IRS Creates First Correction Program for IRAs and Updates Retirement Plan Rules
IRS issued two revenue procedures on October 22, 2026: Rev. Proc. 2026-34 expands the workplace retirement plan correction system effective immediately, and Rev. Proc. 2026-33 creates the first IRA correction program, effective May 1, 2027.
The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service issued two revenue procedures on October 22 that change how mistakes in retirement accounts can be fixed, according to IRS news release IR-2026-126. One updates the long-running correction system for workplace retirement plans with immediate effect. The other creates a correction program for Individual Retirement Accounts for the first time.
Key Takeaways
- Revenue Procedure 2026-34 expands the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, effective October 22, 2026.
- Revenue Procedure 2026-33 creates the IRA Compliance Resolution System, effective May 1, 2027.
- Existing free automatic waiver and self-certification routes for missed 60-day rollovers remain available.
What changed
Revenue Procedure 2026-34 expands the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System and replaces and restructures Revenue Procedure 2021-30, the framework plan sponsors previously used to make corrections, the IRS said. The system includes the Self-Correction Program, the Voluntary Correction Program and the Audit Closing Agreement Program. Together, those programs allow sponsors of qualified plans, section 403(b) plans, SEP arrangements and SIMPLE IRA plans to correct errors and continue providing retirement benefits on a tax-favored basis.
Revenue Procedure 2026-33 establishes the IRA Compliance Resolution System, modeled on the employee-plan procedure and enacted as part of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. The new system permits IRA custodians and IRA owners to request correction of certain eligible inadvertent failures caused by service-provider errors — a formal route IRA owners have not previously had.
Who it affects
The IRA system also provides a process for retirement plan participants and IRA owners to request a waiver of the requirement that a rollover be completed within 60 days of a distribution. Those waiver requests must currently be submitted as private letter ruling requests; over the course of 2027 and 2028, they will be transitioned to requests under the new system, the IRS said. Existing automatic waiver and self-certification procedures remain available at no cost for taxpayers who meet the requirements under Revenue Procedures 2020-46, 2016-47 and 2003-16.
When it takes effect
The workplace-plan procedure took effect on October 22, 2026. The IRA procedure takes effect on May 1, 2027. Treasury and the IRS are inviting comments on both programs, with submission instructions and due dates set out in each revenue procedure. “Hard working Americans will benefit from these procedures because they simplify and speed up how errors with certain retirement plans and IRAs can get corrected when there is a simple problem,” IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank J. Bisignano said in the release.
Sources: IRS news release IR-2026-126, October 22, 2026, and Revenue Procedures 2026-33 and 2026-34, published on IRS.gov.
Educational coverage — not tax or investment advice.