SECTION 4. DEADLINE FOR

REQUESTING A WAIVER

All waiver requests (for plans other than multiemployer plans) must be submitted no later than the 15th day of the 3rd month following the close of the plan year for which the waiver is requested. The Service cannot extend this statutory deadline. A request for a waiver with respect to a multiemployer plan generally must be submitted no later than the close of the plan year following the plan year for which the waiver is requested.

In seeking a waiver with respect to a plan year which has not yet ended, the applicant may have difficulty in furnishing sufficient current evidence in support of the request. For this reason it is generally advised that a request not be submitted earlier than 180 days prior to the end

Any waiver ruling granted under this procedure will be accompanied by a plan amendment supplied by the Service which will, if adopted, satisfy section 3 of Rev. Rul. 78–223. The waiver will be conditioned upon the plan being amended by adoption of that amendment, within a reasonable period of time, and will contain a caveat stating that the ruling is not a ruling as to the effect the plan provision may have on the qualified status of the plan. Upon receipt of that amendment, the applicant may (within 60 days of date of the letter) request reconsideration of this waiver condition if the amendment is inappropriate. Reconsideration may be requested by submitting a letter from the applicant (or authorized representative) to the above address.

.03 Waiver Ruling Only/With Submission of Plan Amendment.—Under this procedure, requests for waivers must be submitted to:

Employee Plans Internal Revenue Service Commissioner, TE/GE Attention: SE:T:EP:RA P.O. Box 27063 McPherson Station Washington, D.C. 20038

The applicant must satisfy the requirements of section 2 of this revenue procedure, except those applicable only to defined benefit plans, e.g. section 2.03(5)(h), and must include the plan provisions necessary to satisfy section 3 of Rev. Rul. 78–223. All waivers issued pursuant to this subsection will contain a caveat indicating that the ruling is not a ruling as to the effect any plan provision, submitted pursuant to the previous sentence, may have on the qualified status of the plan.

.04 Waiver Ruling and Determination Letter Request.—Under this procedure both the request for a waiver ruling and the request for a determination letter on the effect of any amendment necessary to satisfy section 3 of Rev. Rul. 78–223 must be submitted by the applicant to the Office of the Commissioner, Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division where it will be treated as if it had been submitted as a request for technical advice from the Determinations Manager.

(1) The request that is submitted to the Office of the Commissioner, Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division must include the following:

(a) The combined request must satisfy all the procedural requirements described in section 3.03 of this revenue procedure;

(b) The submission must include a completed Form 5300 and all necessary documents, plan amendments, and information required by the Form 5300 and by this revenue procedure for approval of the plan amendments;

(c) The request must indicate which Area Office has audit jurisdiction over the return; and

(d) The user fee for both the waiver request and the determination letter request must be contained in the submission to the Office of the Commissioner, Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division.

(2) The procedures for notice and comment by interested parties, which are contained in sections 17, 18, and 19, of Rev. Proc. 2004–6, 2004–1 I.R.B. 197, or its successors, as well as the notice and comment procedures provided in section 2.02 of this revenue procedure must be satisfied. Comments are to be forwarded to the Determinations Office that is considering the determination letter request for the plan amendments.

(3) The waiver request will be handled by the Office of the Commissioner, Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division as follows:

(a) The waiver request and supporting documents will be forwarded to the Actuarial Group, SE:T:EP:RA:T:A, which will treat the request as a technical advice on the qualification issue with respect to the plan provisions necessary to satisfy section 3 of Rev. Rul. 78–223.

(b) The appropriate Determinations Office will be notified of the request. In order not to delay the processing of the request, all materials relating to the determination letter request will be sent by the Office of the Commissioner, Tax Exempt

February 17, 2004 494 2004-7 I.R.B.

The collection of information in this revenue procedure is in sections 2 and 3. This information is required to evaluate and process the request for a change in funding method. The collection of information is required to obtain approval for a change in funding method. The likely respondents are businesses or other forprofit institutions, nonprofit institutions, and small businesses and organizations.

The estimated total annual reporting burden is 4,730 hours.

The estimated annual burden per respondent varies from 75 to 100 hours, depending on individual circumstances, with an estimated average burden of 86 hours. The estimated number of respondents and/or recordkeepers is 55.

The estimated annual frequency of responses is one.

Books or records relating to a collection of information must be retained as long as their contents may become material in the administration of any internal revenue law. Generally, tax returns and tax return information are confidential, as required by 26 U.S.C. § 6103.

DRAFTING INFORMATION

The principal author of this revenue procedure is John C. Heil of the Employee Plans, Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division. For further information regarding how this revenue procedure applies to employee plans matters, contact the Employee Plans Customer Assistance Service at 1–877–829–5500 (a toll-free call). Mr. Heil’s telephone number is (202) 283–9694 (not a toll-free call).

of the plan year for which the waiver is requested.