US Code

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

29 U.S.C. § 1390

Nonapplicability of withdrawal liability for certain temporary contribution obligation periods; exception

(a)
An employer who withdraws from a plan in complete or partial withdrawal is not liable to the plan if the employer—
(1)
first had an obligation to contribute to the plan after ,
(2)
had an obligation to contribute to the plan for no more than the lesser of—
(A)
6 consecutive plan years preceding the date on which the employer withdraws, or
(B)
the number of years required for vesting under the plan,
(3)
was required to make contributions to the plan for each such plan year in an amount equal to less than 2 percent of the sum of all employer contributions made to the plan for each such year, and
(4)
has never avoided withdrawal liability because of the application of this section with respect to the plan.
(b)
Subsection (a) shall apply to an employer with respect to a plan only if—
(1)
the plan is amended to provide that subsection (a) applies;
(2)
section 411(a)(3)(E) of title 26 the plan provides, or is amended to provide, that the reduction under applies with respect to the employees of the employer; and
(3)
the ratio of the assets of the plan for the plan year preceding the first plan year for which the employer was required to contribute to the plan to the benefit payments made during that plan year was at least 8 to 1.

Pub. L. 93–406, title IV, § 4210Pub. L. 96–364, title I, § 104(2)94 Stat. 1226Pub. L. 101–239, title VII, § 7891(a)(1)103 Stat. 2445Pub. L. 109–280, title II, § 204(c)(1)120 Stat. 887(, as added , , ; amended , , ; , , .)

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Pub. L. 109–2802006—Subsec. (b)(1) to (4). redesignated pars. (2) to (4) as (1) to (3), respectively, and struck out former par. (1) which read as follows: “the plan is not a plan which primarily covers employees in the building and construction industry;”.

Pub. L. 101–2391989—Subsec. (b)(3). 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.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2006 Amendment

Pub. L. 109–280, title II, § 204(c)(3)120 Stat. 887

section 1391 of this title“The amendments made by this subsection [amending this section and ] shall apply with respect to plan withdrawals occurring on or after .”
, , , provided that:

Effective Date of 1989 Amendment

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 .