IRS Extends Deadlines for Required Retirement Plan Amendments
Early this August, the IRS published Notice 2022-33 which provides significant extensions to the amendment deadlines for required changes to retirement plans under the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the “SECURE Act”) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”). For more information on the amendments under the SECURE Act, click here. For more information on the amendments under the CARES Act, click here.
Generally, the extensions apply to all of the SEUCRE Act amendments but only apply to the deadline with respect to the 2020 waiver of required minimum distributions under the CARES Act.
The deadlines to adopt the required amendments are now as follows:
|
Type of Plan |
Prior deadline |
New deadline |
|
Non-governmental qualified plans and 403(b) plans, and IRAs |
End of 2022 plan year |
December 31, 2025 |
|
Governmental qualified plans and 403(b) plans, and governmental 457(b) plans |
End of 2024 plan year |
90 days after the close of the third regular legislative session of the legislative body with the authority to amend the plan that begins after December 31, 2023 |
These extensions come as a welcome relief as the original 2022 deadlines are quickly approaching with no IRS guidance in sight. Now, plans have time to wait to amend until we (hopefully) have IRS guidance on the recommended language for the amendments.
Notice 2022-33 does not extend the amendment deadline for CARES Act loan and withdrawal provisions, which are currently due by the last day of the plan year beginning on or after January 1, 2022. Accordingly, for a calendar year plan, these amendments should be adopted no later than December 31, 2022.
Notwithstanding the extensions, plans may adopt the required amendments at any time. If you are restating your plan, it would be particularly prudent to include in the restatement the required amendments under the SEUCRE Act and CARES Act.