In its September 18, 2026, entry in the IRS Employee Plans News (Employee Plans News | Internal Revenue Service), the IRS clarified which SECURE and SECURE 2.0 amendments must be adopted by December 31, 2026, for most individually designed qualified retirement plans and 403(b) plans. To determine amendment deadlines, plan sponsors must distinguish between (i) amendments required to maintain a plan’s qualified status and (ii) discretionary amendments.

Required Amendments.  For most nongovernmental qualified and Section 403(b) plans, amendments to update plan language to comply with recent legislation and maintain qualified plan tax status are generally due by the end of the second calendar year after the year those changes appear on the IRS annual Required Amendments List (RAL).  Part A of the 2024 RAL (N-2024-82), which applies to most plans, lists no required amendments (excluding previously adopted optional amendments) that would need to be made by December 31, 2026.  On the other hand, the required minimum distribution (RMD) changes relating to required beginning dates and distribution requirements for beneficiaries are included on the 2025 RAL and have a December 31, 2027, amendment deadline.  Later deadlines apply to collectively bargained, governmental, and public school 403(b) plans.

The IRS expects the Roth catch-up requirements to appear on the 2027 list, which would set a general amendment deadline of December 31, 2029. Mandatory automatic enrollment, long-term part-time eligibility, and required minimum distribution provisions not already listed will appear on future lists once the relevant final regulations become applicable.

Employers should also avoid assuming that no required amendments can be due for any plan in 2026. Although Part A of the 2024 Required Amendments List contains no required items, Part B includes changes affecting certain rural electric cooperative plans and family attribution rules. Part C addresses previously adopted optional provisions, including coronavirus-related distributions and Roth employer contributions. These entries require reviewing each plan’s terms and operations to determine whether amendments are needed.

Finally, note that different deadlines apply to the required adoption of plan restatements for pre-approved plans.  These are addressed in other IRS guidance. 

Discretionary Amendments.  By contrast, December 31, 2026, generally remains the deadline for amending the document to include optional SECURE and SECURE 2.0 features that have already been put into operation for a plan.  For example, if an employer elected earlier to implement the new $7,000 cash-out limit for small accounts enacted by SECURE, then an amendment to document that change must be adopted by December 31, 2026. The IRS gives the example of a plan that began allowing designated Roth matching or nonelective contributions in 2023, which would require an implementing amendment by December 31, 2026.  Such an amendment for an applicable collectively bargained plan would be required by December 31, 2028, while governmental plans and public school Section 403(b) plans would have until December 31, 2029.

Specific discretionary statutory features will not appear on a RAL, but later guidance governing a previously adopted optional feature may appear in Part C of a RAL, thereby setting a new separate amendment deadline.  Sponsors therefore must distinguish the amendment adopting a feature from amendments required to comply with subsequent guidance.

Operational Compliance.  A later document amendment deadline does not postpone a provision’s operational effective date.  Plans must comply with new legal requirements when they take effect, and amendments documenting optional features must accurately reflect how those features have been administered.

Before year-end, sponsors should identify any optional features implemented without corresponding amendments, review the applicable RALs with their document provider or counsel, and confirm which amendments remain outstanding.  The IRS expects the 2026 list to include further clarification consistent with its September announcement. 

For advice on amendments that may be required by the end of 2026, please contact a member of the Jackson Lewis Benefits Practice.  Subscribe to the Benefits Law Advisor Blog.