US Code

Public Law 119-73 (01/23/2026)

29 U.S.C. § 1081

Coverage

(a)

Plans excepted from applicability of this part

section 1003(a) of this titlesection 1003(b) of this titleThis part shall apply to any employee pension benefit plan described in , (and not exempted under ), other than—
(1)
an employee welfare benefit plan;
(2)
an insurance contract plan described in subsection (b);
(3)
a plan which is unfunded and is maintained by an employer primarily for the purpose of providing deferred compensation for a select group of management or highly compensated employees;
(4)
(A)
a plan which is established and maintained by a society, order, or association described in section 501(c)(8) or (9) of title 26, if no part of the contributions to or under such plan are made by employers of participants in such plan; or
(B)
section 501(c)(18) of title 26 a trust described in ;
(5)
a plan which has not at any time after , provided for employer contributions;
(6)
section 736 of title 26 an agreement providing payments to a retired partner or deceased partner or a deceased partner’s successor in interest as described in ;
(7)
section 408(a) of title 26section 409 of title 26 an individual retirement account or annuity as described in , or a retirement bond described in (as effective for obligations issued before );
(8)
section 1002(35)(B) of this title an individual account plan (other than a money purchase plan) and a defined benefit plan to the extent it is treated as an individual account plan (other than a money purchase plan) under ;
(9)
an excess benefit plan; or
(10)
any plan, fund or program under which an employer, all of whose stock is directly or indirectly owned by employees, former employees or their beneficiaries, proposes through an unfunded arrangement to compensate retired employees for benefits which were forfeited by such employees under a pension plan maintained by a former employer prior to the date such pension plan became subject to this chapter.
(b)

“Insurance contract plan” defined

For the purposes of paragraph (2) of subsection (a) a plan is an “insurance contract plan” if—
(1)
the plan is funded exclusively by the purchase of individual insurance contracts,
(2)
such contracts provide for level annual premium payments to be paid extending not later than the retirement age for each individual participating in the plan, and commencing with the date the individual became a participant in the plan (or, in the case of an increase in benefits, commencing at the time such increase became effective),
(3)
benefits provided by the plan are equal to the benefits provided under each contract at normal retirement age under the plan and are guaranteed by an insurance carrier (licensed under the laws of a State to do business with the plan) to the extent premiums have been paid,
(4)
premiums payable for the plan year, and all prior plan years under such contracts have been paid before lapse or there is reinstatement of the policy,
(5)
no rights under such contracts have been subject to a security interest at any time during the plan year, and
(6)
no policy loans are outstanding at any time during the plan year.
A plan funded exclusively by the purchase of group insurance contracts which is determined under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury to have the same characteristics as contracts described in the preceding sentence shall be treated as a plan described in this subsection.
(c)

Applicability of this part to terminated multiemployer plans

section 1321 of this titlesection 1341a(a)(2) of this titleThis part applies, with respect to a terminated multiemployer plan to which applies, until the last day of the plan year in which the plan terminates, within the meaning of .

Pub. L. 93–406, title I, § 30188 Stat. 868Pub. L. 96–364, title III, § 304(a)94 Stat. 1293Pub. L. 101–239, title VII103 Stat. 2445Pub. L. 109–280, title II, § 201(c)(1)120 Stat. 868(, , ; , title IV, § 411(b), , , 1308; , §§ 7891(a)(1), 7894(d)(1)(A), (4)(A), , , 2449; , , .)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Section 409 of title 26section 409 of Title 26Pub. L. 98–369, div. A, title IV, § 491(b)98 Stat. 848, referred to in subsec. (a)(7), means , Internal Revenue Code, prior to its repeal by , , , applicable to obligations issued after .

Pub. L. 93–406section 1001 of this titleThis chapter, referred to in subsec. (a)(10), was in the original “this Act”, meaning , known as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Titles I, III, and IV of such Act are classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under and Tables.

Amendments

Pub. L. 109–2802006—Subsec. (d). struck out heading and text of subsec. (d). Text read as follows: “Any amount of any financial assistance from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to any plan, and any repayment of such amount, shall be taken into account under this section in such manner as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury.”

Pub. L. 101–239, § 7891(a)(1)1989—Subsec. (a)(4)(A), (6). , substituted “Internal Revenue Code of 1986” for “Internal Revenue Code of 1954”, which for purposes of codification was translated as “title 26” thus requiring no change in text.

Pub. L. 101–239, § 7894(d)(4)(A)section 409 of title 26section 409 of title 26Subsec. (a)(7). , substituted “ (as effective for obligations issued before )” for “”.

Pub. L. 101–239, § 7894(d)(1)(A)(i)Subsec. (a)(8). , struck out “or” after semicolon at end.

Pub. L. 101–239, § 7894(d)(1)(A)(ii)Subsec. (a)(9). , substituted “; or” for period at end.

Pub. L. 101–239, § 7894(d)(1)(A)(iii)Subsec. (a)(10). , substituted “any” for “Any”.

Pub. L. 96–364, § 411(b)1980—Subsec. (a)(10). , added par. (10).

Pub. L. 96–364, § 304(a)Subsecs. (c), (d). , added subsecs. (c) and (d).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2006 Amendment

Pub. L. 109–280, title II, § 201(d)120 Stat. 868

“(1)

In general .—

section 1084 of this titleThe amendments made by this section [enacting and amending this section] shall apply to plan years beginning after 2007.
“(2)

Special rule for certain amortization extensions .—

29 U.S.C. 108426 U.S.C. 412(e)26 U.S.C. 6621(b)If the Secretary of the Treasury grants an extension under section 304 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 [] and section 412(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [former ] with respect to any application filed with the Secretary of the Treasury on or before , the extension (and any modification thereof) shall be applied and administered under the rules of such sections as in effect before the enactment of this Act [], including the use of the rate of interest determined under section 6621(b) of such Code [].”
, , , provided that:

Effective Date of 1989 Amendment

section 7891(a)(1) of Pub. L. 101–239Pub. L. 99–514section 7891(f) of Pub. L. 101–239section 1002 of this titleAmendment by effective, except as otherwise provided, as if included in the provision of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, , to which such amendment relates, see , set out as a note under .

Section 7894(d)(1)(B) of Pub. L. 101–239

Pub. L. 96–364“The amendments made by subparagraph (A) [amending this section] shall take effect as if included in section 411 of the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980 [].”
provided that:

Section 7894(d)(4)(B) of Pub. L. 101–239

section 491(b) of Public Law 98–369“The amendment made by subparagraph (A) [amending this section] shall take effect as if originally included in .”
provided that:

Effective Date of 1980 Amendment

Pub. L. 96–364section 1461(e) of this titleAmendment by effective , except as specifically provided, see .

Regulations

section 1031 of this titleSecretary authorized, effective , to promulgate regulations wherever provisions of this subchapter call for the promulgation of regulations, see .

Special Rule for Certain Benefits Funded Under an Agreement Approved by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

Pub. L. 109–280section 206 of Pub. L. 109–280section 412 of Title 26For applicability of amendment by to a multiemployer plan that is a party to an agreement that was approved by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation prior to , and that increases benefits and provides for certain withdrawal liability rules, see , set out as a note under , Internal Revenue Code.