Government Plans Get Two-Year Reprieve on NRA Rule

October 28, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has agreed to give governmental plans two more years to comply with final regulations on participant distributions upon reaching normal retirement age (NRA).

An IRS news release said the rules will now be effective for plan years after January 1, 2013, instead of January 1, 2011 (see IRS Extends Effective Date for Retirement Age Regs for Government Plans ). The tax agency said the latest move, announced in Notice 2009-86, does not change the effective date for non-governmental plans.

"Governmental plan sponsors may rely on this notice with respect to the extension until such time as the NRA regulations are so amended," tax officials declared in the news release. "This extension will provide additional time for the (IRS) and Treasury to consider comments received with respect to the effect of the NRA regulations on governmental plans."

Notice 2009-86 will be in IRB 2009-46, dated November 16, 2009.

The NRA regulations require a pension plan's normal retirement age to be an age not earlier than the earliest age that is reasonably representative of the typical retirement age for the industry in which the covered workforce is employed.

The IRS announcement is available here .

Fred Schneyer
editors@plansponsor.com