SECTION 5. DEFINITIONS

The following definitions apply for purposes of this revenue procedure:

.01 Definitions for Qualified Plans . The definitions in this section 5.01 apply to Qualified Plans.

(1) Qualified Plan . The term “Qualified Plan” means a plan intended to satisfy the requirements of § 401(a) or 403(a).

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(2) Qualification Failure . The term “Qualification Failure” means any failure that adversely affects the qualification of a plan. There are four types of Qualification Failures: (a) Plan Document Failures; (b) Operational Failures; (c) Demographic Failures; and (d) Employer Eligibility Failures.

(a) Plan Document Failure . (i) In gen- eral . The term “Plan Document Failure” means a plan provision (or the absence of a plan provision) that, on its face, violates the requirements of § 401(a) or 403(a). A Plan Document Failure includes any Qualification Failure that is a violation of the requirements of § 401(a) or 403(a) and that is not an Operational Failure, Demographic Failure, or Employer Eligibility Failure. This term includes a Nonamender Failure, a failure to adopt Good Faith Amendments, and a failure to adopt Interim Amendments. Failure to adopt a discretionary plan amendment by the plan amendment deadline set forth in section 8.02 of Rev. Proc. 2016–37 (or section 5.05(2) of Rev. Proc. 2007–44) is not considered a plan document failure.

(ii) Specific definitions relating to Plan Document Failures :

(A) “ Good Faith Amendment ” includes the EGTRRA good faith amendments described in Notice 2001–42, 2001–2 C.B. 70, the amendment required for the plan to comply with the final regulations under § 401(a)(9) of the Code (see Rev. Proc. 2002–29, 2002–1 C.B. 1176, as modified by Rev. Proc. 2003–10, 2003–1 C.B. 259), the amendment updating the mortality table to reflect the guidance in Rev. Rul. 2001–62, 2001–2 C.B. 632, and the amendment updating the definition of compensation, for purposes of § 415(c)(3), to include “deemed § 125 compensation” pursuant to Rev. Rul. 2002–27, 2002–1 C.B. 925. For rules relating to a failure to adopt a Good Faith Amendment, see Rev. Proc. 2013–12.

(B) “Interim Amendment” means an amendment with respect to a disqualifying provision that results in the failure of the plan to satisfy the qualification requirements of the Code by reason of a change in those requirements that is effective after December 31, 2001, or that is integral to such disqualifying provision. See section 15.02 of Rev. Proc. 2016–37 for interim amendment requirements for preapproved plans. For interim amendments

required to be adopted in individually designed plans before January 1, 2017 (or before February 1, 2017 for Cycle A plans), see section 5.04 of Rev. Proc. 2007–44. (C) “Nonamender Failure” means a failure to adopt an amendment that corrects a disqualifying provision described in § 1.401(b)–1(b) within the applicable remedial amendment period. In general, a disqualifying provision includes a provision in the plan document that violates a qualification requirement of the Code or the absence of a provision that causes the plan to fail to satisfy a qualification requirement of the Code. A disqualifying provision also includes any provision designated by the Commissioner as a disqualifying provision under § 1.401(b)–1(b)(3). See sections 5 and 15 of Rev. Proc. 2016– 37. For an individually designed plan, a Nonamender Failure includes the failure to timely amend for provisions that appear on the Required Amendments List, as described in Rev. Proc. 2016–37.

(b) Operational Failure . The term “Operational Failure” means a Qualification Failure (other than an Employer Eligibility Failure) that arises solely from the failure to follow plan provisions. A failure to follow the terms of the plan providing for the satisfaction of the requirements of § 401(k) and (m) is considered to be an Operational Failure. A plan does not have an Operational Failure to the extent the plan is permitted to be amended retroactively to reflect the plan’s operations (for example, pursuant to § 401(b)). In the situation where a Plan Sponsor timely adopted an amendment and the plan was not operated in accordance with the terms of such amendment, the plan is considered to have an Operational Failure.

(c) Demographic Failure . The term “Demographic Failure” means a failure to satisfy the requirements of § 401(a)(4), 401(a)(26), or 410(b) that is not an Operational Failure or an Employer Eligibility Failure. The correction of a Demographic Failure generally requires a corrective amendment to the plan adding more benefits or increasing existing benefits (see § 1.401(a)(4)–11(g)).

