IRS Notice 2020-35 extends until July 15 the deadline for certain retirement plan filings and other actions normally due from March 30 through July 14. The deadline extension expands the agency’s earlier pandemic relief in Notice 2020-23. The new guidance also formalizes IRS’s extension of the initial 403(b) plan remedial amendment period (RAP) until June 30 and the second RAP for preapproved defined benefit (DB) plans until July 31. IRS previously announced both RAP extensions on its website.
The previous relief applied to a wide set of actions for DB and defined contribution (DC) plans, including filing the Form 5500 series and correcting actual deferral percentage (ADP) and actual contribution percentage (ACP) testing failures, among other actions. The new, more targeted relief extends the deadline for the following actions otherwise due from March 30 through July 14:
The deadline extension also gives plans more time to file Form 5330, Return of Excise Taxes Related to Employee Benefit Plans, and pay any excise tax. In addition, plans have until July 15 to complete corrections, including to adopt corrective amendments, required by a compliance statement under the Voluntary Compliance Program (VCP) of the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS).
Extended initial RAP for 403(b) plans. Sponsors of 403(b) plans that adopted a formal plan document by Dec. 31, 2009, had until March 31, 2020, to fix any document defects. That deadline is now June 30, 2020. Sponsors can fix defects by amending their plans or adopting a preapproved 403(b) plan document.
Extended second RAP for preapproved DB plans. The second six-year RAP for preapproved DB plans now ends on July 31, not instead of April 30. This is the deadline for employers using preapproved DB plan documents to: