Pension Protection Act Blog

Each year, the IRS issues the Guidance Priority List, containing the list of tax issues that the Service intends to address by issuing regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, notices and other published administrative guidance. In Notice 2008-47, the IRS is inviting the tax community to submit recommendations by May 31, 2008, for guidance to be included on the list this year.

The Guidance Priority List is a pretty good indication of what to expect from the IRS in the coming year. A review of last year’s Priority Guidance Plan compared to the guidance actually issued by the IRS since July 1, 2007, shows a pretty close match between the issues the IRS intended to address between July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008, and the issues the IRS has actually addressed so far.

One item not included in Notice 2008-47 is expected guidance on the Pension Protection Technical Corrections Act. This is because the list only covers items which were enacted into law, and PPTCA is not quite there yet. PPTCA was received by the Senate on March 31, 2008, and placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar. This does not mean that the IRS will not issue guidance for PPTCA before June 30, 2009, if PPTCA does not make the guidance priority list. The IRS updates the list throughout the year, so guidance for new laws can be added to the list as they are enacted.

Technorati Tags: Pension Protection Act, ppa, Guidance Priority List, IRS, Notice 2008-47, ERISA