IRS Clarifies Deadlines for SECURE Plan Amendments

The IRS issued guidance Wednesday clarifying that retirement-plan amendments covered in the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement [SECURE] Act of 2019 and the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 do not have to be adopted by year-end.

IRS Notice 2024-2 gave a general deadline of December 31, 2026, for all amendments related to the laws, but the latest bulletin clarified that deadlines for required plan amendments are tied to when the amendments are first published in the IRS’ annual required amendment list. Required amendments must be adopted by the end of the second calendar year after the year in which the amendment becomes effective or is adopted, whichever is later.

The IRS cited as an example that Roth catch-up requirements under Section 603 of SECURE 2.0 are expected to appear on the 2027 Required Amendment List, meaning the general deadline to adopt those amendments will be December 31, 2029.

According to the bulletin, stakeholders can generally assume that required retirement plan provisions not yet published in required amendments lists will appear in a future list, and the deadline will be calculated based on that future publication.

For discretionary amendments that are permitted, but not required, the IRS wrote that, in general, the adoption deadline is December 31, 2026. Guidance with respect to discretionary plan provisions previously adopted will appear in Part C of the required amendments list for the year those changes are applicable.

The Treasury Department and IRS expect to include the guidance in the September 17 bulletin in the upcoming 2026 Required Amendment List.