Kelly Bullis
Mark Twain once wrote, “I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning … politics a man’s reasoning powers are not above the monkeys.”
Two years ago, in the Nevada Legislature, passed one of the most invasive, intrusive and unnecessary bills mostly pushed through by the Democrats and signed by a Republican governor.
The application of this new law is mandatory for employers with more than five employees. They must auto enroll all their employees in the new Nevada Employee Savings Trust Program. They must withhold an estimated 3-5% from each employee’s compensation, a contribution amount to be deposited into this new Employee Savings Trust Program.
The registration process begins July 1 of this year, all employers with 1,000 or more employees must go to the new website (which isn’t up yet) to do this registration. Employers with 500 up to 999 employees must register by Jan. 1, 2026. Employers with 100 up to 499 employees must register by July 1, 2026, and employers with fewer than 100 employees must register by Jan. 1, 2027. You don’t have to wait until your slot.
Employees must be 18 or older, be paid wages subject to the Nevada Modified Business Tax, and have worked at least 120 days for the employer.
Employers (for profit and non-profit alike) must be in operation for at least 36 months and not be offering a qualified retirement plan within the current or previous three calendar years.
The deduction is considered pre-tax money, so the employee will have their taxable wages reduced by the contribution. Per the law’s definition, this is basically a state-operated IRA.
Employees can opt-out in writing with their employer.
So now, all Nevada employers have one more red-tape burden to comply with in order to do business in Nevada. Even if they have an alternative retirement plan, they still must register their business with this new money-wasting state bureaucracy.
If you are an employer, the best thing for you to do is to start at least a basic retirement plan, like a Simple 401k plan, so you can check the box and then tell the state to go jump in a lake.
If the state was so gosh darned worried about employees’ retirement, why do they have to create their own IRA fund that they manage? Banks have been administering IRAs for decades. Why not just require each employee to have at least an IRA account or to give their employer a written opt-out? Why does this have to be such a huge, intrusive, new bureaucracy? What ulterior motive is there for the state having a hand in managing these private citizen retirement funds?
Have you heard? Proverbs 14:23 says, “In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.”
Kelly Bullis is a Certified Public Accountant in Carson City. Contact him at 775-882-4459. On the web at BullisAndCo.com. Also on Facebook.