Retroactive Amendment of 403(b) Plan to Correct Operational Failure

[J. Bringhurst]

After reading through Rev. Proc. 2013-12, which now adds 403(b) plans to the mix, it seems to me that the ability to correct an operational failure through retroactive amendment is subject to the full submission fee under Section 12, while the correction of a failure to timely adopt the 403(b) plan document itself is subject to a 50% reduction (at leat for a limited period). I'm just wondering if I'm reading this correctly.

We have a situation in which the plan document has always been in place (ERISA 403(b) plan), and was timely amended and restated to reflect the final 403(b) regulations. However, we failed to follow the terms of the plan with respect to the contribution sources available for loans. The only fix is to retroactively amend the plan to conform its terms to actual operation and, in our case, the fee would be $15,000.

Since 403(b) plans are new to this whole correction thing, I'm wondering if I'm missing something or if I've read the Rev. Proc. correctly. Thanks in advance!