SECTION 14. OFF-CYCLE FILING

FOR DETERMINATION LETTERS

If an application for a determination letter is submitted prior to or after the last twelve month period of a plan’s remedial amendment cycle (that is, the twelvemonth period beginning on February 1 and ending on January 31 of the last year of the cycle), the application is filed “off-cycle” and does not satisfy section 13.01. The off-cycle filing will be reviewed using the same Cumulative List that would be used for an application that was filed “on-cycle” on the same date as the “off-cycle” filing date. This means that the determination letter issued for the plan may not take into account any or all of the changes in qualification requirements for which the plan must be amended within the plan’s current remedial amendment cycle. Further, as stated in section 13.02, the determination letter may not be relied on after the end of the plan’s first five-year remedial amendment cycle that ends more than twelve months after the application is received. Consequently, the plan may need to be further amended within the cycle and another determination letter application will need to be filed within the last twelve months of the cycle if the plan sponsor wishes to preserve reliance on a determination letter. Also, the application submitted in a particular year will not be reviewed until all on-cycle plans for that particular year have been reviewed and processed.

Example 5: The remedial amendment cycle for Plan Z is based on the last digit of Employer L’s EIN, which is 0. Plan Z’s cycle is Cycle E. The

initial five-year remedial amendment cycle (that is, EGTRRA remedial amendment period) for Plan Z ends January 31, 2011, and the subsequent 5-year remedial amendment cycle ends January 31, 2016. Employer L submits a determination letter application on March 1, 2009. The 2008 Cumulative List will be used to review Employer L’s determination letter submission. Since the initial five-year remedial amendment cycle will expire on January 31, 2011, Employer L must submit a new determination letter application during the last twelve months of the remedial amendment cycle (between February 1, 2010 to January 31, 2011) to continue to have reliance on a determination letter after that date.