DETROIT – Those of you with pre-approved retirement plans and a memory like a steel trap will remember that your retirement plan was rewritten sometime between May 1, 2008, and April 30, 2010. At that time we told you that another restatement would not be required for at least six years. Well, guess what? It has now been six years and it is time to begin a new restatement cycle.
Remedial Amendment Period Cycles
The IRS established a cyclical filing system in 2005 that requires retirement plans be restated once every five or six years depending on the type of plan you maintain. The IRS has announced that the second restatement period under that program for pre-approved retirement plans will open May 1, 2014, and close April 30, 2016. That means if your plan is based on the Warner Norcross & Judd’s pre-approved volume submitter plan or your plan is based on another pre-approved plan, such as a prototype plan, you must restate your plan no later than April 30, 2016.
What is a Pre-Approved Plan?
Pre-approved plans generally fall into two categories, prototype and volume submitter. Prototype plans are required to have a basic plan document and an adoption agreement that enables the employer to choose among the plan design options that are offered. A volume submitter plan consists of plan language, including extensive optional language that is submitted for IRS approval and then used to create employer plans. The May 1, 2014, to April 30, 2016, remedial amendment period applies to both types of pre-approved plans. It does not apply to individually designed retirement plans, such as ESOPs, which are required to be restated each five years.
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