Treasury/IRS recently issued Notice 2026-23, which requests recommendations for the 2026-2027 Priority Guidance Plan (PGP). Treasury/IRS use the PGP each year to identify and prioritize the tax issues that they should address through regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, notices, and other published administrative guidance. Each year, they request recommendations on topics where additional guidance is needed. Publication on the PGP does not mean that Treasury/IRS will issue guidance – many items have been listed on the PGP for years – but submitting a recommendation can be a good way to get an issue on their radar. This includes deregulation recommendations.
The 2026-2027 PGP will identify guidance projects that Treasury/IRS intend to actively work on as priorities during the period from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027. Recommendations are due by May 29, 2026. In reviewing recommendations and selecting additional projects for inclusion on the 2026-2027 PGP, Treasury/IRS will consider the following:
- Whether the recommended guidance relates to recently enacted legislation, such as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
- Whether taxpayers have identified that the recommended guidance relates to regulations potentially described in EO 14219:
- unconstitutional regulations and regulations that raise serious constitutional difficulties, such as exceeding the scope of the power vested in the Federal Government by the Constitution;
- regulations that are based on unlawful delegations of legislative power;
- regulations that are based on anything other than the best reading of the underlying statutory authority or prohibition;
- regulations that implicate matters of social, political, or economic significance that are not authorized by clear statutory authority;
- regulations that impose significant costs upon private parties that are not outweighed by public benefits;
- regulations that harm the national interest by significantly and unjustifiably impeding technological innovation, infrastructure development, disaster response, inflation reduction, research and development, economic development, energy production, land use, and foreign policy objectives; and
- regulations that impose undue burdens on small business and impede private enterprise and entrepreneurship.
- Whether the recommendation involves existing regulations or other guidance that is outdated, unnecessary, ineffective, insufficient, or unnecessarily burdensome and that should be modified, streamlined, expanded, replaced, or withdrawn
- Whether the recommended guidance reduces controversy and lessens the burden on taxpayers or the IRS
- Whether the recommended guidance would be in accordance with EO 14192 (unnecessary regulatory burdens) or other executive orders
- Whether the recommended guidance resolves significant issues relevant to a broad class of taxpayers
- Whether the recommended guidance promotes sound tax administration
- Whether the IRS can administer the recommended guidance on a uniform basis
- Whether the recommended guidance can be drafted in a manner that will enable taxpayers to easily understand and apply the guidance.
Relevant items on the 2025-2026 PGP are below – many are still outstanding:
One Big Beautiful Bill Act
- Guidance under § 4960 regarding excess compensation paid by applicable tax-exempt organizations, including the expanded definition of “covered employee”
- Regulations under § 162(m) rules regarding excessive employee remuneration from controlled group members and allocation of deduction
- Guidance under § 223 regarding changes to HSAs and HDPDs (Notice 2026-05 issued on 12/9/25)
Deregulation and Burden Reduction
- Regulations eliminating unnecessary tax regulations
- Regulations under § 119 regarding employer-provided meals
- Final regulations updating electronic delivery rules and other guidance for providing applicable notices and making participant elections and spousal consents
- Guidance updating safe harbor explanations for eligible rollover distributions to satisfy the notice requirement under § 402(f)
- Revenue Procedure updating and consolidating procedures for a sponsoring organization or a mass submitter to apply to the IRS for an opinion letter on whether an IRA or SEP arrangement satisfies the applicable requirements under § 408
- Regulations on treating back pay awards as compensation for purposes of § 415 and under other Code requirements for plans
- Regulations on the determination of target normal cost and funding target for single employer defined benefit plans
SECURE 2.0
- IRS Employee Plans program guidance, including revenue procedures updating the EPCRS and adding a new IRA Compliance Resolution System (ICRS) to reflect provisions of the SECURE 2.0 Act, and guidance on the amendment deadline for IRAs
- Guidance implementing provisions of the SECURE 2.0 Act, including § 103 (savers match), § 110 (qualified student loan matching contributions), § 125 (long-term part-time employees), § 127 (pension-linked emergency savings accounts), § 324 (rollover rules), and § 334 (qualified long-term care distributions), and guidance under Code § 72(t) relating to the repayment provisions for certain distributions added by the SECURE 2.0 Act
- Final regulations relating to modifications to § 401(a)(9) and related provisions made by the SECURE 2.0 Act and regarding other issues under § 401(a)(9) and related provisions
- Final regulations and related guidance on the exception to the unified plan rule for § 413(e) multiple employer plans as modified by the SECURE Act
- Final regulations on automatic enrollment requirements under § 414A, as added by the SECURE 2.0 Act
- Final regulations on updates to catch-up contribution rules under § 414(v), as added by the SECURE 2.0 Act
- Guidance on uncashed checks from retirement plans (Rev. Rul. 2025-15 published on 8/4/25)
"The Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) and the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) invite the public to submit recommendations for items to be included on the 2026-2027 Priority Guidance Plan."
