Treasury, IRS Announce Guidance for Single-Employer Defined Benefit Plans

The proposed regulations, together with three earlier sets of proposed regulations, enable plan sponsors to determine the contribution requirements that apply to their defined benefit plans under the new funding regime, including the application of the quarterly contribution requirements.

Although the new funding rules are generally effective for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2008, these regulations are proposed to be effective for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009. Plan sponsors, however, can rely on the proposed regulations for purposes of satisfying the minimum funding requirements for plan years beginning in 2008.

On December 19, 2007, the Senate passed an amended version of the Pension Protection Technical Corrections Act of 2007 and on March 13, 2008, the House of Representatives passed similar legislation. These proposed regulations, like the earlier proposed regulations, do not reflect those technical corrections. After technical corrections are enacted, the regulations will be modified to reflect the new provisions.

A copy of the proposed regulations is attached.