2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 19. Public Retirement Systems › Chapter 2. Public Employees' Retirement General Provisions › Part 10. Special Provisions › 19-2-1001. Maximum contribution and benefit limitations

19-2-1001. Maximum contribution and benefit limitations.
(1) (a) Employee contributions paid to and retirement benefits paid from a retirement system or plan may not exceed the annual limits on contributions and benefits, respectively, allowed by section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415.
(b) For purposes of determining whether the annual limitations in subsection (1)(a) are met:
(i) all defined benefit plans of the employer, whether or not terminated, must be treated as a single defined benefit plan;
(ii) all defined contribution plans of the employer, whether terminated or not, must be treated as a single defined contribution plan;
(iii) retirement systems and plans established under Title 19 must be prioritized for disqualification purposes above any plans not established under Title 19; and
(iv) retirement systems and plans established under Title 19 that must be aggregated for purposes of the limits in section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415, must be prioritized for qualification purposes based on the system or plan providing the member with the highest benefit.
(2) A member may not receive an annual benefit that exceeds the dollar amount specified in section 415(b)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(b)(1)(A), subject to the applicable adjustments in section 415(d) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(d).
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the board may modify a request by a member to make a contribution to a retirement system or plan if the amount of the contribution would exceed the limits provided in section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code, by using the following methods:
(a) If the law requires a lump-sum payment for the purchase of service credit, the board may establish a periodic payment plan for the member to avoid a contribution in excess of the limits under section 415(c) or 415(n) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(c) or 415(n).
(b) If payment pursuant to subsection (3)(a) will not avoid a contribution in excess of the limits imposed by section 415(c) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(c), the board shall either reduce the member's contribution to an amount within the limits of that section or refuse the member's contribution.
(4) (a) Effective for permissive service credit contributions made in limitation years beginning after December 31, 1997, if a member makes one or more contributions to purchase permissive service credit under a retirement system or plan to which this section applies, then the requirements of this section will be treated as met only if:
(i) except as provided in subsection (4)(b), the requirements of section 415(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(b), are met, determined by treating the accrued benefit derived from all the contributions as an annual benefit for purposes of section 415(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(b); or
(ii) except as provided in subsection (4)(c), the requirements of section 415(c) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(c), are met, determined by treating all the contributions as annual additions for purposes of section 415(c) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(c).
(b) For purposes of applying subsection (4)(a)(i), the retirement system or plan may not fail to meet the reduced limit under section 415(b)(2)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(b)(2)(C), solely by reason of subsection (4)(a).
(c) For purposes of applying subsection (4)(a)(ii), the retirement system or plan may not fail to meet the percentage limitation under section 415(c)(1)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(c)(1)(B) solely by reason of this subsection (4).
(5) For purposes of subsection (4), the term "permissive service credit" means service credit:
(a) specifically recognized by a plan subject to this chapter for purposes of calculating a plan member's benefit under the member's plan;
(b) that the plan member has not received under the plan;
(c) that the plan member may receive only by making a voluntary additional contribution, in an amount determined under the plan, that does not exceed the amount necessary to fund the benefit attributable to the service credit; and
(d) effective for permissive service credit contributions made in limitation years beginning after December 31, 1997, service credit for periods for which there is no performance of service, which, notwithstanding subsection (5)(b), may include service credit purchased in order to provide an increased benefit under the plan.
(6) A retirement system or plan fails to meet the requirements of subsection (4) if:
(a) more than 5 years of nonqualified service credit are taken into account; or
(b) any nonqualified service credit is taken into account before the plan member has at least 5 years of participation under the plan.
(7) For purposes of subsection (6), effective for permissive service credit contributions made in limitation years beginning after December 31, 1997, the term "nonqualified service credit" means permissive service credit other than that allowed with respect to:
(a) service, including parental, medical, sabbatical, and similar leave, as an employee of the government of the United States, any state or political subdivision of a state, or any agency or instrumentality of a state or of a political subdivision of a state, other than military service or service for credit that was obtained as a result of a repayment of a refund as described in section 415(k)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(k)(3);
(b) service, including parental, medical, sabbatical, and similar leave, as an employee, other than an employee described in subsection (7)(a), of an education organization described in section 170(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 170(b)(1)(A)(ii), that is a public, private, or sectarian school that provides elementary or secondary education through grade 12 or a comparable level of education, as determined under the applicable law of the jurisdiction in which the service was performed;
(c) service as an employee of an association of employees who are described in subsection (7)(a); or
(d) military service, other than qualified military service under section 414(u) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 414(u), recognized by the system or plan.
