On November 16, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2020-82 (the Notice), to further extend the deadline for required minimum contributions for single-employer defined benefit pension plans that would otherwise be due during the 2020 calendar year, from January 1, 2021, to January 4, 2021. On the same day, the PBGC issued complementary guidance, in Technical Update 20-2 (the PBGC Update), to reflect the January 4, 2021, deadline established by the IRS in the Notice when calculating variable-rate premiums.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) previously established a January 1, 2021, deadline for certain required minimum contributions that would otherwise be due during the 2020 calendar year. This pension funding holiday applies for contributions to single-employer defined benefit pension plans required under Section 430(j) of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code). Under Code Section 430(j), single-employer defined benefit pension plan sponsors are required to make certain minimum contributions that are designed to keep the plan sufficiently funded. For a given contribution to apply for a plan year, generally the contribution must be made no later than 8-1/2 months after the plan year ends. However, when a plan has a funding shortfall for the prior plan year, the plan sponsor is required to pay four quarterly installments toward the required minimum contribution for the plan year (due on April 15, July 15, and October 15 of the plan year, and January 15 of the following year, for a calendar year plan). The CARES Act gave plan sponsors additional time to make these required minimum contributions, by providing a January 1, 2021, due date for amounts otherwise due during 2021.

In the Notice, the IRS recognized the legislative intent to defer a plan sponsor’s payment obligation to calendar year 2021. The IRS acknowledged that this deferment to 2021 would not be possible with a January 1, 2021, deadline, given that January 1, 2021, is a bank holiday, and financial institutions cannot transfer funds on the January 1, 2021, due date. As a result, the Notice extends the deadline to January 4, 2021, the next business day after January 1, 2021. For amounts that are contributed on January 4, 2021, and treated as timely made pursuant to the Notice, the amount of the required minimum contribution that is considered satisfied by the contribution is determined by computing the applicable interest adjustment based on the actual contribution date.

The Notice also extends the deadline for a plan sponsor of a single-employer defined benefit pension plan to make certain elections related to the plan’s prefunding balance. These extended deadlines relate to (a) an election to add contributions made in excess of the minimum required contribution for a plan year to the plan’s refunding balance (i.e., a balance that may be used at the plan sponsor’s election to offset minimum required contributions for a later plan year) and (b) an election to use an existing prefunding balance or funding standard carryover balance to offset a required minimum contribution for a plan year. The deadline for those elections is now also January 4, 2021, for a plan year for which the extended due date for required minimum contributions applies. Note, however, that the Notice does not impact the treatment of certain missed quarterly installment contributions otherwise due on January 1, 2021, pursuant to the CARES Act. Further, the extended deadline (previously January 1, 2021, and now January 4, 2021) does not apply for a multiemployer plan, a money purchase pension plan, a “cooperate and small employer charity” (CSEC) plan, or a fully insured plan as described in Code Section 412(e)(3).

Prior to this Notice, the IRS had issued guidance on the CARES Act funding rules for single-employer defined benefit pension plans in Notice 2020-61. That notice addressed the payment of annual premiums to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) (as well as interest adjustments for minimum required contributions, the actuarial certification of a plan’s adjusted funding target attainment percentage (AFTAP), and Form 5500 reporting for contributions made with respect to the 2019 plan year that were made after the filing deadline for the 2019 plan year).

The PBGC Update referenced above addresses the IRS guidance and its impact on the PBGC premium filings by providing that, for premium filings due on or after March 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2021, the date by which prior-year contributions must be received by the plan to be included in plan assets used to determine the variable-rate premium is extended to January 4, 2021. If such a contribution is made by January 4, 2021, a plan sponsor may amend the premium filing to revise the originally reported asset value and the applicable variable-rate premium. Note that the PBGC relief does not impact the premium due dates, and it does not allow a plan sponsor to include a contribution that has not yet been made in the premium filing.