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IRS Notice 2018-91 Provides 2018 Required Amendments List
Practical Law Legal Update w-017-6890 (Approx. 4 pages)
IRS Notice 2018-91 Provides 2018 Required Amendments List
by Practical Law Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
| Published on 26 Nov 2018 • USA (National/Federal) |
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2018-91, which provides the 2018 Required Amendments List for Qualified Retirement Plans.
On November 21, 2018, the IRS issued Notice 2018-91, which provides the 2018 Required Amendments List for Qualified Retirement Plans. The Notice states that the 2018 Required Amendments List has no entries listing changes in qualification requirements for retirement plans.
Required Amendments List
IRS Revenue Procedure 2016-37 eliminated the staggered five-year remedial amendment cycles for individually designed retirement plans (see Legal Update, IRS Provides Determination Letter Guidance in Revenue Procedure 2016-37). The Revenue Procedure announced that the IRS intends to publish annually a Required Amendments List, which:
- Lists the statutory and administrative changes in qualification requirements that require a plan amendment and become effective during the plan year in which the List is published.
- Establishes the deadline for a plan to be amended to comply with the requirements that are identified on the List.
Ordinarily, the Required Amendments List has two parts:
- Part A, which provides the changes in qualification requirements that generally would require an amendment to most plans or most plans of the type affected by the change.
- Part B, which provides the changes in qualification requirements that the Treasury Department and the IRS anticipate will not require amendments in most plans, but might require an amendment because of an unusual plan provision in a particular plan.
The Treasury Department and the IRS anticipate that few plans have language that will need to be amended for annual, monthly, or other periodic changes to:
- The various dollar limits that are adjusted for cost-of-living increases as provided in Internal Revenue Code (Code) Section 415(d) (26 U.S.C. § 415(d)).
- The spot segment rates used to determine the applicable interest rate under Code Section 417(e)(3) (26 U.S.C. § 417(e)(3)).
- The applicable mortality table under Code Section 417(e)(3) (26 U.S.C. § 417(e)(3)).
For more information on the annual cost-of-living increases, see Legal Update, IRS Announces 2019 Retirement Plan Limit Adjustments.
These changes are treated as included on the Required Amendments List for the year in which the changes are effective even though they are not directly referenced on that year's Required Amendments List.
For individually designed plans, Revenue Procedure 2016-37 extended the remedial amendment period for a disqualifying provision resulting from a change in qualification requirements to the end of the second calendar year that begins after the issuance of the Required Amendments List on which the change in qualification requirements appears. The plan amendment deadline is the date on which the remedial amendment period ends for a disqualifying provision.
Notice 2018-91
Notice 2018-91 states that the 2018 Required Amendments List does not include any entries listing changes in qualification requirements for retirement plans.
Practical Implications
Qualified retirement plan sponsors should be aware that there are no entries listing changes in qualification requirements on the 2018 Required Amendments List. However, they should be aware that the Required Amendments List does not include:
- Statutory changes in qualification requirements for which the Treasury Department and the IRS expect to issue guidance.
- Changes in qualification requirements that permit (but do not require) optional plan provisions.
- Changes in the tax laws affecting qualified plans that do not change the qualification requirements under Code Section 401(a) (26 U.S.C. § 401(a)).
For more information on the required qualified retirement plan amendments for individually designed plans that must be adopted to comply with the Code by the end of the 2018 plan year, see the Article, Required 2018 Qualified Retirement Plan Amendments.