Failure to Operate in Compliance with Terms of 401(a) Qualified Plan

[Guest BenefitsAttyDC]

All,

Although the concept seems obvious, does anyone know of a good cite (law/regulations/other IRS/Treasury guidance) for the following proposition:

A failure to operate in compliance with the terms of a 401(a) qualified plan will cause the plan to fail to be qualified, even if the failure is with respect to a provision other than a tax qualification provision, e.g., loans, hardships, payment of benefits in installments when payment should have been a lump sum.

A cite to the Code, Treasury regulations, or another piece of IRS/Treasury guidance would be very helpful.

Thank you!

[Belgarath]

Take a look at Revenue Procedure 2008-50, and in particular Section 5 which defines an "operational failure" such as you suggest as a qualification failure.

[Guest BenefitsAttyDC]

Thanks! Very helpful.