Internal Revenue Service’s Focus On Governmental Retirement Plan Compliance

Governmental Plans Initiative. The Internal Revenue Service recently has shown an increasing interest in governmental plans and their compliance (or lack thereof) with the Internal Revenue Code's tax qualification requirements. In April 2008, the Service's Employee Plans Compliance Unit launched the Governmental Plans Initiative. The Service's stated goal of the initiative was to provide plan sponsors of governmental plans with the tools, assistance, and programs needed for these plans to comply with the federal tax qualification requirements. As part of the initiative, the Service thus far has hosted a governmental plans roundtable to improve communications between the Service and plan sponsors and to increase their awareness of the need for governmental plans to comply with the Internal Revenue Code's qualification requirements and conducted a survey of governmental plans using questionnaires to learn more about these plans' unique compliance issues. Due to this