(d) Employer Eligibility Failure . The term “Employer Eligibility Failure” means the adoption of a plan intended to include a qualified cash or deferred arrangement un

der § 401(k) by an employer that fails to meet the employer eligibility requirements to establish a § 401(k) plan. An Employer Eligibility Failure is not a Plan Document, Operational, or Demographic Failure.

(3) Excess Amount; Excess Alloca- tions; Overpayment . (a) Excess Amount . The term “Excess Amount” means a Qualification Failure due to a contribution, allocation, or similar credit that is made on behalf of a participant or beneficiary to a plan in excess of the maximum amount permitted to be contributed, allocated, or credited on behalf of the participant or beneficiary under the terms of the plan or that exceeds a limitation on contributions or allocations provided in the Code or regulations. Excess Amounts include: (i) an elective deferral or after-tax employee contribution that is in excess of the maximum contribution under the plan; (ii) an elective deferral or after-tax employee contribution made in excess of the limitation under § 415; (iii) an elective deferral in excess of the limitation of § 402(g); (iv) an excess contribution or excess aggregate contribution under § 401(k) or (m); (v) an elective deferral or after-tax employee contribution that is made with respect to compensation in excess of the limitation of § 401(a)(17); and (vi) any other employer contribution that exceeds a limitation under § 401(m) (but only with respect to the forfeiture of nonvested matching contributions that are excess aggregate contributions), 411(a)(3)(G), or 415, or that is made with respect to compensation in excess of the limitation under § 401(a)(17). However, an Excess Amount does not include a contribution, allocation, or other credit that is made pursuant to a correction method provided under this revenue procedure for a different Qualification Failure. Excess Amounts are limited to contributions, allocations, or annual additions under a defined contribution plan, after-tax employee contributions to a defined benefit plan, and contributions or allocations that are to be made to a separate account (with actual Earnings) under a defined benefit plan. See generally section 6.06 for the treatment and correction of certain Excess Amounts.

(b) Excess Allocation . The term “Excess Allocation” means an Excess Amount for which the Code or regulations do not provide any corrective mechanism. Excess Allocations include Excess Amounts as de

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fined in section 5.01(3)(a) (i), (ii), (v), and (vi) (except with respect to § 401(m) or 411(a)(3)(G) violations). Excess Allocations must be corrected in accordance with section 6.06(2).

(c) Overpayment . The term “Overpayment” means a Qualification Failure due to a payment being made to a participant or beneficiary that exceeds the amount payable to the participant or beneficiary under the terms of the plan or that exceeds a limitation provided in the Code or regulations. Overpayments include both payments from a defined benefit plan and payments from a defined contribution plan (either not made from the participant’s or beneficiary’s account under the plan or not permitted to be paid under the Code, the regulations, or the terms of the plan). However, an Overpayment does not include a payment that is made pursuant to a correction method provided under this revenue procedure for a different Qualification Failure. Overpayments must be corrected in accordance with section 6.06(3) for defined benefit plans and section 6.06(4) for defined contribution plans and 403(b) Plans.

(4) Favorable Letter . With respect to a Qualified Plan, the term “Favorable Letter” is defined in the following manner.

(a) Favorable Letter for individually designed Qualified Plans . In the case of an individually designed Qualified Plan, the term “Favorable Letter” means a determination letter issued with respect to the plan.

(b) Favorable Letter for Pre-approved Plans . In the case of a Pre-approved Plan, the term “Favorable Letter” means a favorable opinion or advisory letter issued with respect to the most recently expired six-year remedial amendment cycle under Rev. Proc. 2016–37. In the case of a terminated Pre-approved Plan, the plan is treated as having a favorable opinion letter or advisory letter if the plan is terminated prior to the expiration of the plan’s current remedial amendment cycle determined under the provisions of Rev. Proc. 2016–37, and the plan was amended to reflect the qualification requirements that applied as of the date of termination.

