Treasury 2023-2024 Priority Guidance Plan Includes Retirement Benefits

The priority guidance plan that the Treasury and IRS have issued for 2023-24 includes plans for action that will affect retirement plans. They unveiled the plan on Sept. 29. 

The 2023-2024 Priority Guidance Plan contains projects that will be the focus of guidance and regulatory efforts by the Treasury and IRS during the 12-month period from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. The plan contains 237 projects. In the plan, they also note that nine guidance items already were released by Sept. 29, 2023; two of those are related to retirement plans and benefits. 

The appendix to the 2023-2024 plan lists routine guidance that is generally published each year.

Following are the retirement-related matters on which the Treasury and IRS plan to issue guidance during this period. 

Guidance to Be Issued

• Guidance relating to certain IRS, tax exempt and government entities, and employee plans programs, including the pre-approved plan program, the determination letter program, and the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS).
• Guidance on student loan payments and qualified retirement plans and 403(b) plans. 
• Guidance on missing participants, including guidance on uncashed checks.
• Guidance updating electronic filing requirements for employee benefit plans to reflect changes made by the Taxpayer First Act.

Regulations to Be Issued 

• Regulations under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 72(t) relating to the 10 percent additional tax on early distributions. 
• Regulations and related guidance under Internal Revenue Code Sections 219, 408, 408A, and 4973 and related guidance under IRC 408(m). 
• Regulations and other guidance relating to modifications to certain rules governing 401(k) plans made by the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0.
• Regulations and related guidance on closed defined benefit plans and related matters. Proposed regulations were published on Jan. 29, 2016.
• Regulations on the definition of governmental plan under IRC Section 414(d). An ANPRM was published on Nov. 8, 2011. 
• Regulations on the definition of church plan under IRC Section 414(e).
• Regulations on mortality tables used to determine present value under IRC Section 430 for single-employer pension plans. Proposed regulations were published on April 28, 2022.
• Regulations relating to the reporting requirements under IRC Section 6057. Proposed regulations were published on June 21, 2012.

Final Regulations to Be Issued 

• Final regulations on the application of the normal retirement age regulations under IRC Section 401(a) to governmental plans. Proposed regulations were published on Jan. 27, 2016. 
• Final regulations relating to the timing of the use or allocation of forfeitures in qualified retirement plans. Proposed regulations were published on Feb. 27, 2023. 
• Final regulations updating electronic delivery rules and other guidance for providing applicable notices and making participant elections. Proposed regulations were published on Dec. 30, 2022.
• Final regulations and related guidance on the exception to the unified plan rule for IRC 413(e) multiple employer plans. Proposed regulations were published on March 28, 2022.
• Final regulations under IRC Section 415 regarding Section 7873 treaty fishing rights income. Proposed regulations were published on Nov. 15, 2013. 
• Final regulations under IRC Section 417(e) that update the minimum present value requirements for defined benefit plans. Proposed regulations were published on Nov. 25, 2016.
• Final regulations setting forth the methodology for constructing the corporate bond yield curve that is used for minimum funding purposes for certain pension plans. Proposed regulations were published on June 23, 2023. 
• Final regulations under IRC Section 3405 regarding distributions made to payees, including military and diplomatic payees, with an address outside the United States. Proposed regulations were published on May 31, 2019.

Guidance Published

The Treasury and IRS have already issued two items of guidance related to retirement plans and benefits. 

1. Final regulations and other guidance relating to modifications to IRC Section 401(a)(9) made by the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 and addressing other issues under IRC Section 401(a)(9). The proposed regulations were contained in Notice 2023-54; they were issued on July 14, 2023 and published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2023-31 on July 31, 2023.

2. Guidance implementing changes made by Division T of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, known as SECURE 2.0. This includes guidance providing questions and answers on certain issues under SECURE 2.0. The guidance was contained in Notice 2023-62; it was released on Aug. 25, 2023 and published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2023-37 on Sept. 11, 2023. 

What Wasn’t There

The Treasury and IRS say that some projects that were on the 2022-2023 Priority Guidance Plan are not included on the 2023-2024 plan because they no longer consider them to be priorities worthy of allocating resources. It is possible, however, that some of those omitted projects may be included in a priority guidance plan in the future. 

Finding out More 

The 2023-2024 Priority Guidance Plan, as well as plans for earlier years, can be obtained from the IRS website at http://www.irs.gov/uac/Priority-Guidance-Plan.