Fourth cycle preapproved 401(a) defined benefit plan providers Q&As

Question relating to minor modifications to a pre-approved plan

Question 1: Does that include a minor modification to a pre-approved plan? Can it be after the restatement window closes?

Answer: We believe this question relates to slide 12 on the PowerPoint where we were discussing the consequences of a mass submitter’s failure to identify a modification in a minor modifier filing. We were highlighting that these rules were changed from the last IRC 401(a) cycle to match the rules for IRC 403(b) plan’s and are outlined in Rev. Proc. 2023-37, section 15.03(2)(c). The mass submitter must certify under penalties of perjury that the plan of the provider, except for the delineated changes, is word-for-word identical to the plan for which the mass submitter will be receiving or has received an opinion letter. If a mass submitter fails to identify a material modification, the failure is considered a material misrepresentation, and an adopting employer may not rely on the opinion letter that may be issued with respect to the plan for the modification or any other provision of the plan that may be affected by the modification.

Rev. Proc. 2026-4, section 12 applies if this question is related to submitting a Form 5307 application for when an adopting employer makes modifications to a pre-approved plan. Additionally, a Form 5307 application may be submitted after the close of the restatement window if the adopting employer had not previously adopted a pre-approved plan per Rev. Proc. 2023-37, section 25.

Questions relating to the adoption of interim amendments

Question 2: There seems to be some confusion about the interplay between the new rules for pre-approved plans using the Required Amendments List deadlines for interim amendments and statutory amendment deadlines (or extended IRS amendment deadlines. (e.g., SECURE 2.0 deadlines.) Also, Notice 2026-33 provides an amendment deadline of Dec. 31, 2027 for qualified long-term care distributions. Can you help us understand this interplay?

Question 3: Are you referring to the Required Amendment List (e.g., Notice 2025-60)?

Question 4: Similar question to the above. While the original SECURE Act guidance required plan sponsors to adopt compliance amendments by Dec. 31, 2026, recent guidance extended the deadline for the RMD provisions until Dec. 31, 2027. Am I understanding that correctly—i.e., two separate amendments needed? Will there be additional RMD guidance coming that would need to be included or can we combine the RMD provisions in the amendment to be adopted in 2026?

Question 5: If possible, it would be nice to only adhere to the statutorily required deadlines. Reason being, if we have to amend for those annually published amendments, there's a large risk that we'll implement changes that are not on the next cycle's LRMs. If that happens, we'd need to remove those provisions from the pre-approved submissions and then add them right back in.

Answer: Notice 2024-2, 2024-2 IRB 316, Q&A J-1, extended the general required deadline for qualified plans to be amended for the SECURE and SECURE 2.0 Acts (among other acts) to Dec. 31, 2026 for non-governmental and non-collectively bargained plans.

Most, but not all, of provisions from the SECURE and SECURE 2.0 Acts were included on the 2024 Required Amendments List. Sections 114 and 401 of the SECURE Act relating to required minimum distributions were added to the 2025 Required Amendments List and we expect the 2026 Required Amendments List to contain more provisions. Pre-approved plans must generally be amended by the end of the second calendar year following the year the list is issued.

Additionally, Notice 2026-33 Q. B-2 does provide an amendment adoption deadline of Dec. 31, 2027 for qualified long-term care distributions.

Therefore, the overall amendment deadline is still Dec. 31, 2026 for most SECURE and SECURE 2.0 provisions but a few provisions were extended to Dec. 31, 2027 or further.

Providers and adopting employers have until the latest permissible date to adopt an interim amendment for disqualifying provisions. Therefore, the general rule would be to adopt the interim amendment at the end of 2026 except for items that are on later required amendment lists or notices which allow them to be adopted in periods beyond the 2026 calendar year. However, providers and adopting employers may elect to use a more conservative approach and adopt all of the provisions in one interim amendment during 2026.

Also see the Employee Plans newsletter article from Sept. 18, 2026.