75. Amendment by Adopting Employer

Statement of Requirement: Rev. Proc. 2023-37, 9.02(3), 13.01, and 13.02

Document Provision: _____

Sample Plan Language:

The employer may (1) change the choice of options in the adoption agreement; (2) specify or change the effective date of a provision as permitted under the plan; (3) add overriding language in the adoption agreement when such language is necessary to satisfy IRC 415 or IRC 416 because of the required aggregation of multiple plans; (4) amend administrative provisions of the plan such as provisions relating to investments, plan claims procedures, and employer contact information provided the amended provisions are not in conflict with any other provision of the plan and do not cause the plan to fail to qualify under IRC 401; (5) adopt sample or model plan amendments published by the Internal Revenue Service which provide that their adoption will not result in the employer losing reliance on the Opinion Letter; (6) amend to adjust for limitations provided under IRC 415, 402(g), 401(a)(17) and 414(q)(1)(B) to reflect annual cost of living increases, or to add automatic cost-of-living adjustments to the plan; (7) make interim amendments or discretionary amendments that are related to a change in qualification requirements; (8) amend the plan to reflect a change of a Provider’s name; and (9) make amendments necessary pursuant to resolving a compliance deficiency pursuant to a closing agreement under the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System. An employer that amends the plan for any other reason will no longer have reliance on the Opinion Letter.

(Note to reviewer: The above provision, limiting the ability of the Adopting Employer to amend the plan, would not preclude the employer, in cases where the employer is switching from an individually designed plan or from one Pre-approved Plan to another, from attaching to the plan a list of the section "411(d)(6) protected benefits" that must be preserved. (See LRM #66). Such a list would not be considered an amendment to the plan.)

158 | Defined Benefit Plan LRM Package 06/2026