of its membership.
Dec. 14
The ESOP Association released the following statement on the unexpected passing of Will Raap, a visionary leader in employee ownership, organic gardening, and locally sourced and sustainable food.
Mar. 14
Washington, DC, March 14, 2022 - The ESOP Association and American Benefits Council jointly filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in support of the belief that ESOP plans need, and have, the ability to require individual arbitration to resolve individual participant disputes. A previous District Court ruling has the potential to eliminate individual arbitration, which would dramatically increase the litigation costs for companies with employee defined-contribution retirement plans, such as ESOPs and 401(k)s.
Mar. 01
Des Moines Iowa, March 1, 2022 –Today Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds returned to Library Binding Services (LBS Inc.), a 100% employee-owned business, to sign into law legislation to eliminate state taxes on retirement income, including taxes on Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP) distributions. This important change has the power to motivate more Iowa business owners to sell their businesses to their employees as a business succession plan.