On June 3, 2020 the Internal Revenue Service issued a notice providing temporary administrative relief, which covers the period from January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020, to allow plan participants and beneficiaries who need to make participant elections to do so remotely.
The change provides temporary relief from the physical presence requirement and applies to any participant election that requires the signature of an individual to be witnessed in the physical presence of a plan representative or notary. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and related social distancing guidelines, the IRS is allowing signatures to be made remotely with the help of videoconferencing technology.