Employee Stock Ownership Plans; Section 411(d)(6) Protected Benefits (Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997); Qualified Retirement Plan Benefits

This document contains final and temporary regulations providing for changes to the rules regarding qualified retirement plan benefits that are protected from reduction by plan amendment, that have been made necessary by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 (TRA '97). The final regulations change the existing final regulations to conform with the TRA '97 rules regarding in-kind distribution requirements for certain employee stock ownership plans, and specify the time period during which certain plan amendments for which relief has been granted by TRA '97 may be made without violating the prohibition against plan amendments that reduce accrued benefits. These final regulations affect sponsors of qualified retirement plans, employers that maintain qualified retirement plans, and qualified retirement plan participants. The amendments to the temporary regulations remove previously issued temporary regulations on the same subject.