The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently opened a new determination letter approval program for 403(b) retirement plans—commonly used by nonprofit organizations—which allows sponsors of certain individually designed plans to apply for a favorable determination letter. Long available to 401(k) retirement plan sponsors, determination letters can provide sponsors with advance assurance from the IRS that plans are compliant with the Internal Revenue Code. Plan sponsors of eligible 403(b) programs should take advantage of this new opportunity to submit a determination letter application to the IRS.
Since the announcement by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that sponsors of individually designed retirement plans may no longer receive a periodic determination letter, plan sponsors have faced uncertainty about how to demonstrate compliance for their retirement plans. Our McDermott Retirement Plan Compliance Program, a new opinion letter and operational review program for individually designed 401(a) and 403(b) retirement plans, will allow plan sponsors to document their plans’ compliance with tax code requirements in response to the curtailment of the IRS’ determination letter program.
At the 2016 Joint Fall CLE Meeting on October 1, 2016, Andrew Liazos presented on “Maintaining Retirement Plan Documents after Revenue Procedure 2016-37.”
As an employer sponsoring a retirement plan, you are required by law to keep your books and records available for review by the IRS. Having these records will also facilitate answering questions when determining participants’ benefits. As a plan sponsor you should keep the plan and trust document, recent amendments, determination and approval letters, related annuity contracts and collective bargaining agreements.
The presentation highlights key changes under Revenue Procedure 2016-37 and the consequential impacts on annual audits, plan drafting, choice of plan, existing plan administration, EPCRS and other various transactions.
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