The Required Amendments List (RA List) is an annual list of tax law changes for qualified and 403(b) plans that establishes amendment deadlines for individually designed plans affected by items on the list. In general, sponsors must amend their plans for changes on the RA List by the end of the second calendar year after the year the list is published. The amendment deadline for changes on the 2021 RA List in Notice 2021-64 is Dec. 31, 2023. This deadline applies regardless of a plan’s plan year.
Multiemployer plans that received special financial assistance in 2021. The 2021 RA List identified only one required amendment relating to multiemployer plans that received special financial assistance under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Pub. L. No. 117-2). A multiemployer plan that received special financial assistance in 2021 must be amended by Dec. 31, 2023, to reflect the reinstatement of suspended benefits and the provision of make-up payments to participants and beneficiaries whose benefits were suspended. The plan must be amended formally even if the benefit suspension was implemented only operationally.
Periodic updates not specifically mentioned on RA List. Each RA List automatically includes certain periodic updates, even though these items aren’t specifically referenced on that RA List. Examples of these updates include changes in cost-of-living adjustments, spot segment rates used to determine the 417(e)(3) applicable interest rate and 417(e)(3) applicable mortality tables for the year in which such changes are effective. Most plans incorporate these items by reference, eliminating the need for amendments. But plans that don’t incorporate these items by reference must be amended by Dec. 31, 2023, for updates that took effect in 2021.