IRS Issues 2024 Required Amendment List for Qualified and 403(b) Plans

The IRS published the 2024 required amendments list for qualified plans and 403(b) plans, which includes three pages of amendments.

In general, a required amendments list includes changes to statutory and administrative qualification requirements and Section 403(b) requirements with which plans must comply during the calendar year in which the list is published, according to the IRS.

However, an RA list does not include guidance issued or legislation enacted after the list has been prepared.

For individually designated plans, December 31, 2026, is generally both the last day of the remedial amendment period and the plan amendment deadline. For pre-approved plans, December 31, 2026, is also generally the last day for a provider—or the adopting employer, if applicable—to timely adopt an interim amendment.

The RA list is divided into three parts. Part A includes changes to requirements that would generally require an amendment to most plans and that do not relate to optional plan provisions previously adopted. In the 2024 list, there are no Part A required amendments.

Part B includes changes in requirements that may require an amendment because of an unusual plan provision in a participant plan and that do not relate to optional plan provisions previously adopted. In the 2024 list, Part B only included potential required amendments related to rural electric cooperative retirement plans and reforming the family attribution rule under the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022.

Part C of the nine-page document includes changes in requirements that relate to optional plan provisions previously adopted.

For example, the 2024 list includes changes to requirements included in Section L of IRS Notice 2024-2 relating to the treatment of employer contributions or nonelective contributions as Roth contributions under SECURE 2.0. These changes were placed under Part C because plans are not required to include terms providing for that Roth treatment, but plans that were amended to provide for the treatment of employer contributions as Roth contributions prior to the release of Section L of Notice 2024-2 are required to comply with the administrative guidance relating to that treatment.

The 2024 list also includes several other miscellaneous changes under SECURE 2.0 that would require an amendment. These encompass changes like the ability for employers to offer small immediate financial incentives for contributing to a plan, the contribution limit for SIMPLE 401(k) plans increasing for certain eligible employers, and replacing SIMPLE retirement accounts with safe harbor 401(k) plans during a year.

Updated guidance on anti-abuse rules as they relate to offering pension-linked emergency savings accounts is also included in Part C, as well as required amendments related to optional provisions resulting from the CARES Act and the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019.

To help plan sponsors achieve operational compliance with the changes in requirements, the IRS also provides an operational compliance list, which includes changes to both qualification requirements and Section 403(b) requirements that are effective during a calendar year. This can be found on the IRS website here.