SECTION 13. ON-CYCLE FILING FOR

DETERMINATION LETTERS

.01 In general, plan sponsors of individually designed plans that wish to preserve reliance on a plan’s favorable determination letter must apply for a new determination letter for each remedial amendment cycle during the last twelve months of their plan’s remedial amendment cycle, that is between February 1 and January 31 of the last year of the cycle. This is referred to as “on-cycle” filing.

.02 Determination letters issued for individually designed plans will include a statement that the 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 was received, and will include the specific “expiration date.” Thus, determination letters issued for applications filed more than twelve months prior to the end of a five-year remedial amendment cycle may not be relied on after that cycle.

.03 In appropriate circumstances, the Service may, through generally applicable published guidance, extend the expiration dates of determination letters for a particular cycle year or years.

July 9, 2007 65 2007–28 I.R.B.

However, effective as of the date of publication of this revenue procedure, the types of applications listed below under (1)–(3) will be given the same priority as on-cycle applications. The types of applications given such review priority are:

(1) A terminating plan described in section 8.

(2) A new individually designed plan whose next regular on-cycle submission period ends at least two years after the end of the off-cycle submission period during which the plan sponsor submits its application. For this purpose, a new individually designed plan is a new plan that as of the date the application is submitted with respect to the plan would be a new plan within its initial remedial amendment cycle under §1.401(b)–1(b)(1) of the regulations, as summarized in section 2.03 of this revenue procedure (determined without regard to the extension under section 5.03 of this revenue procedure).

(3) An off-cycle application submitted in accordance with published guidance issued by the Service specifying that a determination letter must be submitted in connection with a particular event.

.03 A sponsor of a plan may request that an off-cycle application be given the same priority review as an on-cycle application due to urgent business need. The Service will consider such requests based on the facts and circumstances. However, it is expected that such an application will be given the same priority as an on-cycle application only in limited cases where exceptional circumstances exist.

.04 Although a new plan may file offcycle and will receive review priority under section 14.02 if it is described in section 14.02(2), a new plan does not have to be submitted for a determination letter off-cycle. This is because the initial remedial amendment period for a new plan is extended to the end of the applicable remedial amendment cycle in which the remedial amendment period would otherwise end. See section 5.03.