“Stony silence” is probably the best way to describe the corporate community’s initial response to the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) first comprehensive new guidance on “cafeteria plans” since 1984. Cafeteria plans allow employees to pay into certain employee benefits with pre-tax payroll deductions.

“We’re not seeing employers taking action,” says Heidi Winzeler, counsel at Osler Hoskin & Harcourt.