SECTION 9. VOLUME SUBMITTER

PLANS

(3) With respect to M&P plans, a standardized plan sponsored by a trade or professional organization which is adopted by an employer that is not a bona fide member of such organization will be considered an individually designed plan unless the following conditions are satisfied:

(a) The trade or professional organization is exempt from federal income taxation under § 501(c)(6);

(b) The plan is a standardized defined contribution plan; (c) The trade or professional organization makes the plan available for adoption by nonmember employers by furnishing it to those of its members that independently qualify as sponsoring organizations; and

(d) The requirements of section 5.01(2) through 5.01(5) of Rev. Proc. 90–21 are satisfied.

.06 An employer that amends any provision of an M&P plan or regional prototype plan or its adoption agreement (other than to choose among the options offered by the sponsoring organization or sponsor if the plan permits or contemplates such options), or an employer that chooses to discontinue participation in such a plan as amended by its sponsoring organization or sponsor and does not substitute another approved plan referred to in section 8 is considered to have adopted an individually designed plan. The requirements stated in this revenue procedure relating to the issuance of determination letters for individually designed plans will then apply to such plan.

.07 An application submitted by an employer with respect to an M&P plan or regional prototype plan will be treated as an application for an individually designed plan if it is submitted prior to the time the M&P plan or regional prototype plan is approved.

Scope .01 This section contains procedures for requesting advisory letters and determination letters for volume submitter plans.

Definition of volume submitter plan

Purpose of volume submitter program

Description of volume submitter program

.02 A volume submitter plan is a profit-sharing plan (including a § 401(k) plan), a money purchase pension plan or a defined benefit plan, the form of which meets certain criteria established by an individual key district office and which is submitted pursuant to procedures established by the key district office for filing requests for volume submitter advisory letters (with respect to the specimen plan) and requests for determination letters (with respect to the adoption of an approved specimen plan). The Service will not accept volume submitter requests with respect to ESOPs, stock bonus plans, or cross-tested defined contribution plans (other than target benefit plans that satisfy the safe harbor in § 1.401(a)(4)–8(b)(3)).

.03 The volume submitter program enables key district offices to expedite the issuance of determination letters in response to applications for approval of individually designed plans. The program is administered locally by each key district office.

.04 Under the volume submitter program, a practitioner who qualifies may request the Service to issue an advisory letter regarding a volume submitter specimen plan. A specimen plan is a sample plan of a practitioner (rather than the actual plan of an employer) that contains provisions which are identical or substantially similar to the provisions in plans that such practitioner’s clients have adopted or are expected to adopt. Once the Service has approved the specimen plan, the practitioner will be able to file determination letter requests on behalf of employers adopting substantially similar plans.

User fees .05 Rev. Proc. 96–8 provides reduced user fees for requests under the volume submitter program if certain requirements are satisfied. For adopting employers to be entitled to file a request with the lower fees, the volume submitter practitioner must certify at the time of filing the specimen plan that at least 30 employers within any two regions of the Service are expected to adopt plans that are substantially similar in form to the specimen plan. Also, the volume submitter practitioner must be a representative of the employer when the employer’s determination letter application is filed. Although the volume submitter is not required to submit a list of adopting employers, the Service reserves the right to request such a list.

Sec. 164

Advisory letter for specimen plan .06 With respect to advisory letters for volume submitter specimen plans:

(1) A request for approval of a volume submitter specimen plan must be submitted to the key district office in which the practitioner has its principal place of business. The request must include the following:

(a) A copy of the specimen plan and any related specimen trust instrument;

(b) A cover letter requesting approval that includes the certification described in section 9.05 above and indicates the type of plan for which approval is being requested; and

(c) The required user fee submitted with Form 8717, User Fee for Employee Plan Determination Letter Request.

(2) A practitioner who has received approval of a volume submitter specimen plan in a key district office must receive separate approval of the plan from each other key district office in which there are clients adopting substantially similar plans. Once the practitioner has received approval from the key district office in which the practitioner’s principal place of business is located, the practitioner may file for approval of the same specimen plan in other key district offices where there are employers who will adopt substantially similar plans. If the practitioner certifies at the time of filing with the second key district office that the specimen plan is identical to a specimen plan approved by another key district office with respect to that practitioner and attaches a copy of that office’s advisory letter, then the user fee that would otherwise be charged for the specimen plan will not be charged.

Determination letter for adoption of volume submitter plan