Section 409A Limit “Section 409A Limit” will mean two (2) times the lesser of: (i) Executive’s annualized compensation based upon the annual rate of pay paid to Executive during the Executive’s taxable year preceding the Executive’s taxable year of Executive’s termination of employment as determined under, and with such adjustments as are set forth in, Treasury Regulation 1.409A-1(b)(9)(iii)(A)(1) and any Internal Revenue Service guidance issued with respect thereto; or (ii) the maximum amount that may be taken into account under a qualified plan pursuant to Section 401(a)(17) of the Code for the year in which Executive’s employment is terminated.
Elective Deferrals Any Employer contributions made to the Plan at the election of the Participant, in lieu of cash compensation, and shall include contributions made pursuant to a salary reduction agreement or other deferral mechanism. With respect to any taxable year, a Participant's Elective Deferral is the sum of all employer contributions made on behalf of such Participant pursuant to an election to defer under any qualified cash or deferred arrangement as described in section 401(k) of the Code, any salary reduction simplified employee pension described in section 408(k)(6), any SIMPLE IRA Plan described in §408(p), , any plan as described under section 501(c)(18), and any employer contributions made on the behalf of a Participant for the purchase of an annuity contract under section 403(b) pursuant to a salary reduction agreement. Elective Deferrals shall not include any deferrals properly distributed as excess annual addition. For years beginning after 2005, the term “elective Deferrals” includes Pre-tax Elective Deferrals and Xxxx Elective Deferrals. Pre-tax Elective Deferrals are a participant’s Elective Deferrals that are not includible in the participant’s gross income at the time deferred. The Employer may, if notification is made within a reasonable time and in a manner described in IRS Revenue Ruling 2000-8, 2000-7 IRB617, allow for negative elections. If such administrative provision applies and the Employee does not affirmatively elect to not participate and the Employee does not affirmatively elect a different amount (including no amount), a default amount shall be deducted from the Employee’s Compensation. Such default amount shall be part of the initial notification received by the Employer. If negative elections apply under the Plan, the Employer shall indicate whether the default shall be a pre-tax Elective Deferral or a Xxxx Elective Deferral in the Adoption Agreement.
Gross-Up Payment In the event any payment or distribution by the Company to or for the benefit of the Executive (whether paid or payable or distributed or distributable pursuant to the terms of this Agreement or otherwise, but determined without regard to any additional payments required under this Section 6(e)) (a “Payment”) would be subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”) or any interest or penalties are incurred by the Executive with respect to such excise tax (collectively, the “Excise Tax”), then the Executive will be entitled to receive an additional payment (a “Gross-Up Payment”) in an amount such that after payment by the Executive of all taxes (including any income taxes and interest or penalties imposed with respect to such taxes) and the Excise Tax imposed on the Gross-Up Payment, the Executive retains an amount of the Gross-Up Payment equal to the Excise Tax imposed on the Payments. All determinations required to be made under this Section 6(e), including whether and when a Gross-Up Payment is required and the amount of such Gross-Up Payment, will be made by the independent accounting firm of the Company immediately prior to the Executive’s termination of employment (the “Accounting Firm”). All fees and expenses of the Accounting Firm will be borne solely by the Company, and any determination by the Accounting Firm will be binding upon the Company and the Executive. Any Gross-Up Payment, as determined pursuant to this Section 6(e), will be paid by the Company to the Executive within ten days of the receipt of the Accounting Firm’s determination.
(i) If the Accounting Firm determines that no Excise Tax is payable by the Executive, it shall so indicate to the Executive in writing.
(ii) In the event there is an under-payment of the Gross-Up Payment due to the uncertainty in the application of Section 4999 of the Code at the time of the initial determination by the Accounting Firm and the Executive thereafter is required to make a payment of any Excise Tax, the Accounting Firm will determine the amount of any such under-payment that has occurred and such amount will be promptly paid by the Company to or for the benefit of the Executive.
Parachute Payment Limitation If any payment or benefit (including payments and benefits pursuant to this Agreement) Executive would receive in connection with a Change in Control from the Company or otherwise (“Payment”) would (i) constitute a “parachute payment” within the meaning of Section 280G of the Code, and (ii) but for this paragraph, be subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Code (the “Excise Tax”), then the Company shall cause to be determined, before any amounts of the Payment are paid to Executive, which of the following two alternative forms of payment shall be paid to Executive: (A) payment in full of the entire amount of the Payment (a “Full Payment”), or (B) payment of only a part of the Payment so that Executive receives the largest payment possible without the imposition of the Excise Tax (a “Reduced Payment”). A Full Payment shall be made in the event that the amount received by the Executive on a net after-tax basis is greater than what would be received by the Executive on a net after-tax basis if the Reduced Payment were made, otherwise a Reduced Payment shall be made. If a Reduced Payment is made, (i) the Payment shall be paid only to the extent permitted under the Reduced Payment alternative, and Executive shall have no rights to any additional payments and/or benefits constituting the Payment, and (ii) reduction in payments and/or benefits shall occur in the following order: (A) reduction of cash payments; (B) cancellation of accelerated vesting of equity awards other than stock options; (C) cancellation of accelerated vesting of stock options; and (D) reduction of other benefits paid to Executive. In the event that acceleration of compensation from Executive’s equity awards is to be reduced, such acceleration of vesting shall be canceled in the reverse order of the date of grant.
