QUOTE (Blinky the 3-eyed Fish @ Jun 29 2005, 11:34 AM)
How about neither of you are right or you both are right. While you can make the amendment retroactive for some purposes, what you can't do is make it retroactive if you are talking about allowing 401(k) deferrals. In other words, if Billy was due to enter the plan on 4/1 based on 3 month eligibility and he started deferring on that date, but you didn't have the amendment in place yet, well that's a problem.
Of course 2003-44 offers some discussion on the subject and depending on who was allowed to defer, the acceptance of the retroactive amendment may be appropriate.
I assume you were talking about 401(k) since this is the board you posted it on, but if not, then provide more details.
Ah, Butler beat me. We are saying the same thing except the need to consider what HCE's & NHCE's are being let in.
Well I want to be right, so I'll defend my position.
As you mention I'm pretty sure that 2003-44 provides the relief. The prescribed correction method is to amend the plan to include the ineligibles.
(Now if the people affected from this amendment are mostly HCEs you do have a problem & should have mentioned that in the first post.) I don't recall if 2003-44 has it, but the Rev. Proc.s. leading up to 2003-44 had examples of this situation.