IRS Determination letter - reviewer request

[Belgarath]

A reviewer has made a request that I think is 100% wrong, but since I've made a mistake or two in my time, I just would like to see if folks agree.

First, this is a profit sharing plan, with no prior pension money. The plan has a normal retirement age of 60. This was submitted for a d-letter in 2009, and it just got the initial review in July!

The reviewer is asserting that the plan must be amended to have a NRA of 62, as per 1.401(a)-1(b).

Well, I don't agree. This is a profit sharing plan as defined under 1.401-1(b)(1)(ii). The cited reg doesn't apply. Furthermore, IRS Notice 2007-69, as well as even the IRS LRM language, both make it clear that her amendment request would apply only to a pension plan.

Any other opinions?

[John Feldt ERPA CPC QPA]

Have these citations been pointed out to the reviewer? If not, that should be the next step.

A couple years ago I heard from one source that the headers in the regulation that all say "pension plan" are meaningless (as they are only headers), which means some folks might try to interpret this to make it apply to non-pension plans as well. The expert source only said this as a means to remind us to expect some inconsistencies in the understanding of this Normal Retirement Age regulation.

[Belgarath]

Thanks. Yes, this will be pointed out to the reviewer, but I just wanted to first make sure I wasn't out in left field.