As discussed in an earlier blog post, the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (the Act) expanded the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS), a comprehensive IRS program for correcting common qualified retirement plan failures. Plan sponsors have three ways to correct mistakes under EPCRS: the self-correction program (SCP), the voluntary correction program
Plan Corrections
The Impact Of Missing The July 31, 2022, Deadline For Restating Pre-Approved 401(K) Plans
For the many employers that use a pre-approved 401(k) plan (or another type of defined contribution plan), the deadline to execute a restatement of the plan was July 31, 2022. An employer that missed the deadline will need to (i) review whether a correction will be required to maintain the plan’s favorable tax status and…
SECURE 2.0 – What Employers Need to Know
On March 29, 2022, the House of Representatives passed the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”, HR 2954). The vote was largely supported by both parties (414-5). The Senate will likely act on the bill later this spring. While we expect several changes in the Senate version, it is widely…
IRS CORRECTION PROGRAM, NOW MORE EFFICIENT
In 2008, the IRS established a voluntary correction program aimed at plan sponsors and administrators to encourage resolution of plan document or operational failures as soon as they are discovered. The Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, or “EPCRS” as it is most often called, stresses the importance of established administrative practices and procedures to avoid…
Important Guidance and Relief for 403(B) Plan Sponsors Who Exclude Part-Time Employees
In the spirit of the holidays, the Internal Revenue Service gave a gift to sponsors of 403(b) tax-deferred annuity plans on December 4, 2018, by issuing IRS Notice 2018-95. For plan sponsors that exclude part-time employees from their 403(b) plans, this gift provides a 10-year nod on their historical plan administration, despite noncompliance with…
Did Your Company Fail to Adopt a New Preapproved Defined Contribution Plan by the April 30th Deadline? The IRS Has a Solution for You
Background
Sponsors of preapproved defined contribution retirement plans were generally required to sign new plan documents on or before April 30, 2016 that incorporated changes required by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA). Defined contribution plans include profit sharing plans, 401(k) plans, and money purchase pension plans. Preapproved plans are plan documents that have …
THE RETROACTIVE AMENDMENT FIX FOR PLAN OPERATIONAL FAILURES
Frequently a plan sponsor’s operational failure to follow the terms of its 401(k) or other qualified plan can be corrected under the IRS’s Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS”) (described at http://www.irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/EPCRS-Overview) with a retroactive amendment instead of a sometimes expensive financial correction. This possibility should not be surprising, given that the maintenance of…
Employers Take Note! IRS Improves Certain Retirement Plan Correction Procedures
The Internal Revenue Service encourages employers and other retirement plan sponsors to voluntarily and timely correct plan failures to help ensure the plans’ ongoing tax-qualified status (and tax-favored treatment). However, in some cases, the IRS’ Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS” – most recently restated in Revenue Procedure 2013-12) correction method for minor errors results…