Originally appeared in Benefits & Compensation Bulletin Volume IX, Number 3
Four federal laws enacted in the past decade, collectively known as "GUST," require a broad range of changes to tax-qualified retirement plans. The Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") has pushed back the GUST amendment deadline once again; now, plans with plan years ending in December 2001, January 2002, and February 2002 must be amended to comply with GUST (and must also be submitted to the IRS for approval) by February 28, 2002. All other plans must be amended to comply with GUST (and submitted to the IRS) by the end of the plan year beginning in 2001.
For the moment, plan sponsors will need to focus on finalizing their GUST amendments and preparing IRS filings. Failure to timely amend a plan for GUST could jeopardize the plan’s qualified status. But plan sponsors and administrators also need to be aware of the important changes affecting retirement plans that were signed into law just a few months ago.
