SECTION 14. OFF-CYCLE FILING

FOR DETERMINATION LETTERS

.01 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. Except with respect to terminating plans described in section 8 that must adopt amendments to reflect qualification requirements that apply as of the date of termination, 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. These rules also apply to off-cycle applications that are given priority review as if they were on-cycle as described below (except for terminating plans).

.02 Generally, an off-cycle application will not be reviewed until all on-cycle plans have been reviewed and processed.

.02 In accordance with section 7 of this revenue procedure, the end of a plan’s EGTRRA remedial amendment cycle is the time by which plan sponsors must apply for a new determination letter, in order to have a letter on which to rely for qualification changes that have first been listed in the Cumulative Lists at least twelve months before the end of the plan’s EGTRRA remedial amendment period and other qualification changes not described in section 4.03, whether or not identified on the applicable Cumulative List.

.03 In general, (except with respect to amendments reflecting the provisions of PPA ’06 as described in section 4.05(1)), individually designed plans must be restated when they are submitted for determination letters for the initial remedial amendment cycle (that is, EGTRRA remedial amendment period) and subsequent remedial amendment cycles. As a result, the determination letter filing may accelerate the deadline for the incorporation of interim amendments into a restated plan document from the date described in section 5.05(1) of this revenue procedure (generally the employer’s income tax return filing date (including extensions)), to an earlier date. For this purpose, submission of a working copy of the plan in a restated format will suffice, provided that copies of timely executed interim and discretionary amendments are also separately submitted with the application. In addition, submitting a restated plan in proposed form is permitted, provided that the copies of timely executed interim and discretionary amendments and the prior plan document to which these amendments apply are also submitted with the application. A plan that is submitted in proposed form, and any proposed amendments, in the case of

a plan submitted as a working copy, must be adopted no later than 91 days after the date of the determination letter.

.04 Effective as of July 9, 2007, Form 6406, Short Form Application for Determi- nation for Minor Amendment of Employee Benefit Plan, may not be used to apply for a determination letter. An application submitted with this form will no longer be accepted by the Service.