‘Roth’ SECURE 2.0 Provisions Threaten Retirement Plan Catch-Ups

The short-term funding method Congress used to pay for its massive workplace retirement access law late last year has left employers confused and prodding regulators for relief.

“Roth” provisions, which require post-tax rather than pre-tax retirement contributions, are littered throughout the SECURE 2.0 Act (Pub. L. No. 117-328) in sections related to contributions by high-income workers near retirement, employer matches, and even the simple individual accounts—unlike 401(k)s—that have historically avoided complex tax calculations.

This “Rothification” of SECURE 2.0 has introduced a host of unanswered compliance questions and left the IRS scrambling to clear things up before some new ...