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IRS Shifts Responsibility for Issues Involving Retirement Plans

January 2015 will mark more than the beginning of a new year — on Jan. 2, a different IRS office will take on technical responsibilities concerning qualified retirement plans and IRAs. The IRS spelled out the change in Announcement 2014-34.

On that date, the IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE) Division will transfer those duties to the IRS Office of Associate Chief Counsel (TE/GE). This means that the latter will prepare the following pertaining to retirement plans and IRAs:

  • revenue rulings;
  • revenue procedures;
  • technical advice memoranda;
  • certain letter rulings; and
  • certain information letters.
TE/GE’s Employee Plans Office will continue to issue letter rulings on the following matters:

  • computation of the exclusion ratio under Code Section 72;
  • waiver of the 60-day rollover requirement under Code Sections 402(c)(3) and 408(d)(3) for distributions;
  • whether individual retirement accounts established by employers or associations of employers meet the requirements of Code Section 408(c);
  • approval to become a nonbank trustee;
  • change in funding methods and actuarial assumptions under Code Sections 412, 430 or 431;
  • approval of substitute mortality tables under Rev. Proc. 2008-62;
  • extension of an amortization period under Rev. Proc. 2010-52;
  • the tax consequences of prohibited transactions under Code Sections 503 and 4975;
  • waiver of the liquidity shortfall (as that term is defined in Code Section 430(j)(4)) excise tax under Code Section 4971(f)(4);
  • approval of the return of certain nondeductible contributions to the employer under Rev. Proc. 90-49;
  • Roth IRA recharacterization relief under Code Section 301; and
  • A change in the plan year of an employee retirement plan and the trust year of a tax-exempt employees’ trust.
The TE/GE’s Employee Plans Office also will continue to issue determination letters.