The 2022 IRS Required Amendments (RA) List (Notice 2022-62) identifies no changes in statutory or regulatory requirements for individually designed retirement qualified and Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 403(b) retirement plans. This means most employers will not have a Dec. 31, 2024, deadline for required amendments. However, employers making discretionary design changes in 2024 will need to amend their plans accordingly by the end of the 2024 plan year (Dec. 31, 2024, for calendar-year plans).

Some changes not specifically referenced on RA List. Each RA List automatically includes certain periodic updates, such as changes in cost-of-living adjustments, spot segment rates used to determine the IRC Section 417(e)(3) applicable interest rate, and the Section 417(e) applicable mortality table for the year in which the changes are effective. IRS anticipates that few plans will need amendments for these updates, which plans typically incorporate by reference to an IRC section or index. Plans that don’t incorporate these updates by reference must be amended by the end of 2024 for changes effective in 2022.

Timing for ARPA special assistance amendments. A footnote to the 2022 RA List clarifies the amendment deadlines for multiemployer plans that received special financial assistance (SFA) under the American Rescue Plan Act (Pub. L. No. 117-2). These plans must reinstate any suspended benefits, provide make-up payments to affected participants and beneficiaries, and adopt amendments to reflect those payments. The 2021 RA List (Notice 2021-64) set Dec. 31, 2023, as the amendment deadline for plans that received SFA in 2021. The 2022 RA List explains that amendments for plans receiving SFA after 2021 are treated as discretionary amendments under IRS’s amendment timing rules. Therefore, these plans must be amended by the end of the plan year in which the amendment takes effect (that is, the year in which payments to affected individuals start) or, if later, Dec. 31, 2023.

Related resources

• Notice 2022-62 (IRS, Nov. 21, 2022)
• Notice 2021-64 (Nov. 29, 2021)
• Pub. L. No. 117-2, the American Rescue Plan Act (Congress, March 11, 2021)