IRS Offers Relief on 403(b) Written Plan
Requirement
December 11, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The IRS issued
a notice on Thursday announcing relief for 403(b) plans that
do not have a written plan in place by January 1,
2009.
The IRS said it was extending the deadline for plan
sponsors to adopt new written plans or amend existing plans
to satisfy the requirement of the final 403(b) regulations
"...because of difficulties expressed by numerous plan
administrators" in meeting the current deadline of
January 1, 2009 (See
Attorneys Ask for
Delay of 403(b) Effective Date
).
In making the announcement, the IRS said
the extension would give plan sponsors additional
time to put their plan documents in place.
Notice 2009-3 says the IRS will treat plans as
meeting the requirements of 403(b) and the regulations
during the 2009 calendar year if:
-
By December 31, 2009, the plan sponsor has
adopted a written 403(b) plan that is intended to
satisfy the requirements of 403(b) and the
regulations;
-
During 2009, the plan sponsor operates the plan
in accordance with a reasonable interpretation of
403(b) and the related regulations; and
-
By the end of 2009, the plan sponsor makes its
best effort to retroactively correct any operational
failure during the 2009 calendar year to conform to
the written plan.
The IRS said in a news release that it plans to
issue further guidance on 403(b) plans, including a
revenue procedure establishing a pre-approved plan
program (See
IRS Developing Pre-approved Plan Program
for 403(b)s
) and guidelines allowing plans to make remedial
amendments to retroactively fix plan provisions under
rules that similar to those that apply for 401(a)
qualified plans.
IRS Notice 2009-3 is
here
.
Rebecca Moore
editors@plansponsor.com