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Compliance January 31, 2008
IRS Delays Effective Date for New DB Funding Calculations
January 31, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Treasury
Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced
that, when proposed regulations regarding maintenance of
certain funding balances and regarding substitute mortality
tables to be used in defined benefit plan funding
calculations are finalized, the final regulations will not
apply to plan years beginning before January 1,
2009.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
In Notice 2008-21, the IRS said that in the interim it will not challenge a reasonable interpretation of an applicable statutory provision for plan years beginning during 2008. Plan sponsors can rely on the proposed regulations for purposes of satisfying the new funding calculation requirements for plan years beginning in 2008.
In December, the agency issued proposed regulations providing employers sponsoring single-employer defined benefit plans with guidance regarding the measurement of pension assets and liabilities under the new funding rules enacted as part of the Pension Protection Act (See IRS Issues Proposed Rule Relating to DB Plan Funding Calculations ).
According to the IRS, those proposed regulations,
together with proposed regulations related to mortality
issued in May, proposed regulations relating to funding
balances and funding-based benefit limitations issued in
August, the yield curve guidance issued in October, and
guidance on lump sum determinations issued in November
will assist plan sponsors in determining the contribution
requirements that apply to their defined benefit plans
for the first year that the new funding rules
apply.
Notice 2008-21 is
here
.