Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service: Statement in Preamble to Regulations That Cash Balance Plans Are Not Age-Discriminatory
Abstract
We found nothing improper about the inclusion of the preamble sentence. Treasury followed its normal procedures and the sentence reflected the agency's views at the time. We also found that Treasury's addition of the sentence did not violate APA or OBRA 86 requirements. Nevertheless, while the coordination requirement technically was inapplicable, the underlying expectation was for consistency among the three agencies having roles in administering statutes generally prohibiting pension plans from discriminating based on age. Under the circumstances, Treasury should not have opined on whether cash balance plans were age discriminatory in a public manner without having coordinated that position with DOL and EEOC. The preamble sentence may have misled the public and practitioners into believing that the sentence reflected the coordinated views of all three of the responsible agencies. Moreover, the statement may have limited the other agencies policy options on this issue.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 21, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA387775
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office