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BenefitsLink Newsletter

New U.S. tax and labor law materials on the net pertaining to
employee benefits, for employers, participants and service-providers.
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REV. PROC. 99-23 EXTENDS DOCUMENT AMENDMENT DEADLINE
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The IRS says it best, in the opening paragraphs of the new
revenue procedure:

SECTION 1. PURPOSE

.01 This revenue procedure extends until the last day of the
first plan year beginning on or after January 1, 2000, the
remedial amendment period under section 401(b) of the Code
for amending plans that are qualified under section 401(a) or
section 403(a) for changes made by the Small Business Job
Protection Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104- 188 ("SBJPA") and for
other recent changes in the law. It also designates as a
disqualifying provision for which this extended remedial
amendment period is available any plan provision that causes
a plan to fail to satisfy the qualification requirements of
the Code because of the repeal of the combined plan
limitation under section 415(e) or that is integral to this
repealed qualification requirement. The repeal of section
415(e) is effective for limitation years beginning after
December 31, 1999.

.02 This revenue procedure provides that the extension of the
remedial amendment period also applies:

   1 to all disqualifying provisions of new plans adopted or
     effective after December 7, 1994, and all disqualifying
     provisions of existing plans arising from a plan
     amendment adopted after December 7, 1994;

   2 to the deadline for adopting certain amendments relating
     to section 415(b)(2)(E);

   3 to the deadline for adopting amendments of disqualifying
     provisions that are integral to a qualification
     requirement changed by a provision of SBJPA that became
     effective on the first day of the first plan year
     beginning after December 31, 1998; and

   4 to the deadline for adopting amendments of disqualifying
     provisions that are integral to the requirements of
     section 401(a)(31) to reflect the change made by section
     6005(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring
     and Reform Act of 1998, Pub. L. 105-206 ("RRA 98").

.03 This revenue procedure also provides that the extension
of the remedial amendment period applies to the time for
adopting amendments of defined benefit plans to provide that
benefits will be determined in accordance with the applicable
interest rate rules and applicable mortality table rules of
section 1.417(e)-1(d) of the Income Tax Regulations. However,
such a plan amendment must provide that, with respect to
distributions with annuity starting dates that are on or
after the effective date of the amendment but before the
adoption date of the amendment, the distribution will be the
greater of the amount that would be determined under the plan
without regard to the amendment and the amount determined
under the plan with regard to the amendment.

.04 This revenue procedure extends by one year the period of
extended reliance for certain plans that received favorable
determination, opinion, or notification letters under the Tax
Reform Act of 1986, Pub. L. 99-514 ("TRA 86").

.05 Finally, this revenue procedure extends the TRA 86
remedial amendment period for governmental and nonelecting
church plans to the end of the remedial amendment period for
SBJPA. This extension ensures that no such plan need be
submitted for a determination letter until the end of the
SBJPA remedial amendment period. Sponsors of nonelecting
church plans continue to have until the end of the 2001 plan
year to adopt amendments relating to the nondiscrimination
requirements.

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