The time for waiting is over. While reasonable, good faith operational compliance with Section 409A has been required since January 1, 2005, full operational and written compliance with the new rules under Section 409A related to deferred compensation is required by January 1, 2009. This affects virtually all of your executive agreements, severance plans, equity arrangements and more, and failure to comply will result in automatic tax penalties on affected employees.
WilmerHale will present a panel discussion with our tax lawyers as they provide practical guidance to help attendees develop both a short-term strategy to be compliant by year end and a long-term strategy to ensure that you remain compliant.