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IRS Notice 2020-83 Provides 2020 Required Amendments List
Practical Law Legal Update w-028-4592 (Approx. 5 pages)
IRS Notice 2020-83 Provides 2020 Required Amendments List
by Practical Law Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
| Published on 23 Nov 2020 • USA (National/Federal) |
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2020-83, which provides the 2020 Required Amendments List for qualified retirement plans and Section 403(b) retirement plans.
On November 20, 2020, the IRS issued Notice 2020-83, which provides the 2020 Required Amendments List for qualified retirement plans and Section 403(b) retirement plans. Individually designed qualified retirement plans and individually designed 403(b) plans must be amended by December 31, 2022 (the expiration of the remedial amendment period in the 2020 Required Amendments List) for any changes in requirements included on the list.
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 also announced that the IRS intends to publish annually a Required Amendments List, which will:
- List 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.
- Establish the deadline for a plan to be amended to comply with the requirements that are identified on the list.
In Revenue Procedure 2019-39, the IRS established recurring remedial amendment periods for individually designed 403(b) plans with form defects that occur after March 31, 2020 (see Legal Updates, IRS Revenue Procedure 2019-39 Establishes Recurring Remedial Amendment Periods for 403(b) Plans). In Notice 2020-35, the IRS extended the end of the initial remedial amendment cycle for Code Section 403(b) plans from March 31, 2020, to June 30, 2020 (see Legal Update, IRS Extends Additional Deadlines Due to COVID-19 in Notice 2020-35).
The Required Amendments List has two parts:
- Part A, which provides the changes in 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 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 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)).
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.
The Required Amendments List does not include:
- Statutory changes in requirements for which the Treasury Department and the IRS expect to issue guidance.
- Changes in requirements that permit (but do not require) optional plan provisions.
- Changes in the tax laws affecting qualified plans or 403(b) plans that do not change the requirements under Code Section 401(a) (26 U.S.C. § 401(a)) or Code Section 403(b) (26 U.S.C. § 403(b)).
Notice 2020-83
2020 Required Amendments List
Part A of the 2020 Required Amendments List does not include entries listing changes in requirements that generally would require an amendment to most plans or most plans of the type affected by the change.
Part B includes:
- The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act) requirement that difficulty of care payments under Code Section 131 (26 U.S.C. § 131) be treated as compensation for purposes of the annual contribution limit for defined contribution plans (see Legal Updates, Government Funding Legislation Includes the SECURE Act, Which Changes Retirement Plan Requirements and IRS Notice 2020-68 Provides Guidance on SECURE Act and Miners Act Provisions Affecting Retirement Plans).
- Section 3609 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which expands the definition of "cooperative and small employer charity pension plan" to include defined benefit plans maintained by certain tax-exempt employers.
Remedial Amendment Period
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.
Under Notice 2020-83, December 31, 2022, is both:
- The last day of the remedial amendment period for disqualifying provisions and form defects resulting from a change that appears on the 2020 Required Amendments List.
- The plan amendment deadline for a disqualifying provision or form defect resulting from a change in requirements that appears on the 2020 Required Amendments List.