You have likely received notices from Arizona Department of Revenue and the City of Tucson that it is time to renew your TPT license. License renewals apply and are valid for one calendar year, January 1 to December 31. All licenses must be renewed by December 31 of the current year to apply to the following year. If your licenses are not renewed by December 31, 2025, penalties and fees will be assessed on your account.
Your Arizona TPT license and City of Tucson Business Licenses are two different and separate licenses.
How and where to renew
City of Tucson Business Licenses – The easiest and fastest way to renew your business license is online at https://tucsonaz.igovservices.com/. You will be asked to sign into your portal or create one if you have not already done so. Paper renewal reminders and bills should have been mailed out and received in early December. If you did not receive a paper reminder, check your email or your portal. Having a portal login is also the easiest and fastest way to get a status update on your account, update any information, and renew your license each year.
Arizona Department of Revenue – AZDOR now requires all TPT returns, renewals, and fee payments be done online. TPT licenses can be renewed at https://aztaxes.gov/Home/Login . You will be asked to login or create a login to do so. Once logged in, you will see a License Renewal tab at the top left of the menu tab. A fee may be assessed for your renewal, and those vary by license and how many locations are on your license. An online account makes it easy to renew your license, update your account information, file, and pay your TPT returns, and more.
If you have questions, contact your R&A advisor.
https://azdor.gov/news-center/tips-renewing-tpt-license
What Every Plan Sponsor Should Know About Fee-Based Safe Harbor IRAs
Employer-sponsored retirement plans play an important role in facilitating financial preparedness for retirement. When an employee leaves a company, it’s often standard practice to automatically rollover small, left-behind funds into a fee-based safe harbor IRA. But what plan sponsors may not know is that this well-intentioned process can create a hidden fiduciary blind spot that could open the door to regulatory scrutiny and litigation.
Is a Safe Harbor IRA, Safe?
Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), plan sponsors are required to act in the best interest of plan participants and beneficiaries, regardless of employment status. That duty continues as long as the account remains connected to the plan or falls within the sponsor’s fiduciary oversight, which extends to how unclaimed or low-balance accounts are handled, including the providers chosen for automatic rollovers.
For accounts under $7,000 that are eligible for automatic rollover, plan sponsors are required to evaluate the integrity and structure of the receiving investment product to ensure that it’s designed to preserve principal and positioned to provide a reasonable rate of return.
In many cases, these rollovers are assumed to be a protective measure to help former employees retain their retirement savings and to keep the plan organized. However, some safe harbor IRA providers apply layers of administrative and investment fees that silently drain account balances over time. Without fiduciary oversight, a process meant to safeguard retirement savings can unintentionally result in financial harm to participants. Should that result, the plan sponsor may face compliance risk and potential liability.
The Surprising Cost of Inaction
By taking a closer look at how small balances are managed in safe harbor IRAs, it’s surprising to learn what these accounts could be costing employees over time. Fees that appear modest on paper, such as monthly fees anywhere between $1 and $5, plus asset-based fees, can add up quickly and end up outpacing account growth.
In addition to these visible costs, some providers retain a portion of the investment earnings by crediting participants with only a fraction of the account’s actual yield, which can erode long-term growth, especially in accounts with smaller balances where every dollar counts.
When compared to the average 401(k) fee of approximately 0.85%, the effective costs of many safe harbor IRA products are considerably higher. Between flat fees, asset-based charges, and limited credited interest, these accounts often reduce (rather than preserve) retirement savings over time.
As an example, consider a former employee with a $5,000 rollover. If that account is placed in a safe harbor IRA that charges a $5 monthly fee and a 0.5% asset-based fee, the participant is paying $85 a year (or 1.7% of their balance) just in administrative costs. Add a withdrawal fee of $75 per distribution and minimal interest earnings (often less than 1%), and the account begins to shrink faster than it can recover, turning what should have been a modest foundation for future savings into a depleted asset.
On the other hand, if that same $5,000 were rolled into a traditional 401(k) or IRA with a 5% annual return and minimal fees, the account could grow to more than $21,000 over a 30-year period.
The Risk and Impact of ERISA Compliance Gaps
Moving funds into low-risk safe harbor IRA investment vehicles sounds good in theory, but the unintended consequences of neglect in a high fee, low performing environment could result in a breach of fiduciary duties and leave you and your company entangled in a lawsuit. This could expose the employer to financial liability and create reputational damage that undermines employee trust and public confidence.
How to Protect Retirement Funds
While account balances that qualify for the automatic rollover are seemingly modest, the effort behind them reflects years of hard work and the prospect of financial security. Taking the time to revisit rollover procedures is an invaluable first step toward aligning fiduciary responsibilities, supporting participant savings, and minimizing long-term risk to the plan.
R&A’s employee benefit plan specialists can help you evaluate your rollover practices, assess provider arrangements, and strengthen your fiduciary oversight. Whether you're preparing for an audit or proactively reviewing plan operations, our team brings the insight and experience to support your goals. Contact us at (520) 881-4900 to start a conversation.
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