SECTION 16. WHAT ARE

THE DETERMINATION LETTER FILING PROCEDURES FOR GROUP TRUSTS?

Scope

.04 In the case of plans subject to Title IV of ERISA, a favorable determination letter issued in connection with a plan’s termination is conditioned on approval that the termination is a valid termination under Title IV of ERISA. Notification by the PBGC that a plan may not be terminated will be treated as a material change of fact.

.05 A plan that terminates after the effective date of a change in law, but prior to the date that amendments related to the change in law are otherwise required, must be amended to comply with the applicable provisions of law from the date on which such provisions become effective with respect to the plan. Because such a terminated plan would no longer be in existence by the required amendment date and therefore could not be amended on that date, such plan must be amended in connection with the plan termination to comply with those provisions of law that become effective with respect to the plan on or before the date of plan termination. Such amendments include any amendments made after the date of plan termination that were required to obtain a favorable determination letter. In addition, annuity contracts distributed from such terminated plans must meet all the applicable provisions of any change in law. See section 7 of Rev. Proc. 2022-40.

An application is deemed to be filed in connection with plan termination if it is filed no later than the later of (i) one year after the effective date of the termination, or (ii) one year after the date on which the action terminating the plan is adopted. However, in no event may the application be filed later than 12 months from the date of distribution of substantially all plan assets in connection with the termination of the plan.

.06 An applicant for a terminating plan is encouraged to submit a restatement when applying for a determination letter; however, a restatement for a terminating plan generally is not required.

.01 This section provides special procedures for requesting a determination letter on the status of a group trust under Rev. Rul. 81-100, as clarified and modified by Rev. Rul. 2004-67, Rev. Rul. 2011-1, Notice 2012-6, Rev. Rul. 2014-24, and section 336(e) of the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, Division Q of Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, Pub. L. 114-113 (PATH Act).

Bulletin No. 2024–1 207 January 2, 2024

Required information .02 Applicants must submit the Form 5316 application electronically on www.pay.gov and may not submit any documents on paper, including the Form 8717. Note: When utilizing www. pay.gov, if an applicant receives an email that the payment was dishonored, the applicant must resubmit the application package along with the new user fee. When resubmitting, include the email received regarding the dishonored payment with the submission package. Do not use Form 8717 to submit the user fee.

A request for a determination letter with respect to a group trust is made by submitting a Form 5316, Application for Group or Pooled Trust Ruling, demonstrating how the group trust satisfies the criteria listed in Rev. Rul. 2011-1, together with the trust instrument and related documents. Rev. Rul. 2004-67 extends the ability to participate in group trusts to eligible governmental plans under § 457(b) and clarifies the ability of certain individual retirement accounts under § 408 to participate. Rev. Rul. 2011-1 extends the ability to participate in group trusts to custodial accounts under § 403(b)(7), retirement income accounts under § 403(b)(9), and governmental retiree benefit plans under § 401(a)(24). There are two model amendments in Rev. Rul. 2011-1. Amendment 1 is for a group trust that received a determination letter from EP Determinations prior to January 10, 2011, that the group trust satisfies Rev. Rul. 81-100, but that does not satisfy the separate account requirement of paragraph (6) of the holding of Rev. Rul. 2011-1. Amendment 2 is for a group trust that received a determination letter from EP Determinations prior to January 10, 2011, that the group trust satisfies Rev. Rul. 81-100, as modified by Rev. Rul. 2004-67, and that intends to permit custodial accounts under § 403(b) (7), retirement income accounts under § 403(b)(9), or § 401(a)(24) governmental retiree benefit plans to participate in the group trust. Rev. Rul. 2014-24 extends the ability to participate in a group trust to certain retirement plans qualified only under the Puerto Rico Code, and clarifies that assets held by certain separate accounts maintained by insurance companies may be invested in group trusts that satisfy Rev. Rul. 81-100. Section 336(e) of the PATH Act modifies the rules for investment by certain church plan entities in a group trust.

Required forms .03

(1) Using www.pay.gov requires the user fee and documents to be submitted electronically at the time the form is being submitted. For document requirements, See ‘What to File” in the Instructions to Form 5316 for a list of what to include in the submission, www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5316.pdf.

(2) Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative . If applicable, submit Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization.

(3) Form 5316, Application for Group or Pooled Trust Ruling.