Rules Issued on Excess Remuneration Paid by Exempt Organizations

The 2017 Tax Act imposed a penalty on excess compensation paid to employees of an applicable exempt organizations (“ATEO”). Code §4960 imposes an excise tax of 21 percent on compensation paid to a covered employee in excess of $1 million and on any excess parachute payments paid to a covered employee.  A “covered employee” is any employee (or former employee) who is one of the five highest – compensated employees of the organization for the taxable year or was a covered employee of the organization (or any predecessor) for any preceding taxable year.

The IRS has issued Notice 2019-9, which contains interim rules on how the excise tax will apply. Some interesting aspects of the new statute and rules are summarized below. . .