Determination Letter Deadline

[Guest RW]

A plan is amended to reflect some significant design changes. What is the deadline to file for the determination letter? What happens if that deadline is not met?

[M R Bernardin]

Well, there is no absolute requirement that a determination letter be obtained; it is only prudent. If the employer wants the ability to retroactively fix the document should the IRS decide it doesn't like the amendments, it should file by the deadline for filing its corporate income tax return for the year in which the amendments were made. These rules are spelled out in Treasury Regulation 1.401(B). Right now, however, we are in a "remedial amendment period," and employers of individually-designed plans generally have until the end of their 2001 plan years to request a letter, and that letter would protect them for changes made since end of 1994 and forward.