(5) Maximum Payment Amount . The term “Maximum Payment Amount” means a monetary amount that is approximately equal to the tax the IRS could collect upon

plan disqualification and is the sum for the open taxable years of the:

(a) tax on the trust (Form 1041, U.S. Income Tax Return for Estates and Trusts) (and any interest or penalties applicable to the trust return);

(b) additional income tax resulting from the loss of employer deductions for plan contributions (and any interest or penalties applicable to the Plan Sponsor’s return);

(c) additional income tax resulting from income inclusion for participants in the plan (Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return), including the tax on plan distributions that have been rolled over to other qualified trusts (as defined in § 402(c)(8)(A)) or eligible retirement plans (as defined in § 402(c)(8)(B)) and any interest or penalties applicable to the participants’ returns;

(d) in the case of any participant loan that did not comply with the requirements of § 72(p)(2), the tax the IRS could collect as a result of the loan not being excluded from gross income under § 72(p)(2); and

(e) any other tax that results from a Qualification Failure that would apply but for correction under this revenue procedure.

(6) Plan Sponsor . The term “Plan Sponsor” means the employer that establishes or maintains a Qualified Plan for its employees.

(7) Transferred Assets . The term “Transferred Assets” means plan assets that were received, in connection with a corporate merger, acquisition, or other similar employer transaction, by the plan in a transfer (including a merger or consolidation of plan assets) under § 414(l) from a plan sponsored by an employer that was not a member of the same controlled group as the Plan Sponsor immediately prior to the corporate merger, acquisition, or other similar employer transaction. If a transfer of plan assets related to the same employer transaction is accomplished through several transfers, then the date of the transfer is the date of the first transfer.

(8) Pre-approved Plan . For purposes of this revenue procedure, the term “Preapproved Plan” means:

(a) a master plan, a prototype plan, or a volume submitter plan as described in Rev. Proc. 2015–36, 2015–27 I.R.B. 20,

sections 4.01, 4.02 and 13.01, respectively; and

(b) a pre-approved plan described in section 4.07 of Rev. Proc. 2017–41, 2017–29 I.R.B. 92. .02 Definitions for 403(b) Plans . The definitions in this section 5.02 apply to 403(b) Plans. For 403(b) Plans, the definitions under Rev. Proc. 2008–50 apply to failures that occurred in taxable years beginning before January 1, 2009.

(1) 403(b) Plan . The term “403(b) Plan” means a plan or program intended to satisfy the requirements of § 403(b).

(2) 403(b) Failure . The term “403(b) Failure” means a failure that adversely affects the exclusion from income provided by § 403(b). There are four types of 403(b) Failures: (a) Plan Document Failures; (b) Operational Failures; (c) Demographic Failures; and (d) Employer Eligibility Failures.

(a) Plan Document Failure . The term “Plan Document Failure” means a plan provision (or the absence of a plan provision) that, on its face, violates the requirements of § 403(b). Thus, for example, the failure of a plan to be adopted in written form or to be amended to reflect a new requirement within the plan’s applicable remedial amendment period is a Plan Document Failure. If a plan has not been timely or properly amended during an applicable remedial amendment period with respect to provisions required to maintain the status of the plan under § 403(b), the plan has a Plan Document Failure. For purposes of this revenue procedure, a Plan Document Failure includes any 403(b) Failure that adversely affects the status of the plan under § 403(b) and that is not an Operational Failure, Demographic Failure, or Employer Eligibility Failure.

(b) Operational Failure . The term “Operational Failure” means a 403(b) Failure (other than an Employer Eligibility Failure) that arises solely from the failure to follow plan provisions. A failure to follow the terms of the plan providing for the satisfaction of the requirements of §§ 403(b)(12)(ii) (relating to the availability of elective deferral contributions) and 401(m) (as applied to 403(b) Plans pursuant to § 403(b)(12)(A)(i)) is an Operational Failure. A plan does not have an Operational Failure to the extent the plan

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is permitted to be amended retroactively to reflect the plan’s operations.

(c) Demographic Failure . The term “Demographic Failure” means a failure to satisfy the requirements of § 401(a)(4), 401(a)(26), or 410(b) (as applied to 403(b) Plans pursuant to § 403(b)(12)(A)(i)) that is not an Operational Failure or an Employer Eligibility Failure. The correction of a Demographic Failure generally requires a corrective amendment to the plan adding more benefits or increasing existing benefits (see § 1.401(a)(4)–11(g)).

