SECTION 8. MASTER &

PROTOTYPE PLANS; REGIONAL PROTOTYPE PLANS

Scope .01 This section contains procedures for requesting determination letters relating to M&P plans or regional prototype plans.

Determination letter may be necessary for reliance

.02 Except as provided in section 8.05, the issuance of a favorable opinion letter or notification letter for an M&P plan or regional prototype plan does not constitute a determination that an employer adopting the sponsoring organization or sponsor’s plan has reliance that the plan is qualified under § 401(a). In order to have reliance, an employer must obtain a favorable determination letter according to this revenue procedure. In general, determination letters are requested for the employer’s adoption of an M&P plan or regional prototype plan, or for a change by the employer in the choice of options offered by the sponsoring organization of an M&P plan or sponsor of a regional prototype plan.

Forms .03 Form 5307, Application for Determination for Adopters of Master or Prototype, Regional Prototype, or Volume Submitter Plan, must be filed to request a determination letter for the adoption of an M&P plan or a regional prototype plan. Schedule Q, (Form 5300) Nondiscrimination Requirements, must be filed as an attachment to Form 5307. Form 5307 may also be filed by adopters of pre-approved plans that are single employer collectively bargained plans that benefit only collectively bargained employees described in § 1.410(b)–6(d)(2) and that automatically satisfy the requirements of § 1.410(b)–2(b)(7).

Required information .04 The determination letter request must include the following:

(1) An adoption agreement showing which elections the employer is making with respect to the elective provisions contained in the plan;

(2) A copy of the plan’s most recent opinion letter or notification letter;

(3) In the case of a determination letter request for a regional prototype plan, the application must include a certification by the sponsor that the notification letter has not been withdrawn and is still in effect with respect to the plan being submitted; and

(4) In the case of a determination letter request for a regional prototype plan that uses a separate trust or custodial account, a copy of the employer’s trust or custodial account document.

Special rules for standardized plans

.05 The following procedures apply for an employer’s adoption of an M&P or regional prototype standardized form plan or paired plan.

(1) An employer adopting a standardized form or paired plan may rely on that plan’s opinion or notification letter, except as provided in section 8.05(2), (3), and (4) below, if the following conditions are satisfied:

(a) The sponsoring organization or sponsor of such plan or plans has a currently valid favorable opinion or notification letter; and

(b) The employer has followed the terms of the plan(s), and the coverage and contributions or benefits under the plan(s) are not more favorable to highly compensated employees (as defined in § 414(q)) than for other employees.

(2) Except in the case of a combination of paired plans, an employer may not rely on opinion letters for standardized form plans without obtaining a determination letter if the employer maintains at any time, or has maintained at any time, another plan, including a standardized form plan, that was qualified or determined to be qualified covering some of the same participants. For this purpose, a plan that has been properly replaced by the adoption of a standardized form plan is not considered another plan. The plan that has been replaced and the standardized form plan must be of the same type ( e.g., both money purchase pension plans) in order for the employer to be able to rely on the standardized form plan’s opinion or notification letter without obtaining a determination letter.

163 Sec.

Amended plan is treated as an individually designed plan

Requests made prior to the issuance of opinion or notification letter