The IRS recently issued Rev. Proc. 2012-35, revising the scope of the IRS letter-forwarding program. The revenue procedure provides that the IRS will no longer forward letters on behalf of plan sponsors or administrators of qualified retirement plans or qualified termination administrators (QTAs) of abandoned plans under the Department of Labor's Abandoned Plan Program who are attempting to locate missing plan participants and beneficiaries.
According to the IRS, since the IRS letter-forwarding program began, numerous alternative missing person locator resources have become available to assist a plan sponsor or plan administrator in locating a missing participant or beneficiary who is owed a retirement benefit, thus enabling the program change. In particular, this change affects retirement plan sponsors and administrators who are searching for plan participants or beneficiaries to correct failures that require payment of additional benefits in accordance with the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS), as described in Rev. Proc. 2008-50. Accordingly, in future guidance on EPCRS, the IRS intends to provide an extended correction period for plan sponsors and administrators affected by this change in the letter-forwarding program.
Rev. Proc. 2012-35 applies to requests postmarked on or after Aug. 31, 2012. Requests postmarked prior to that date will continue to be processed according to Rev. Proc. 94-22.
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