Compliance November 30, 2010

IRS Extends DB Amendment Deadline

November 30, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has extended the deadline for amending certain defined benefit plans as required by the Pension Protection Act (PPA) and later amended by subsequent legislation.
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According to the notice in 2010-77, this is a further extension of the deadline for adopting certain defined benefit plan amendments as previously extended in Notice 2009-97, 2009-52 I.R.B. 972. The deadline is now extended to the last day of the first plan year that begins on or after January 1, 2011, according to the tax agency.

Among the factors for the compliance relief, the IRS said, was to give plan sponsors time to take the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act (WRERA) and Pension Relief Act of 2010 (PRA 2010) changes to § 436 into account.

According to the IRS, the extension of time applies to:

  • The deadline for amending single-employer defined benefit plans to meet the requirements of §§ 401(a)(29) and 436, relating to funding-based limits on benefits and benefit accruals under single-employer plans; and
  • The deadline for amending cash balance and other applicable defined benefit plans, within the meaning of § 411(a)(13)(C), to meet the requirements of § 411(a)(13) (other than § 411(a)(13)(A)) and § 411(b)(5), relating to vesting and other special rules applicable to these plans.

The notice provides that the additional extension of time to amend also applies for the purpose of a plan’s eligibility for the relief from the requirements of § 411(d)(6) described in Notice 2009-97.

The latest IRS release is at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-10-77.pdf.

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