ERISA Benefits Law Desk ReferenceERISA Benefits Tech, LLC

Part 2 · Chapter 2

Remedial Amendment Periods, the Required Amendments List, and Amendment Deadlines

Law stated as of October 3, 2026 · Plan Documents, Amendments, Mergers, and Terminations

Scope and status

This chapter covers the document-timing system that replaced periodic IRS review: the §401(b) remedial amendment period and the regulatory concept of a disqualifying provision (and its §403(b) analogue, the form defect), the remedial amendment periods that apply to new plans and to amendments, the annual Required Amendments List and its two-calendar-year deadline, the discretionary amendment deadline, the Operational Compliance List and its stale condition, the statutory amendment deadlines that override the general rules, and what happens when a deadline is missed. The RA List is reissued every year and each issuance resets the operative deadline — always work from the current list. Related questions are treated elsewhere: the determination-letter program in The Determination Letter Program; pre-approved cycles, opinion letters, and the provider/employer allocation in Pre-Approved Plans, Opinion Letters, and the Six-Year Cycles; §411(d)(6) anti-cutback and §204(h) analysis of any amendment in this Part's Plan Amendments, Mergers, and Terminations, which also carries the SECURE/SECURE 2.0 deadline unit in full; and correction of a missed deadline in Part 21 (Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP).

Sections

Part A is shown in full. The other sections are listed by title; their text is available to subscribers.

Part A — The Statutory and Regulatory Foundation

A1.Code §401(b) — retroactive amendment

Part 2, ch. 2, § A1

Code §401(b) permits a plan to be amended retroactively to cure a disqualifying provision, so that the plan is treated as having satisfied §401(a) for the period at issue, if the amendment is made within the remedial amendment period (RAP) — statutorily, the time prescribed by law for filing the employer's return (including extensions) for the taxable year in which the plan or amendment was adopted, as extended by the Commissioner. Statute: Code §401(b); Final reg: Treas. Reg. §1.401(b)-1.

A2."Disqualifying provision" and "form defect"

Part 2, ch. 2, § A2

For qualified plans, a disqualifying provision is (i) a provision that causes the plan to fail §401(a) as of the date the plan is put into effect; (ii) a plan amendment that causes the plan to fail; (iii) a provision designated by the Commissioner as a disqualifying provision resulting from a change in the qualification requirements; or (iv) the absence of a provision required by, or integral to, such a change. Final reg: Treas. Reg. §1.401(b)-1(b); Rev. Proc.: Rev. Proc. 2023-37 (restating the definition). The §403(b) analogue is a form defect, defined in parallel terms against the §403(b) requirements. Rev. Proc.: Rev. Proc. 2023-37; Rev. Proc. 2019-39.

A3.What the RAP does and does not forgive

Part 2, ch. 2, § A3

The RAP cures a document defect retroactively. It does not excuse operating the plan inconsistently with the qualification requirements in the interim; the plan must be operated in compliance from each provision's actual effective date, and the retroactive amendment must reflect how the plan was actually run. Statute: Code §401(b); Final reg: Treas. Reg. §1.401(b)-1; IRS Notice: Notice 2024-2 (stating the operational-compliance condition for the extended statutory deadlines).

Part B — The Remedial Amendment Periods for Individually Designed Plans

  1. B1New plansSubscribers
  2. B2Amendments to an existing planSubscribers
  3. B3Changes in the qualification requirements — the RA List ruleSubscribers
  4. B4Discretionary amendmentsSubscribers

Part C — The Required Amendments List

  1. C1What the RA List isSubscribers
  2. C2The two-part structureSubscribers
  3. C3What does not appear on the listSubscribers
  4. C4The current list — the 2025 RA ListSubscribers

Part D — The Operational Compliance List and Its Condition

  1. D1What it was meant to beSubscribers
  2. D2What it actually is todaySubscribers

Part E — Deadlines That Override the General Rules

  1. E1The SECURE / SECURE 2.0 amendment deadlines — two tracksSubscribers
  2. E2Retroactive adoption of a new planSubscribers
  3. E3The §403(b) transition historySubscribers

Part F — Missing a Deadline

  1. F1The failure and where it surfacesSubscribers
  2. F2CorrectionSubscribers
  3. F3The pre-approved plan consequenceSubscribers

The first Part of each chapter is open to everyone. The remaining sections, with their authority and practice points, are available to subscribers and to clients of ERISA Benefits Law Group, PLLC whose engagement includes access.

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