(8) In the case of service described in subsection (7)(a), (7)(b), or (7)(c), service must be nonqualified service if recognition of the service would cause a plan member to receive a retirement benefit for the same service under more than one plan.
(9) In the case of a trustee-to-trustee transfer after December 31, 2001, to which section 403(b)(13)(A) or 457(e)(17)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 403(b)(13)(A) or 457 (e)(17)(A), applies, without regard to whether the transfer is made between plans maintained by the same employer:
(a) the limitations in subsection (7) do not apply in determining whether the transfer is for the purchase of permissive service credit; and
(b) the distribution rules applicable to the plan under federal law apply to those amounts and any benefits attributable to those amounts.
(10) (a) For purposes of this subsection (10), an eligible plan member is an individual who became a member of the plan before January 1, 1998.
(b) For an eligible plan member, the limitation in section 415(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(c)(1), may not be applied to reduce the amount of permissive service credit that may be purchased to an amount less than the amount that was allowed to be purchased under the terms of the applicable law in effect on August 5, 1997.
(11) The limitation year for purposes of section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415, is the calendar year beginning each January 1 and ending December 31.
(12) (a) "Salary", for the purposes of determining compliance with section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415, and for no other purposes, means compensation as defined in 26 CFR 1.415(c)-1 through 1.415(c)-2(d)(4). However:
(i) employee contributions picked up under section 414(h)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 414(h)(2), are excluded from salary; and
(ii) the amount of an elective deferral, as defined in section 402(g) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 402(g), or any other contribution that is contributed or deferred by the employer at the election of the member and that is not includable in the gross income of the member because of section 125, 403(b), or 457 of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 125, 403(b), or 457, is included in the definition.
(b) For limitation years beginning after December 31, 2000, the term includes any elective amounts that are not includable in the gross income of the member by reason of section 132(f)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 132(f)(4).
(c) For limitation years beginning no later than January 1, 2008, the term includes compensation paid by the later of 2.5 months after a member's severance from employment or the end of the limitation year that includes the date of the member's severance from employment if:
(i) the payment is regular compensation for services during the member's regular working hours or compensation for services outside the member's regular working hours such as overtime or shift differential, commissions, bonuses, or other similar payments and, absent a severance from employment, the payments would have been paid to the member while the member continued in employment with the employer; or
(ii) the payment is for unused accrued bona fide sick, vacation, or other leave that the member would have been able to use if employment had continued.
(d) For limitation years beginning on or after January 1, 2009, the term, as calculated, may not exceed the annual limit under section 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 401(a)(17).
(e) Beginning January 1, 2009, to the extent required by section 414(u)(12) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 414(u)(12), a member receiving from an employer differential wage payments as defined under section 3401(h)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 3401(h)(2), must be treated as employed by that employer. The differential wage payments must be treated as compensation for purposes of applying the limits on annual additions under section 415(c) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(c). This provision must be applied to all similarly situated employees in a reasonably equivalent manner.
(13) For the purposes of applying the limits on a defined benefit plan member's annual benefit under section 415(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(b), the following apply:
(a) Prior to January 1, 2009, any automatic adjustment under the retirement system or a plan subject to this chapter must be taken into consideration when determining a member's applicable limit to the extent required by a reasonable interpretation of 26 CFR 1.415-3(c).
(b) On or after January 1, 2009, with respect to a member who does not receive a portion of the member's annual benefit in a lump sum:
(i) a member's applicable limit must be applied to the member's annual benefit in the first limitation year without regard to any automatic cost-of-living increases;
(ii) to the extent the member's annual benefit equals or exceeds the applicable limit, the member is no longer eligible for cost-of-living increases until the benefit plus the accumulated increases are less than the limit; and
(iii) in any subsequent limitation year, the member's annual benefit, including any automatic cost-of-living increase applicable, is subject to the applicable benefit limit, including any adjustment to the dollar limit in section 415(b)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(b)(1)(A), under section 415(d) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(d) and the implementing regulations.
