ERISA § 4041A (29 U.S.C. § 1341a)

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Termination of multiemployer plans

USC 2013 ed., current through 2014-01-16 · superseded Jan 6, 2017 · last amended by Pub. L. 96-364

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(a) Determinative factors Termination of a multiemployer plan under this section occurs as a result of—

(1) the adoption after September 26, 1980, of a plan amendment which provides that participants will receive no credit for any purpose under the plan for service with any employer after the date specified by such amendment;

(2) the withdrawal of every employer from the plan, within the meaning of section 1383 of this title, or the cessation of the obligation of all employers to contribute under the plan; or

(3) the adoption of an amendment to the plan which causes the plan to become a plan described in section 1321(b)(1) of this title.

(b) Date of termination

(1) The date on which a plan terminates under paragraph (1) or (3) of subsection (a) of this section is the later of—

(A) the date on which the amendment is adopted, or

(B) the date on which the amendment takes effect.

(2) The date on which a plan terminates under paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of this section is the earlier of—

(A) the date on which the last employer withdraws, or

(B) the first day of the first plan year for which no employer contributions were required under the plan.

(c) Duties of plan sponsor of amended plan Except as provided in subsection (f)(1) of this section, the plan sponsor of a plan which terminates under paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of this section shall—

(1) limit the payment of benefits to benefits which are nonforfeitable under the plan as of the date of the termination, and

(2) pay benefits attributable to employer contributions, other than death benefits, only in the form of an annuity, unless the plan assets are distributed in full satisfaction of all nonforfeitable benefits under the plan.

(d) Duties of plan sponsor of nonoperative plan The plan sponsor of a plan which terminates under paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of this section shall reduce benefits and suspend benefit payments in accordance with section 1441 of this title.

(e) Amount of contribution of employer under amended plan for each plan year subsequent to plan termination date In the case of a plan which terminates under paragraph (1) or (3) of subsection (a) of this section, the rate of an employer's contributions under the plan for each plan year beginning on or after the plan termination date shall equal or exceed the highest rate of employer contributions at which the employer had an obligation to contribute under the plan in the 5 preceding plan years ending on or before the plan termination date, unless the corporation approves a reduction in the rate based on a finding that the plan is or soon will be fully funded.

(f) Payment of benefits; reporting requirements for terminated plans and rules and standards for administration of such plans

(1) The plan sponsor of a terminated plan may authorize the payment other than in the form of an annuity of a participant's entire nonforfeitable benefit attributable to employer contributions, other than a death benefit, if the value of the entire nonforfeitable benefit does not exceed $1,750. The corporation may authorize the payment of benefits under the terms of a terminated plan other than nonforfeitable benefits, or the payment other than in the form of an annuity of benefits having a value greater than $1,750, if the corporation determines that such payment is not adverse to the interest of the plan's participants and beneficiaries generally and does not unreasonably increase the corporation's risk of loss with respect to the plan.

(2) The corporation may prescribe reporting requirements for terminated plans, and rules and standards for the administration of such plans, which the corporation considers appropriate to protect the interests of plan participants and beneficiaries or to prevent unreasonable loss to the corporation.

Source credit, amendments & notes

(Pub. L. 93–406, title IV, §4041A, as added Pub. L. 96–364, title I, §103, Sept. 26, 1980, 94 Stat. 1216.)

Effective Date

Section effective Sept. 26, 1980, except as specifically provided, see section 1461(e) of this title.

ERISA § 4041A (29 U.S.C. § 1341a) — Termination of multiemployer plans · USC 2013 ed., current through 2014-01-16 · https://pensionresource.website/EAMain?content=EAMain.Law&id=usc29-1341a&asof=1995-01-04 · printed Oct 16, 2026

Cited by (code & regs)

29 C.F.R. § 2520.101-5 Annual funding notice for defined benefit pension…
29 C.F.R. § 4231.9 Notice of merger or transfer.
29 C.F.R. § 4281.1 Purpose and scope.
29 C.F.R. § 4231.7 De minimis mergers and transfers.
29 C.F.R. § 4262.3 Eligibility for special financial assistance.
29 C.F.R. § 4231.10 Request for compliance determination.
29 C.F.R. § 4041A.1 Purpose and scope.
29 C.F.R. § 4231.5 Valuation requirement.
29 C.F.R. § 4245.1 Purpose, scope, and filing and issuance rules.
29 C.F.R. § 4231.2 Definitions.
29 C.F.R. § 4233.15 Nature and operation of successor plan.

