Effective April 19, 2019, the IRS expanded the system of correction programs for plan sponsors of retirement plans with the release of Rev. Proc. 2019-19. As background, plan sponsors are permitted to correct certain failures through the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) and in some circumstances avoid paying any fees or sanctions. There are three programs in the system: the Self-Correction Program (SCP), the Voluntary Correction Program (VCP), and the Audit Closing Agreement Program (Audit CAP).

This revenue procedure allows plan sponsors of a qualified plan, a 403(b) Plan, a Simplified Employee Pension Plan (SEP), or a SIMPLE IRA Plan that satisfy the eligibility requirements to correct certain operational failures or plan document failures under SCP. A plan sponsor may correct an operational failure by plan amendment to conform the terms of the plan to the plan’s prior operations if three conditions are satisfied: 1) the plan amendment would result in an increase of a benefit, right, or feature, 2) the increase in the benefit, right, or feature is available to all eligible employees, and 3) providing the increase in the benefit, right, or feature is permitted under the Code and satisfies the correction principles.

Also, this revenue procedure provides a new correction method for failure to obtain spousal consent for a plan loan. The sponsor must notify the affected participant and spouse so that the spouse can provide consent. If consent is not obtained, the failure must be corrected using either VCP or Audit CAP. Plan loans that are made in excess of loan limits may be corrected only under VCP or Audit CAP.

Finally, the EPCRS may not be used to correct the initial failure to adopt a qualified plan or failure to timely adopt a written 403(b) plan document.

The Treasury Department and the IRS invite comments on how to improve EPCRS and expect to update the system in the future based on those comments.

If a plan is currently out of compliance with requirements based on an operational or plan document failure, the plan sponsor should work with their retirement plan consultant to see if they are eligible to use EPCRS to get the plan into compliance.

Rev. Proc. 2019-19 »

Source: NFP BenefitsPartners