Loan repayments in 2021 (not related to CARES Act)

This post is exclusive of anything related to CARES Act.

I feel like I saw some headlines going back to 2019 indicating that loan payment rules were being relaxed, such as longer periods to either pay back to the plan or roll the amount into an IRA, or pay by check once terminated into the plan, but perhaps I dreamed it?  Just curious, has anything to that effect been enacted?

Qualified Participant Loan Offset (QPLO)? That was effective 1/1/2018 so not that new but not that old either; is that what you are thinking?  Qualified loan offset is when you offset a loan due to termination of employment or plan termination. In those cases the participant has until the extended due date of their tax return (10/15 following the year of offset) to rollover the balance to IRA or qualified plan instead of the usual 60 days. You add the Code "M" to the 1099-R to indicate QPLO.

Other than CARES I can't really think of any other recent loan changes or guidance.

The final regulations for qualified plan loan offsets were published and made effective Jan 6, 2021, that might be what you were thinking of.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/06/2020-27151/rollover-rules-for-qualified-plan-loan-offset-amounts