The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently gave a makeover to its Web resource page for large plan audits. The update was done to give more assistance to plan sponsors by posting helpful tips about the Employee Plans Team Audit (EPTA) process.

With well over half of all employees dependent on their employer’s retirement plan to finance their retirement, the U.S. House of Representatives has introduced a bill that would increase fee transparency, according to a recent “Employee Benefit News” article. The 401(k) Fair Disclosure for Retirement Security Act (H.R. 1984) would require employers to give their employees better access to information on how plan-related fees affect the balance of their retirement accounts.

Since September 2008, almost a quarter of employers have suspended matching contributions to their employees’ 401(k) retirement plan accounts. That’s the finding of a recent study conducted by CFO Research Services for investment company Charles Schwab.

Amidst the economic turmoil our country is facing, the government issued a Financial Regulatory Reform proposal on June 17, 2009 focusing on key objectives in hopes to enable a more secure economic foundation. Under the Protect Consumers and Investors from Financial Abuse objective, the government proposed promoting retirement security for all Americans by strengthening employment-based and private retirement plans and encouraging adequate savings. The enactment of the “Automatic IRA” and a strengthened saver’s credit is also planned.

Qualified retirement plans generally are exempt from federal income tax, providing that they comply with Department of Labor (DOL) standardized administrative requirements and ERISA regulations. Such as with all individuals and entities subject to federal tax laws, qualified retirement plans are also susceptible to audits by the Internal Revenue Services (IRS). Bringing light to the reasons behind qualified retirement plan failures, a recent article provided the common plan failures and auditing regulations for qualified retirement plans. The article referenced the IRS, stating that their Web site announced their intention to conduct audits this year to analyze operational features of retirement plans.

With the federal government submerged in billions of dollars of bail-out related debt, many Americans fear a potential increase in taxes within the coming years could impact their retirement savings. But there is something that can be done now to prevent taxes on retirement withdrawals later. According to a Chicago Tribune article, rolling over your retirement savings now from a regular IRA or 401(k) plan into a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k) savings plan will keep the federal government from taxing your hard-earned savings during your retirement years.

During this recession, many companies have looked at reducing or dropping the employer match in their 401k plans as a way of saving money. While this can have an immediate impact on a company’s bottom line, employers should be aware that many employees often stop contributing to the plan if there is no match, according to BusinessManagementDaily.com.

What can a company do, then, if they have little choice but to suspend the employer contribution? The article offers these tips:

If you are thinking about taking out a consumer loan, you may want to think again. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal says that Americans could save almost $5 billion a year ($275 per household) if they took loans via their 401(k) retirement accounts instead.