C.F.R. » Title 5 » CHAPTER VI—FEDERAL RETIREMENT THRIFT INVESTMENT BOARD › PART 1605—CORRECTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE ERRORS › Subpart A—General

5 C.F.R. § 1605.1

Definitions

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(a) Definitions generally applicable to the Thrift Savings Plan are set forth at 5 CFR 1690.1.

(b) As used in this part:

“As of” date means the date on which a TSP contribution or other transaction entailing acquisition of investment fund shares should have taken place. Employing agencies use this date on payment records to report makeup or late contributions or late loan payments.

Attributable pay date means:

(i) The pay date of a contribution that is being redesignated from traditional to Roth, or vice versa;

(ii) In the case of the uniformed services, the pay date of a contribution that is being recharacterized from tax-deferred to tax-exempt, or vice versa; or

(iii) The pay date of an erroneous contribution for which a negative adjustment is being made. However, if the erroneous contribution for which a negative adjustment is being made was a makeup or late contribution, the attributable pay date is the “as of” date of the erroneous makeup or late contribution.

Breakage means the loss incurred or the gain realized on makeup or late contributions.

BRS participant means any member of the Uniformed Services described in 5 U.S.C. 8440e(e)(1).

Earnings means both positive and negative fund performance attributable to differences in TSP core fund share prices.

Error means any act or omission by the Board, the TSP record keeper, or the participant's employing agency that is not in accordance with applicable statutes, regulations, or administrative procedures that are made available to employing agencies and/or TSP participants. It does not mean an act or omission caused by events that are beyond the control of the Board, the TSP record keeper, or the participant's employing agency.

FERCCA correction means the correction of a retirement coverage error pursuant to the Federal Erroneous Retirement Coverage Corrections Act, title II, Public Law 106-265, 114 Stat. 770.

Late contributions means:

(i) Employee contributions that were timely deducted from a participant's basic pay but were not timely reported to the TSP record keeper for investment;

(ii) Employee contributions that were timely reported to the TSP record keeper but were not timely posted to the participant's account by the TSP record keeper because the payment record on which they were submitted contained errors;

(iii) Agency matching contributions attributable to employee contributions referred to in paragraph (i) or (ii) of this definition; and

(iv) Delayed agency automatic (1%) contributions.

Makeup contributions are employee contributions that should have been deducted from a participant's basic pay or employer contributions that should have been charged to an employing agency on an earlier date, but were not deducted or charged and, consequently, are being deducted or charged currently.

Negative adjustment means the removal of money from a participant's TSP account by an employing agency.

Negative adjustment record means a data record submitted by an employing agency to remove from a participant's TSP account money that the agency had previously submitted in error.

Non-BRS participant means any member of the Uniformed Services not described in 5 U.S.C. 8440e(e)(1).

Pay date means the date established by an employing agency for paying its employees or service members.

Payment record means a data record submitted by an employing agency to report contributions or loan payments to a participant's TSP account.

Recharacterization means the process of changing a contribution that the employing agency erroneously submitted as a tax-deferred contribution to a tax-exempt contribution (or vice versa). Recharacterization is a method of error correction only. It applies only to the traditional balance of a uniformed services account.

Recharacterization record means a data record submitted by an employing agency to recharacterize a tax-deferred contribution that the employing agency erroneously submitted as a tax-exempt contribution (or vice versa).

Redesignation means the process of moving a contribution (and its associated positive earnings) from a participant's traditional balance to the participant's Roth balance or vice versa in order to correct an employing agency error that caused the contribution to be submitted to the wrong balance. Redesignation is a method of error correction only. A participant cannot request the redesignation of contributions unless the employing agency made an error in the submission of the contributions.

Redesignation record means a data record submitted by an employing agency to redesignate a contribution that the employing agency erroneously submitted to the wrong balance (traditional or Roth).

[68 FR 35497, June 13, 2003, as amended at 70 FR 32209, June 1, 2005; 77 FR 26425, May 4, 2012; 82 FR 60104, Dec. 19, 2017; 87 FR 31676, May 24, 2022]
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 10 cases (5 in the last 5 years), 2012–2025 · leading case: Wilkes v. Dep't of Vets. Affairs, 644 F. App'x 1015 (Fed. Cir. 2016).
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Wilkes v. Dep't of Vets. Affairs, 644 F. App'x 1015 (Fed. Cir. 2016). · cites it 4× “” 5 C.F.R. § 1605.1 (2015). 4 WILKES v. DEP’T OF VETERANS AFFAIRS ated breakage 4 to the “G Fund” instead of the “C Fund,” 5 and (2) failed to reimburse his TSP loan that had been converted to a taxable withdrawal upon his retirement.”
John Doe 1 v. United States, 37 F.4th 84 (3rd Cir. 2022). “” 5 C.F.R. § 1605.1 (b)(iii). The government shutdown stemmed not from an agency error, but from events “beyond the [agencies’] con- trol.”
Justin Grimsrud v. Dep't of Transp. (MSPB 2016). · cites it 2× “” 5 C.F.R. § 1605.1 . 5 The regulations make clear that the FRTIB calculates breakage on late contributions and makeup agency contributions.”
Jesse Halterman v. Dep't of Homeland Sec. (MSPB 2022). · cites it 2× “7 5 C.F.R. §§ 1605.1 , .13(a)(3). ¶22 As to the appellant’s breakage, the agency must show that it requested the FRTIB to compute interest and lost earnings.”
Sarnecka-Crouch v. Billington, 840 F. Supp. 2d 221 (D.D.C. 2012). · cites it 2× “p sum payment; 3) defendant was to amend plaintiffs personnel folder to reflect her reinstatement and promotion; and 4) defendant was to pay both its and plaintiffs mandatory contributions that were to be attributable to plaintiffs reinstatement and promotion, including Social…”
Travis E. Wilkes v. Dep't of Vets. Affairs (MSPB 2015). · cites it 2× “5 C.F.R. § 1605.1 . Breakage is the loss incurred or gain realized on makeup contributions.”
Jennifer J. Chen v. United States Postal Serv. (MSPB 2016). “5 C.F.R. § 1605.1 . Breakage is “the loss incurred or gain realized on makeup .”
Casanova Hambrick v. United States Postal Serv. (MSPB 2022). “Postal Service, MSPB Docket No DC-3443-17-0481-I-1, Petition for Review File (0481 PFR File), Tab 1 at 4-5; see 5 C.F.R. § 1605.1 (b); see also 5 C.F.R. § 1605.”
JOHN DOE 1 v. United States (E.D. Pa. 2021). “” 5 C.F.R. § 1605.1 defines “error” as Any act or omission by .”
Jorge Guzman v. Dep't of Homeland Sec. (MSPB 2025). “Accordingly, we find the agency in compliance on this point but direct the agency to assist the appellant to the extent 4 The appellant also argues in his October 7, 2024 response that the agency has calculated breakage for his TSP—defined as “the loss incurred or the gain…”
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