Alvin D. Lurie (Alvin D. Lurie, P.C., New Rochelle, NY) has published Grandpa Still Hiding in Proposed Deferred Compensation Regs, 109 Tax Notes 1187 (Nov. 28, 2005), also available on the Tax Analysts web site as Doc 2005-23251, 2005 TNT 228-20. Here is the Conclusion:
I would not want to trade places with Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, who are still untried for their alleged misdeeds in the management of the rise and fall of Enron, but the irony is that we in the pension business are now being sorely tried almost daily for the sins of that energy colossus as we expend the energy needed to cope with legislation that was a direct response to the Enron debacle. Words like "overkill" come quickly to mind, but then one might be comforted by the knowledge that when laws are excessive so are the legal actions and concomitant fees associated with coping. Section 409A is destined to become the very model of such an exercise.