Gross-Up Payments If all or any portion of any payment or benefit that the Employee is entitled to receive from the Company pursuant to this Agreement (a "Payment") constitutes an "excess parachute payment" within the meaning of Section 280G of the Code, and as such is subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Code or to any similar Federal, state or local tax or assessment (the "Excise Tax"), the Company or its successors or assigns shall pay to the Employee an additional amount (the "Gross-Up Payment") with respect to such Payment. The amount of the Gross-Up Payment shall be sufficient that, after paying (a) any Excise Tax on the Payment, (b) any Federal, state or local income or employment taxes and Excise Tax on the Gross-Up Payment, and (c) any interest and penalties imposed in respect of the Excise Tax, the Employee shall retain an amount equal to the full amount of the Payment. For the purpose of determining the amount of any Gross-Up Payment, the Employee shall be deemed to pay Federal income taxes at the highest marginal rate applicable in the calendar year in which the Gross-Up Payment is made, and state and local income taxes at the highest marginal rate applicable in the state and locality where the Employee resides on the date the Gross-Up Payment is made, net of the maximum reduction in Federal income taxes that could be obtained from deducting such state and local taxes. The Gross-Up Payment with respect to any Payment shall be paid to the Employee within ten (10) days after the Internal Revenue Service or any other taxing authority issues a notice stating that an Excise Tax is due with respect to the Payment, unless the Company undertakes to challenge the taxing authority on the applicability of such Excise Tax and indemnifies the Employee for (a) any amounts ultimately determined to be payable, including the Excise Tax and any related interest and penalties, (b) all expenses (including attorneys' and experts' fees) reasonably incurred by the Employee in connection with such challenge, as such expenses are incurred, and (c) all amounts that the Employee is required to pay to the taxing authorities during the pendency of such challenge (such amounts to be repaid by the Employee to the Company if they are ultimately refunded to the Employee by the taxing authority).
ERISA Compliance; Excess Parachute Payments The Parent does not, and since its inception never has, maintained, or contributed to any “employee pension benefit plans” (as defined in Section 3(2) of ERISA), “employee welfare benefit plans” (as defined in Section 3(1) of ERISA) or any other Parent Benefit Plan for the benefit of any current or former employees, consultants, officers or directors of Parent.
Excise Tax Limitation (a) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Agreement to the contrary, to the extent that the payments and benefits provided under this Agreement and benefits provided to, or for the benefit of, Executive under any other Employer plan or agreement (such payments or benefits are collectively referred to as the “Payments”) would be subject to the excise tax (the “Excise Tax”) imposed under Section 4999 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), the Payments shall be reduced (but not below zero) if and to the extent necessary so that no Payment to be made or benefit to be provided to Executive shall be subject to the Excise Tax (such reduced amount is hereinafter referred to as the “Limited Payment Amount”). Unless Executive shall have given prior written notice specifying a different order to Employer to effectuate the foregoing, Employer shall reduce or eliminate the Payments, by first reducing or eliminating the portion of the Payments which are not payable in cash and then by reducing or eliminating cash payments, in each case in reverse order beginning with payments or benefits which are to be paid the farthest in time from the Determination (as hereinafter defined). Any notice given by Executive pursuant to the preceding sentence shall take precedence over the provisions of any other plan, arrangement or agreement governing Executive’s rights and entitlements to any benefits or compensation.
(b) The determination of whether the Payments shall be reduced to the Limited Payment Amount pursuant to this Agreement and the amount of such Limited Payment Amount shall be made, at Employer’s expense, by a reputable accounting firm selected by Executive and reasonably acceptable to Employer (the “Accounting Firm”). The Accounting Firm shall provide its determination (the “Determination”), together with detailed supporting calculations and documentation to Employer and Executive within ten (10) days of the date of termination, if applicable, or such other time as specified by mutual agreement of Employer and Executive, and if the Accounting Firm determines that no Excise Tax is payable by Executive with respect to the Payments, it shall furnish Executive with an opinion reasonably acceptable to Executive that no Excise Tax will be imposed with respect to any such Payments. The Determination shall be binding, final and conclusive upon Employer and Executive.
Parachute Payments (a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Agreement to the contrary, in the event that it shall be determined that any payment or distribution to or for the benefit of Executive, whether paid or payable or distributed or distributable pursuant to the terms of this Agreement or otherwise (a “Payment”) would be nondeductible by the Company for Federal income tax purposes because of Section 280G of the Code, the Company shall reduce the aggregate present value of the Payments under this Agreement to the Reduced Amount (as defined below) if, and only if, reducing the Payments under this Agreement will provide Executive with a greater net after-tax amount than would be the case if no such reduction was made, taking into account the applicable federal, state, local and foreign income, employment and other taxes, including the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Code. If a reduction in the Payments is necessary, such reduction shall occur in the following order: (1) reduction of cash payments; (2) cancellation of accelerated vesting of equity awards other than stock options; (3) cancellation of accelerated vesting of stock options; and (4) reduction of other benefits paid to Executive. Within any such category of payments and benefits (that is, clauses (1), (2), (3) or (4) of this Section 6.9(a)), a reduction shall occur first with respect to amounts that are not “deferred compensation” within the meaning of Section 409A of the Code and then with respect to amounts that are. The “Reduced Amount” shall be an amount expressed in present value that maximizes the aggregate present value of Payments under this Agreement without causing any Payment to be nondeductible by the Company because of Section 280G of the Code.
