IRS Notice 2024-82 (Dec. 5, 2024)
Available at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-24-82.pdf
The IRS has issued its 2024 Required Amendments List (RA List) for individually designed qualified retirement plans (including 401(k) plans) and 403(b) plans. RA Lists are issued annually to identify changes in the Code’s qualification requirements that may result in “disqualifying provisions” that necessitate a remedial amendment. (A disqualifying provision is a required provision that is not in the plan document, a provision in the document that does not comply with the Code’s qualification requirements, or a provision that the IRS so designates.) The RA List contains three parts. Part A lists changes in qualification requirements that require most plans of the relevant type to be amended. Part B lists changes that should only require amendments for certain plans with unusual plan provisions affected by the changes (other than optional provisions). Part C lists changes that relate to optional plan provisions previously adopted. The notice explains that plan amendments on optional provisions may have predated IRS guidance on the applicable topic and that compliance with such additional guidance is required. Amendments to an eligible retirement plan that are made on or before the plan amendment deadline established under the RA List in which the provision is included will not cause the plan to fail to satisfy applicable anti-cutback requirements.
Part A lists no 2024 changes. Part B lists two items: provisions relating to rural electric cooperative retirement plans and changes in the family attribution rules made by the SECURE 2.0 Act . Part C is the most extensive, listing numerous optional plan provisions and relevant IRS guidance. The Part C items of interest to 401(k) plans include—
- in-service coronavirus-related distributions;
- changes relating to required minimum distributions (RMDs), including the permitted waiver of 2020 RMDs, changes to the age for determining an individual’s required beginning date and to certain timing rules, and additional timing rule relief ;
- qualified birth or adoption distributions and the requirement to repay these withdrawals within three years;
- the increase in the maximum deferral percentage (from 10% to 15%) for plans using the safe harbor for qualified automatic contribution arrangements (QACAs);
- various SECURE 2.0 Act changes including financial incentives for making plan contributions, provisions relating to SIMPLE 401(k) plans, and the option to permit certain matching or nonelective contributions to be designated as Roth contributions;
- anti-abuse rules for pension-linked emergency savings accounts; and
- exceptions to the 10% additional tax on early retirement plan distributions for emergency personal expenses and victims of domestic abuse.
Periodic cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) to various dollar limitations do not appear on the annual RA List but are treated as if they are included. Many plans do not need to be amended to reflect these periodic COLAs.
EBIA Comment: Those that sponsor, administer, or advise plans that have adopted any of the Part C optional provisions should review the applicable guidance to determine whether any action is needed at this time. Keep in mind that the RA List does not cover discretionary plan amendments, which generally must be adopted by the end of the plan year in which discretionary plan design or operational changes are implemented, except for certain discretionary amendments that must be adopted before they are implemented (such as amendments relating to elective deferral and safe harbor provisions, and amendments subject to the anti-cutback rule). And employers that decide to offer certain types of disaster relief under their plans may need to amend their plans before the deadlines set by disaster-specific IRS guidance, even though disaster-related amendments are not included on the RA List. For more information, see EBIA’s 401(k) Plans manual at Sections XXVII.E (“Amendment Timing: Overview”) and XXVII.G.1.b (“Required Amendments (RA) List of Statutory and Administrative Changes in Qualification Requirements”).
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