Deadlines are a large part of employee benefit plan administration.  The past 12 – 18 months have contributed to potential confusion about standard deadlines and added new deadlines plan administrators will not want to overlook.  During this period, the IRS created a one-time window deadline, published extensions for some plans’ deadlines, and other deadlines were

The IRS announced on March 27th via its website the extension of the initial remedial amendment period for Section 403(b) plans from March 31, 2020, to June 30, 2020.   It also extended the deadline for the second six-year remedial amendment cycle for pre-approved defined benefit plans from April 30, 2020, to July 31, 2020.

403(b)

March 31st Deadline for 403(b) Plan Sponsors

If your organization sponsors a 403(b) plan for employees and has not adopted an up-to-date written plan document that complies with the applicable regulations, you have until March 31, 2020 to do so.  Failure to do could cause substantial negative tax consequences for employees (and the organization)

Preapproved (prototype or volume submitter) defined contribution plans must be restated for the Pension Protection Act by April 30, 2016.

Master and prototype and volume submitter plans are generally required to be updated and restated on a six year cycle. The current cycle for preapproved defined contribution plans ends April 30, 2016. Therefore, if you