IRS to Issue Advisory and Opinion Letters for 403(b) Plans

According to the IRS, opinion and advisory letters (i.e., for prototype and volume submitter type of plans, respectively) are expected to be issued for 403(b) plans in the second quarter of 2017. Over 460 plans were submitted to the IRS seeking approval.

The issuance of the approval letter is important to adopting employers of these plans since 403(b) plans previously never had the opportunity to receive a determination letter like a qualified retirement plan [e.g., a 401(k) plan] which is intended to satisfy IRC Section 401(a), or rely on an opinion or advisory letter received by a prototype or volume submitter plan document preparer. A 403(b) plan was only able to receive a private letter ruling which rarely occurred.