PBGC Regulations

29 C.F.R. § 4041A.1 Purpose and scope.
29 C.F.R. § 4041A.2 Definitions.
29 C.F.R. § 4041A.3 Method and date of filing; where to file; computation of time; issuances to third parties.
29 C.F.R. § 4041A.11 Requirement of notice.
29 C.F.R. § 4041A.12 Contents of notice.
29 C.F.R. § 4041A.21 General rule.
29 C.F.R. § 4041A.22 Payment of benefits.
29 C.F.R. § 4041A.23 Imposition and collection of withdrawal liability.
29 C.F.R. § 4041A.24 Plan valuations and monitoring.
29 C.F.R. § 4041A.25 Periodic determinations of plan solvency.
29 C.F.R. § 4041A.26 Financial assistance.
29 C.F.R. § 4041A.27 PBGC approval to pay benefits not otherwise permitted.
29 C.F.R. § 4041A.41 General rule.
29 C.F.R. § 4041A.42 Method of distribution.
29 C.F.R. § 4041A.43 Benefit forms.
29 C.F.R. § 4041A.44 Cessation of withdrawal liability.

Guidance addressing this section

PBGC

Final Rules

79 FR 30459 May 28, 2014 — Multiemployer Plans; Valuation and Notice Requirements (a)(2)(d)(f)(2)

Proposed Rules

79 FR 4642Proposed Jan 29, 2014 — Multiemployer Plans; Valuation and Notice Requirements Comments due Mar 31, 2014 (a)(2)(d)(f)(2)

Also cited in 20 other documents

PBGC

Final Rules

90 FR 39320 Aug 15, 2025 — Miscellaneous Corrections, Clarifications, and Improvements
89 FR 48291 Jun 6, 2024 — Valuation Assumptions and Methods
88 FR 76660 Nov 7, 2023 — Technical Amendments: Special Financial Assistance Withdrawal Liability Condition; SECURE 2.0 Act; and Other Updates (f)(1)
87 FR 40968 Jul 8, 2022 — Special Financial Assistance by PBGC (a)(2)
86 FR 36598 Jul 12, 2021 — Special Financial Assistance by PBGC (a)(2)
84 FR 18715 May 2, 2019 — Terminated and Insolvent Multiemployer Plans and Duties of Plan Sponsors (a)(1)(a)(2)(f)(2)
83 FR 46642 Sep 14, 2018 — Mergers and Transfers Between Multiemployer Plans (a)(2)
80 FR 79687 Dec 23, 2015 — Partitions of Eligible Multiemployer Plans
80 FR 55742 Sep 17, 2015 — Multiemployer Plans; Electronic Filing Requirements (f)(2)
80 FR 35220 Jun 19, 2015 — Partitions of Eligible Multiemployer Plans (a)(2)(d)

Proposed Rules

90 FR 6894Proposed Jan 21, 2025 — Miscellaneous Corrections, Clarifications, and Improvements Comments due Mar 24, 2025
88 FR 56563Proposed Aug 18, 2023 — Valuation Assumptions and Methods Comments due Oct 17, 2023
83 FR 32815Proposed Jul 16, 2018 — Terminated and Insolvent Multiemployer Plans and Duties of Plan Sponsors Comments due Sep 14, 2018 (a)(1)(a)(2)(f)(2)
81 FR 36229Proposed Jun 6, 2016 — Mergers and Transfers Between Multiemployer Plans Comments due Aug 5, 2016 (a)(2)
80 FR 18172Proposed Apr 3, 2015 — Multiemployer Plans; Electronic Filing Requirements Comments due Jun 2, 2015 (f)(2)

Opinion Letters

PBGC Op. Ltr. 2001-2 Mar 16, 2001 — Multiemployer plan status

IRS / Treasury

Notices

Notice 2021-57 Nov 1, 2021 — Notice 2021-57 provides guidance to multiemployer defined benefit pension plan sponsors and actuaries on the application of funding relief under IRC § 431 and … (a)(2)

Department of Labor (EBSA)

Proposed Rules

81 FR 47534Proposed Jul 21, 2016 — Proposed Revision of Annual Information Return/Reports Comments due Oct 4, 2016 (a)(2)
75 FR 70625Proposed Nov 18, 2010 — Annual Funding Notice for Defined Benefit Plans Comments due Jan 18, 2011 (a)(2)

Final Rules

80 FR 5626 Feb 2, 2015 — Annual Funding Notice for Defined Benefit Plans (a)(2)(b)(2)

Tax Court (1) · DOL/Federal (0)

U.S. Tax Court (1)

Also cite this provision (1)

John F. Romann v. Commissioner, 111 T.C. No. 15 U.S. Tax Court · Nov 4, 1998
Text when decided

No private letter rulings in the library cite this provision yet.

Each row is a version of the text as published by the official source. Code dates are the edition/release point that first reflected the change; regulation dates are eCFR effective dates. The library checks the official sources automatically, so new versions appear here on their own; “run” opens the sync that recorded a version.

Effective	Through	Source	Amended by
Jan 4, 1995	Jan 5, 2017	USC 2013 ed., current through 2014-01-16 run 13	Pub. L. 96-364	View
Jan 6, 2017	current	USC 2024 ed., current through 2025-01-06 run 1	Pub. L. 96-364	View · Redline (sign in)

Provision-level history (blame)