403(b)

We recently wrote about Rev. Proc. 2019-39, which provides for remedial amendment periods for 403(b) plans and establishes deadlines for 403(b) plans to adopt discretionary amendments and amendments that correct form defects.  Rev. Proc. 2019-39 also announced the IRS’s intent to include changes to § 403(b) requirements on its annual Required Amendments List (the “List”).  The List is issued annually and includes statutory and regulatory changes that become effective during the year in which it is published, or which became effective after publication of the previous year’s List.

The Service has kept its promise, issuing IRS Notice 2019-64 on December 4, 2019.  Notice 2019-64 contains the 2019 Required Amendments List, which applies to 403(b) plans as well as qualified plans, and is the first Required Amendments List to include changes to § 403(b) requirements.  Only one change affecting 403(b) plans (as well as qualified defined contribution plans) is included on the 2019 List: sponsors must amend 403(b) plan documents to comply with two of the provisions of the final hardship distribution regulations.  (The List also covers certain amendments to cash balance and other hybrid defined benefit plans.)Continue Reading 2019 Required Amendments List Includes Change Affecting 403(b) Plans

On September 30, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service issued Revenue Procedure 2019-39, which finalizes important changes to how sponsors and employers can ensure 403(b) plan compliance.  The guidance is a welcome update from the Service, which initiated a regular system of remedial amendment periods for 403(b) plans in 2013, with the first period ending on March 31, 2020.  Most significantly, Revenue Procedure 2019-39:

  • Makes permanent the system of remedial amendment periods, during which an employer may retroactively amend its 403(b) plan or adopt a pre-approved 403(b) plan to correct a “form defect” (e., a defect in the terms of the plan that causes the plan to fail a § 403(b) requirement);
  • Clarifies that a retroactive amendment to correct a form defect is only permitted where the plan has been operated in compliance with the § 403(b) requirement;
  • Establishes deadlines to adopt amendments that correct form defects as well as deadlines to adopt discretionary amendments (e., amendments that do not remedy a form defect);
  • Confirms that the Service will not review individually designed 403(b) plans through a determination letter process;
  • Sets out a cyclical system in which pre-approved 403(b) plan sponsors may seek Service approval of plans; and
  • Announces the Service’s intent to provide additional guidance related to 403(b) plans, including its intent to include changes to the § 403(b) requirements on its annual Required Amendments List and the Operational Compliance List.

The Service intends to issue additional guidance in the next several years to address the procedures announced in Revenue Procedure 2019-39.Continue Reading IRS Announces Remedial Amendment Periods and Deadlines for Correction of 403(b) Plan Form Defects