Compliance

Seeking to break a stalemate that is threatening 160 million workers with Jan. 1 tax increases, President Barack Obama urged the top leaders of Congress Wednesday to first pass a short-term extension while promising to work with lawmakers on a full-year measure.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. released Tuesday advance informational copies of the 2011 Form 5500 annual return/report and related instructions.

House and Senate leaders traded demands Wednesday but remained mired in a bitter holiday-season stalemate that is threatening 160 million workers with Jan. 1 tax increases and millions of the long-term unemployed with an end to their benefits.

The House Tuesday rejected legislation to extend a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits for two months, drawing a swift rebuke from President Barack Obama that Republicans were threatening higher taxes on 160 million workers on Jan. 1.

The American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries and the Council of Independent 401(k) Recordkeepers sent a letter to the Department of Labor requesting it extend the applicability dates of fee disclosure regulations that affect both plan sponsors and plan participants.

Michigan employers are likely to save money on unemployment insurance and worker's compensation under changes signed into law Monday by Gov. Rick Snyder. Critics, though, said the moves could make it more difficult for injured and jobless workers to get the benefits they need.

According to the IRS, what is the maximum amount that eligible taxpayers can receive through a tax credit known as the Savers Credit?

With neither side showing signs of yielding, a bitterly divided House debated a Republican effort Tuesday to force the Senate to negotiate a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits that expire on New Year's Day.