(d) Employer Eligibility Failure . The term “Employer Eligibility Failure” means the adoption of a plan intended to satisfy the requirements of § 403(b) by a Plan Sponsor that is not a tax-exempt organization described in § 501(c)(3) or a public educational organization described in § 170(b)(1)(A)(ii). An Employer Eligibility Failure is not a Plan Document, Operational, or Demographic Failure.

(3) Excess Amount . The term “Excess Amount” means a contribution or other credit that is made on behalf of a participant or beneficiary to a plan in excess of the maximum amount permitted to be contributed or credited on behalf of the participant or beneficiary under the terms of the plan or that exceeds a limitation on contributions provided in the Code or regulations. The term “Excess Amount” includes any amount in excess of the amount permitted under the requirements of § 402(g), 401(m), or 415. A contribution in excess of the limitation of § 415(c) is not an Excess Amount (or a 403(b) Failure) if that excess is maintained in a separate account in accordance with the rules in the regulations under §§ 403(b) and 415. Such separate account is considered to be a § 403(c) annuity contract (or, if applicable, an amount to which § 61, 83, or 402(b) applies). A contribution in excess of the limitation of § 415(c) that is not maintained in a separate account in accordance with the rules set forth in regulations under §§ 403(b) and 415 is an Excess Amount. Thus, the correction principles in section 6.06 apply.

(4) Overpayment . The term “Overpayment” means a 403(b) Failure due to a payment being made to a participant or beneficiary that exceeds the amount payable to the participant or beneficiary under the terms of the plan or that exceeds a

limitation provided in the Code or regulations. Overpayments include payments made from the participant’s or beneficiary’s 403(b) custodial account or annuity contract under the plan that are not permitted to be paid under the Code, the regulations, or the terms of the plan. However, an Overpayment does not include a payment that is made pursuant to a correction method provided under this revenue procedure for a different 403(b) Failure. Overpayments must be corrected in accordance with section 6.06(4).

(5) Favorable Letter . The term “Favorable Letter” means a Favorable Letter as described in section 6.10(2).

(6) Maximum Payment Amount . The term �Maximum Payment Amount” means a monetary amount that is approximately equal to the tax the IRS could collect as a result of the 403(b) Failure and is the sum for the open taxable years of the:

(a) additional income tax resulting from income inclusion for employees or other participants (Form 1040), including the tax on distributions that have been rolled over to other qualified trusts (as defined in § 402(c)(8)(A)) or eligible retirement plans (as defined in § 402(c)(8)(B)) and any interest or penalties applicable to the participants’ returns; and

(b) any other tax that results from a 403(b) Failure that would apply but for correction under this revenue procedure.

(7) Plan Sponsor . The term �Plan Sponsor” means the employer that offers a 403(b) Plan to its employees. (8) 403(b) Pre-approved Plan . The term “403(b) Pre-approved Plan” means a plan described in section 3.17 of Rev. Proc. 2013–22, 2013–18 I.R.B. 985.

.03 Definitions for Orphan Plans . (1) Orphan Plan . With respect to VCP and Audit CAP, the term “Orphan Plan” means any Qualified Plan, 403(b) Plan, or other plan with respect to which an “Eligible Party” (defined in section 5.03(2)) has determined that the Plan Sponsor (a) no longer exists, (b) cannot be located, or (c) is unable to maintain the plan. However, the term “Orphan Plan” does not include any plan subject to Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) that is terminated pursuant to 29 CFR 2578.1 of the Department of Labor regulations governing the

termination of abandoned individual account plans.

(2) Eligible Party . The term “Eligible Party” means:

(a) A court appointed representative with authority to terminate the plan and dispose of the plan’s assets;

(b) In the case of an Orphan Plan under investigation by the Department of Labor, a person or entity determined by the Department of Labor to have accepted responsibility for terminating the plan and distributing the plan’s assets; or

(c) In the case of a Qualified Plan to which Title I of ERISA has never applied, a surviving spouse who is the sole beneficiary of a plan that provided benefits to a participant who was (i) the sole owner of the business that sponsored the plan and (ii) the only participant in the plan.