(c) On or after January 1, 2009, with respect to a member who receives a portion of the member's annual benefit in a lump sum, a member's applicable limit must be applied, taking into consideration automatic cost-of-living increases as required by section 415(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(b), and applicable U.S. treasury regulations.
(d) (i) A member's annual benefit payable under the member's plan in any limitation year may not be greater than the limit applicable at the annuity starting date, as increased in subsequent years pursuant to section 415(d) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(d), and the implementing regulations.
(ii) If the form of benefit without regard to the automatic benefit increase feature is not a straight life or a qualified joint and survivor annuity, then this subsection (13)(d) is applied by either reducing the limit in section 415(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(b), applicable at the annuity starting date or adjusting the form of benefit to an actuarially equivalent straight life annuity benefit determined using the following assumptions that take into account the death benefits under the form of benefit:
(A) for a benefit paid in a form to which section 417(e)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 417(e)(3), does not apply, the actuarially equivalent straight life annuity benefit that is the greater of:
(I) the annual amount of any straight life annuity payable to the member under the member's plan commencing at the same annuity starting date as the form of benefit payable to the member; or
(II) the annual amount of the straight life annuity commencing at the same annuity starting date that has the same actuarial present value as the form of benefit payable to the member, computed using a 5% interest assumption, or the applicable statutory interest assumption, and pursuant to I.R.S. Revenue Ruling 2001-62, 2001-2 Cumulative Bulletin 632, for years prior to January 1, 2009, using the applicable mortality tables described in 26 CFR 1.417(e)-1(d)(2) and pursuant to I.R.S. Notice 2008-85, 2008-2 Cumulative Bulletin 905, for years after December 31, 2008, using the applicable mortality tables described in section 417(e)(3)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 417(e)(3)(B); or
(B) for a benefit paid in a form to which section 417(e)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 417(e)(3), applies, the actuarially equivalent straight life annuity benefit that is the greatest of:
(I) the annual amount of the straight life annuity commencing at the annuity starting date that has the same actuarial present value as the particular form of benefit payable, computed using the interest rate and mortality table or tabular factor specified in the plan for actuarial experience;
(II) the annual amount of the straight life annuity commencing at the annuity starting date that has the same actuarial present value as the particular form of benefit payable, computed using a 5.5% interest assumption, or the applicable statutory interest assumption, and pursuant to I.R.S. Revenue Ruling 2001-62, 2001-2 Cumulative Bulletin 632, for years prior to January 1, 2009, using the applicable mortality tables described in 26 CFR 1.417(e)-1(d)(2) and pursuant to I.R.S. Notice 2008-85, 2008-2 Cumulative Bulletin 905, for years after December 31, 2008, using the applicable mortality tables described in section 417(e)(3)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 417(e)(3)(B); or
(III) the annual amount of the straight life annuity commencing at the annuity starting date that has the same actuarial present value as the particular form of benefit payable, computed using as the applicable interest rate for the distribution under 26 CFR 1.417(e)-1(d)(3) prior to January 1, 2009, the rate in effect for the month prior to retirement or, on or after January 1, 2009, the rate in effect for the first day of the plan year with a 1-year stabilization period and pursuant to I.R.S. Revenue Ruling 2001-62, 2001-2 Cumulative Bulletin 632, for years prior to January 1, 2009, using the applicable mortality tables described in 26 CFR 1.417(e)-1(d)(2) and pursuant to I.R.S. Notice 2008-85, 2008-2 Cumulative Bulletin 905, for years after December 31, 2008, using the applicable mortality tables described in section 417(e)(3)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 417(e)(3)(B), divided by 1.05.
(iii) With respect to subsections (13)(d)(ii)(A) and (13)(d)(ii)(B), the board's actuary may reduce the limitation found in section 415(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 415(b), for testing purposes using the assumptions specified in subsections (13)(d)(ii)(A) and (13)(d)(ii)(B).
History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 14, L. 1987; amd. Sec. 35, Ch. 265, L. 1993; Sec. 19-3-107, MCA 1991; redes. 19-2-1001 by Sec. 238, Ch. 265, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 14, Ch. 58, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 31, Ch. 7, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 490, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 284, L. 2009; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 240, L. 2013; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 140, L. 2015.