A group of organizations representing retirement plan sponsors, administrators, recordkeepers and advisors urged the Treasury Department to limit the effect of the Supreme Court's decision striking down the Defense of Marriage Act on the pension decisions of same-sex couples.

The group, which included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Spark Institute and the ERISA Industry Committee, argued in a letter that recalculating spousal benefits, death benefits and required minimum distributions to same-sex partners would open plans and participants to complicated questions about payments and decisions made under DOMA.

The group's letter, addressed to J. Mark Iwry, senior advisor to the secretary and deputy assistant advisor for retirement and health policy, and George Bostick, benefits tax counsel to the Office of Tax Policy, strongly recommended that the IRS "utilize its authority … to limit the extent of the decision's retroactivity."