Treasury and IRS Update Retirement Plan Correction Program and Establish a New IRA Correction System Effective May 1, 2027
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service issued two revenue procedures on October 22 (IR-2026-126) that update the correction program for employee retirement plans and create one for Individual Retirement Accounts, simplifying how simple errors can be fixed without jeopardizing an account's tax-favored status.
Revenue Procedure 2026-34 expands the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) and replaces and restructures Revenue Procedure 2021-30, effective immediately. EPCRS includes the Self-Correction Program, the Voluntary Correction Program and the Audit Closing Agreement Program, which together allow sponsors of qualified plans, section 403(b) plans, SEP arrangements and SIMPLE IRA plans to make corrections and continue providing retirement benefits on a tax-favored basis.
Revenue Procedure 2026-33 establishes the IRA Compliance Resolution System (ICRS), modeled after the employee plan procedure and enacted as part of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. Effective May 1, 2027, ICRS permits IRA custodians and IRA owners to request correction of certain eligible inadvertent failures caused by service-provider errors. The system also provides a process to request waivers of the 60-day rollover requirement; over the course of 2027 and 2028, those requests — currently submitted as private letter ruling requests — will transition to ICRS. Existing automatic waiver and self-certification procedures remain available at no cost for taxpayers who meet the requirements.
“Hard working Americans will benefit from these procedures because they simplify and speed up how errors with certain retirement plans and IRAs can get corrected when there is a simple problem,” said IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank J. Bisignano. Treasury and the IRS are inviting comments on both programs.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 配图：美国财政部徽标（公共领域，美国财政部）