.04 Earnings . The term “Earnings” refers to the adjustment of a principal amount to reflect subsequent investment gains and losses, unless otherwise provided in a specific section of this revenue procedure.

.05 IRA . The term “IRA” means an individual retirement account (as defined in § 408(a)) or an individual retirement annuity (as defined in § 408(b)).

.06 SEP . The term “SEP” means a plan intended to satisfy the requirements of § 408(k). For purposes of this revenue procedure, the term SEP also includes a salary reduction SEP (“SARSEP”) described in § 408(k)(6), if applicable.

.07 SIMPLE IRA Plan . The term “SIMPLE IRA Plan” means a plan intended to satisfy the requirements of § 408(p).

.08 Under Examination . (1) The term “Under Examination” means: (a) a plan that is under an Employee Plans examination (that is, an examination of a Form 5500 series or other Employee Plans examination); (b) a Plan Sponsor that is under an Exempt Organizations examination (that is, an examination of a Form 990 series or other Exempt Organizations examination); or (c) a plan that is under investigation by the Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS.

(2) A plan that is under an Employee Plans examination includes any plan for which the Plan Sponsor, or an authorized representative, has received verbal or written notification from Employee Plans of an impending Employee Plans exami

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nation, or of an impending referral for an Employee Plans examination, and also includes any plan that has been under an Employee Plans examination and is in Appeals or in litigation for issues raised in an Employee Plans examination. A plan is considered to be Under Examination if it is aggregated for purposes of satisfying the nondiscrimination requirements of § 401(a)(4), the minimum participation requirements of § 401(a)(26), the minimum coverage requirements of § 410(b), or the requirements of § 403(b)(12)(A)(i), with any plan that is Under Examination. In addition, a plan is considered to be Under Examination with respect to a failure of a qualification requirement (other than those described in the preceding sentence) if the plan is aggregated with another plan for purposes of satisfying that qualification requirement (for example, § 401(a)(30), 415, or 416) and that other plan is Under Examination. For example, assume Plan A has a § 415 failure, Plan A is aggregated with Plan B only for purposes of § 415, and Plan B is Under Examination. In this case, Plan A is considered to be Under Examination with respect to the § 415 failure. However, if Plan A has a failure relating to the spousal consent rules under § 417 or the vesting rules of § 411, Plan A is not considered to be Under Examination with respect to the § 417 or 411 failure. For purposes of this revenue procedure, the term aggregation does not include consideration of benefits provided by various plans for purposes of the average benefits test set forth in § 410(b)(2).

(3) An Employee Plans examination also includes a case in which a Plan Sponsor has submitted any Form 5300 (Application for Determination for Employee Benefit Plan), Form 5307 (Application for Determination for Adopters of Modified Volume Submitter Plans), or Form 5310 (Application for Determination for Terminating Plan) and the Employee Plans agent notifies the Plan Sponsor, or an authorized representative, of possible failures, whether or not the Plan Sponsor is officially notified of an “examination.” This would include a case where, for example, a Plan Sponsor has applied for a determination letter on plan termination, and an Employee Plans agent notifies the Plan Sponsor that there are partial termi

nation concerns. In addition, if, during the review process, the agent requests additional information that indicates the existence of a failure not previously identified by the Plan Sponsor, the plan is considered to be under an Employee Plans examination. If, in such a case, the determination letter request under review is subsequently withdrawn, the plan is nevertheless considered to be under an Employee Plans examination for purposes of eligibility under SCP and VCP with respect to those issues raised by the agent reviewing the determination letter application. The fact that a Plan Sponsor voluntarily submits a determination letter application does not constitute a voluntary identification of a failure to the IRS. In order to be eligible for VCP, the Plan Sponsor (or the authorized representative) must identify each failure, in writing, to the reviewing agent before the agent recognizes the existence of the failure or addresses the failure in communications with the Plan Sponsor (or the authorized representative).

(4) A Plan Sponsor that is under an Exempt Organizations examination includes any Plan Sponsor that has received (or whose authorized representative has received) verbal or written notification from Exempt Organizations of an impending Exempt Organizations examination or of an impending referral for an Exempt Organizations examination and also includes any Plan Sponsor that has been under an Exempt Organizations examination and is now in Appeals or in litigation for issues raised in an Exempt Organizations examination.