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1. |
Roth 401(k): This
is a discretionary amendment (required only
for plans permitting Roth deferrals), so it must be
made by the end of plan year during which Roth
deferrals are first contributed. Because of the
discretionary nature of this amendment, it is done
at the employer level, not the Sponsor. These
amendments were provided earlier in 2006.
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2. |
Automatic Rollover:
IRS Notice 2005-95 (issued on December 2, 2005)
coordinates previously published guidance regarding
amendment deadlines with Rev. Proc. 2005-66. It also
provides transitional relief. The deadline for the
automatic rollover amendment is the latter of: |
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The tax-filing deadline, including extensions,
for the plan year that included March 28, 2005.
This effectively provides an extension for employers
who were unable to meet the December 31, 2005
deadline. Remember that for prototype plans, the
sponsor could have adopted the changes on behalf of
their employer clients. (Models of different
possible amendments were sent to in early March
2005.) Both sponsor and employer level amendments
were provided.
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3. |
Final 401(k) and 401(m)
Regulations: For 401(k) plans, the changes
included in the final regulations are required
so plans generally must be amended accordingly
by the tax-filing deadline for the employer’s 2006
plan year. The changes are also required for 401(m)
plans with matching and/or after-tax contributions,
and the same deadline applies. Profit-sharing plans
using the safe-harbor rules for hardship
distributions should adopt this amendment during the
same time period. For plans that terminate prior to
the deadline, the amendment must be made before the
plan terminates. The prototype amendment was
provided in September as a Sponsor level amendment
only.
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4. |
Pension Funding
Equity Act Amendment for Defined Benefit Plans:
This is a required amendment for
defined benefit plans. The deadline was generally
the end of plan year beginning on or after January
1, 2006; however, the passage of the PPA extended
this to the end of the 2008 plan year. We are in the
process of finalizing this amendment for employers
terminating their plans. Since this amendment is
only for those plans it is being provided as an
employer level amendment.
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5. |
Required Minimum
Distributions for Defined Benefit Plans:
Although these provisions become effective this
year, the remedial amendment period for this
amendment is the end of the EGTRRA cycle or January
1, 2013. However, a prototype amendment available
shortly, again for terminating plans only. For
on-going plans the amendment will be part of the
EGTRRA amendment. This amendment is already
available for volume submitter plans.
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6. |
Relative Value Regulations
for Defined Benefit Plans: These changes
affect the disclosure provided to participant and do
not require an actual plan amendment. We plan to
update our administrative forms to address this
issue. In addition, we await IRS guidance on whether
the new language requirements may be disregarded by
Money Purchase and Target Benefit Plans.
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