(b) All determinations to be made under this Section 6.9 shall be made at the Company’s expense by a firm of certified public accountants of national standing selected by the Company (the “Accounting Firm”) which may be the firm regularly auditing the financial statements of the Company. The Company and Executive shall furnish to the Accounting Firm such information and documents as the Accounting Firm may reasonably require in order to make a determination under this Section. To the extent requested by Executive, the Company shall cooperate with Executive in good faith in valuing, and the Accounting Firm shall value, services to be provided by Executive (including refraining from performing services pursuant to a covenant not to compete) before, on or after the date of the transaction which cause the application of Section 280G of the Code such that payments in respect of such services may be considered to be “reasonable compensation” within the meaning of the regulations under Section 280G of the Code. In making its determinations hereunder, the Accounting Firm shall apply reasonable, good faith interpretations regarding the applicability of Section 280G and Section 4999, along with any other applicable portions of the Code or other tax laws. The Accounting Firm shall make all determinations required to be made under this Section and shall provide detailed supporting calculations to the Company and Executive within 30 days after the Termination Date or such earlier time as is requested by the Company, and provide an opinion to Executive that he or she has substantial authority not to report any excise tax on his or her Federal income tax return with respect to any Payments. Any such determination by the Accounting Firm shall be binding upon the Company and Executive. Subject to Sections 6.1(c) and 6.9, within five business days thereafter, the Company shall pay to or distribute to or for the benefit of Executive such amounts as are then due to Executive under this Agreement.
(c) As a result of the uncertainty in the application of Section 280G of the Code at the time of the initial determination by the Accounting Firm or the Company hereunder, it is possible that Payments, as the case may be, will have been made by the Company which should not have been made (“Overpayment”) or that additional Payments, as the case may be, which will not have been made by the Company could have been made (“Underpayment”), in each case, consistent with the calculations required to be made hereunder. In the event that the Accounting Firm, based upon the assertion of a deficiency by the Internal Revenue Service against Executive which the Accounting Firm believes has a high probability of success determines that an Overpayment has been made, promptly on notice and demand Executive shall repay to the Company any such Overpayment paid or distributed by the Company to or for the benefit of Executive together with interest at the applicable Federal rate provided for in Section 7872(f)(2)(A) of the Code; provided, however, that no such amount shall be payable by Executive to the Company if and to the extent such payment would not either reduce the amount on which Executive is subject to tax under Section 1 and Section 4999 of the Code or generate a refund of such taxes. In the event that the Accounting Firm, based upon controlling precedent or other substantial authority, determines that an Underpayment has occurred, any such Underpayment shall be promptly paid by the Company to or for the benefit of Executive together with interest at the applicable federal rate provided for in Section 7872(f)(2)(A) of the Code.
Distributions Upon Income Inclusion Under Section 409A of the Code Upon the inclusion of any portion of the benefits payable pursuant to this Agreement into the Executive’s income as a result of the failure of this non-qualified deferred compensation plan to comply with the requirements of Section 409A of the Code, to the extent such tax liability can be covered by the Executive’s vested accrued liability, a distribution shall be made as soon as is administratively practicable following the discovery of the plan failure.
Code Section 280G In the event that the severance and other benefits provided for in this Agreement or otherwise payable to the Employee (i) constitute “parachute payments” within the meaning of Section 280G of the Code and (ii) but for this Section 3(b), would be subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Code, then the Employee’s benefits under Section 2 of this Agreement shall be either:
(i) delivered in full, or
(ii) delivered as to such lesser extent which would result in no portion of such severance and other benefits being subject to excise tax under Section 4999 of the Code, whichever of the foregoing amounts, taking into account the applicable federal, state and local income taxes and the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Code, results in the receipt by the Employee on an after-tax basis, of the greatest amount of severance benefits, notwithstanding that all or some portion of such severance benefits may be taxable under Section 4999 of the Code. Unless the Company and the Employee otherwise agree in writing, any determination required under this Section 3(b) shall be made in writing by the Company’s independent public accountants immediately prior to the Change of Control (the “Accountants”), whose determination shall be conclusive and binding upon the Employee and the Company for all purposes. For purposes of making the calculations required by this Section 3(b), the Accountants may make reasonable assumptions and approximations concerning applicable taxes and may rely on reasonable, good faith interpretations concerning the application of Sections 280G and 4999 of the Code. The Company and the Employee shall furnish to the Accountants such information and documents as the Accountants may reasonably request in order to make a determination under this Section 3(b). The Company shall bear all costs the Accountants may reasonably incur in connection with any calculations contemplated by this Section 3(b).
