SECTION 1. WHAT IS THE

PURPOSE OF THIS REVENUE PROCEDURE?

Purpose of revenue procedure

.01 This revenue procedure sets forth the procedures of the Internal Revenue Service for issuing determination letters on the qualified status of pension, profit-sharing, stock bonus, annuity, and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) under §§ 401, 403(a), 409 and 4975(e)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and the status for exemption of any related trusts or custodial accounts under § 501(a). Also see Rev. Proc. 2007–44, 2007–2 C.B. 54, as modified by Rev. Proc. 2008–56, 2008–2 C.B. 826, and Rev. Proc. 2009–36, 2009–2 C.B. 304, which contains a description of the determination letter program, including when to submit a request for a determination letter within the 5-year and 6-year staggered remedial amendment cycles, that apply to individually designed and pre-approved (Master & Prototype and Volume Submitter (VS)) plans. Also see Rev. Proc. 2011–49, 2011–44 I.R.B. 608, for procedures for pre-approved plans.

This revenue procedure is effective February 1, 2015.

Organization of revenue .02 Part I of this revenue procedure contains instructions for requesting determination letters procedure for various types of plans and transactions. Part II contains procedures for providing notice to

interested parties and for interested parties to comment on determination letter requests. Part III contains procedures concerning the processing of determination letter requests and describes the effect of a determination letter. SECTION 2. WHAT CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO THIS PROCEDURE?

In general .01 This revenue procedure is a general update of Rev. Proc. 2014–6, 2014–1 I.R.B 198, which contains the Service’s general procedures for employee plans determination letter requests.

Other changes .02 (1) In addition to minor revisions, such as updating references, the following changes have been made:

(2) Section 3.02 has been modified to reflect changes related to the transfer of technical work from the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division (TE/GE) to the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Tax Exempt and Government Entities);

(3) Section 3.02(1) has been modified for clarity;

(4) Section 3.02(3)(a) has been modified to reflect recent guidance issued on group trusts;

(5) Section 4.01 has been modified by deleting the reference to Rev. Proc. 2014–5 for technical advice requests;

(6) Section 4.01(4) has been added to refer to the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System;

(7) Section 4.02 has been modified to reflect changes related to the transfer of technical work from TE/GE to the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Tax Exempt and Government Entities);

(8) Section 6.04 has been modified by adding a summary of the new procedures for processing incomplete applications;

(9) Section 6.05 has been modified to reflect new submission requirements;

(10) Section 6.08 has been modified to clarify the submission requirements for applications involving merged plans;

(11) Section 6.12 has been modified to delete the process for determining the existence of an employer/employee relationship;

Sec. 2.02 Bulletin No. 2015–1 197 January 2, 2015

(12) Section 6.13 has been modified to reflect the new procedures for processing incomplete applications;

(13) Section 6.15 has been modified by changing the address for determination letter requests;

(14) Sections 7.02(1) and 7.02(3) have been modified to update the application procedures for determination letter requests;

(15) Section 9.02(2)(b) has been modified to update the application procedures for determination letter requests;

(16) Sections 12.02(1) and 12.02(2) have been modified to update the application procedures for determination letter requests;

(17) Sections 13.01 and 13.02 have been modified to reflect recent guidance issued on group trusts;

(18) Section 13.03 has been modified to update the application procedures for determination letter requests;

(19) Section 15 has been modified, in part to reflect that a request for a minimum funding waiver and determination letter will be submitted to the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Tax Exempt and Government Entities); and

(20) Sections 20.03 and 20.07 have been modified to reflect that technical advice requests will be handled by the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Tax Exempt and Government Entities).

Other guidance .03 Other guidance affecting this revenue procedure:

(1) Rev. Proc. 2011–49, 2011–44 I.R.B. 608 describes the procedures for the “pre-approval” of plans under the master and prototype (M&P) program and the VS program. Rev. Proc. 2007–44 describes a system of remedial amendment cycles that applies to pre-approved plans and individually designed plans, and the deadlines to submit applications for opinion, advisory and determination letters. The Service issues a Cumulative List every year identifying changes affecting plan qualification requirements.

(2) The 2014 Cumulative List is contained in Notice 2014–77, 2014–52 I.R.B. 974.