IRS Announces Dates for Third Remedial Amendment Cycle for DB Plans

In Revenue Procedure 2020-10, the IRS says the third six-year remedial amendment cycle for pre-approved defined benefit (DB) plans begins on May 1, 2020, and ends on January 31, 2025.

The on-cycle submission period for pre-approved DB plan providers to submit applications for opinion letters with respect to the third six-year remedial amendment cycle begins on August 1, 2020, and ends on July 31, 2021.

When the IRS review process for pre-approved defined benefit plans for the third six-year remedial amendment cycle has neared completion, it will announce the date by which adopting employers must adopt the newly approved plans and, if they are otherwise eligible, apply for an individual determination letter.

In Revenue Procedure 2016-37, the agency closed the determination letter program except for initial plan qualification and for qualification upon plan termination. The IRS later issued Revenue Procedure 2019-4 to provide an “other circumstances” category for which determination letters can be requested. Though the category was added, the agency did not specify what “other circumstances” for which it applies.

In May 2019, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2019-20 which provides for a limited expansion of the determination letter program with respect to individually designed plans.

Under this limited expansion, the IRS says it will accept determination letter applications for:

• individually designed statutory hybrid plans during a 12-month period beginning September 1, 2019, and
• individually designed merged plans (as defined in section 5.01(2) of the revenue procedure) on an ongoing basis.