Posted: 6/2008

A voluntary employees' beneficiary association (VEBA) is a trust that is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code, through which an employer provides welfare benefits such as life, sick, accident, or other benefits to active or retired employees or their beneficiaries.  Clients often ask us to explain the advantages of establishing or maintaining a VEBA trust.  In addition, VEBAs have received some press attention recently because several established industrial companies have transferred the present value of retiree health care liabilities to a VEBA that is maintained by an independent board of trustees.

The attached article highlights some of the primary reasons that an employer may use a VEBA trust to fund welfare benefits for active employees and/or retirees rather than paying for such benefits out of the employer's general assets.  The attachment to the article describes the wide variety of services that Groom Law Group provides in the VEBA area based on decades of experience.

For more information please contact Lou Mazawey, Christine Keller, Bob Valer.