PART IV. USER FEES

.01 Section 7528 directs the Secretary or a delegate to establish a program requiring the payment of user fees for requests to Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements for letter rulings, opinion letters, determination letters, and similar requests. The fees charged under the program: (1) are to vary according to categories or subcategories established by the Secretary or a delegate; (2) are to be determined after considering the average time for, and difficulty of, complying with requests in each category and subcategory; and (3) are payable in advance. Section 7528(b)(3) directs the Secretary or a delegate to provide for exemptions and reduced fees under the program as the Secretary or a delegate determines to be appropriate, but the average fee applicable to each category may not be less than the amount specified in § 7528.

.02 In general, user fees apply to all requests for letter rulings, opinion letters, determination letters, advisory letters, and compliance statements submitted by or on behalf of taxpayers, sponsoring organizations or other entities as described in this revenue procedure. Requests to

December 30, 2024 236 Bulletin No. 2025–1

Requests and other actions that do not require the payment of a user fee

Exemptions from the user fee requirements

which a user fee is applicable must be accompanied by the appropriate fee as determined from the fee schedule set forth in Appendix A of this revenue procedure. The fee may be refunded in limited circumstances as set forth in section 30.10 of this revenue procedure.

.03 Actions that do not require the payment of a user fee include the following:

(1) Elections pertaining to automatic extensions of time under § 301.9100-1;

(2) Use of forms that are not to be filed with the Service (for example, no user fee is required in connection with the use of Form 5305, Traditional Individual Retirement Trust Account, or Form 5305–A, Traditional Individual Retirement Custodial Account, to adopt an individual retirement account under § 408(a));

(3) In general, plan amendments whereby sponsors amend their plans by adopting, wordfor-word, the model language set forth in a revenue procedure which states that the amendment should not be submitted to the Service and that the Service will not issue new opinion, ruling or determination letters for plans that are amended solely to add the model language; and

(4) Change in accounting period permitted by a published revenue procedure that permits an automatic change without prior approval of the Commissioner.

.04 The following exemptions, and only these exemptions, apply to the user fee requirements. No user fees are charged to:

(1) Departments, agencies, or instrumentalities of the United States that certify that they are seeking a letter ruling, determination letter, opinion letter or similar letter on behalf of a program or activity funded by federal appropriations. The fact that a user fee is not charged has no bearing on whether an applicant is treated as an agency or instrumentality of the United States for purposes of any provision of the Code except for § 7528.

(2) Eligible employers within the meaning of § 7528(b)(2)(C)(ii) who request a determination letter with respect to a qualified plan within the first five plan years or, if later, the end of any remedial amendment period with respect to the plan that begins within the first five plan years. See, Instructions to Form 8717, User Fee for Employee Plans Determination Letter Request , and Notice 2002-1, 2002-1 CB 283, as amplified by Notice 2003-49, 2003-2 CB 294, and Notice 2017-1.

User Fees under EPCRS .05 User fees for submissions under VCP are set forth in Appendix A of this revenue procedure. For further guidance on EPCRS, see Rev. Proc. 2021-30.

Requests involving multiple offices, fee categories, issues, transactions, or entities

.06

(1) Requests involving several offices . If a request dealing with only one transaction involves more than one of the offices within the Service (for example, one issue is under the jurisdiction of the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Employee Benefits, Exempt Organizations, and Employment Taxes) and another issue is under the jurisdiction of the Commissioner (Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division), the taxpayer is only responsible for the payment of the single highest fee that could be charged by any of the offices involved. See Rev. Proc. 2025-1, this Bulletin, for the user fees applicable to issues under the jurisdiction of the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Corporate), the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Financial Institutions and

Bulletin No. 2025–1 237 December 30, 2024

Products), the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Income Tax and Accounting), the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Passthroughs and Special Industries), the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Procedure and Administration), the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (International), or the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Employee Benefits, Exempt Organizations, and Employment Taxes).

(2) Requests involving several fee categories . If a request dealing with only one transaction involves more than one fee category, the taxpayer is responsible only for payment of the single highest fee that could be charged for any of the categories involved.

(3) Requests involving several issues . A request is treated as one request if the request deals with only one transaction but involves several issues. In such instances, only one fee applies; namely, the fee that applies to the particular category or subcategory involved. The addition of a new issue relating to the same transaction will not result in an additional fee unless the issue places the transaction in a higher fee category.

(4) Requests involving several unrelated transactions . In situations in which: (a) a request involves several transactions or (b) a request for a change in accounting period involves several unrelated items, each transaction or item is treated as a separate request. As a result, a separate fee will apply for each unrelated transaction or item. An additional fee also will apply if the request is changed by the addition of an unrelated transaction or item not contained in the initial submission. As a result, a separate fee will apply for each unrelated transaction or item.

(5) Requests for separate letter rulings for several entities . Each entity involved in a transaction that desires a separate letter ruling in its own name must pay a separate fee. Payment of a separate fee is required regardless of whether the transaction or transactions may be viewed as related.

Method of payment .07

(1) Payment of user fees for determination letter applications . User fees for determination letter applications must be paid by using www.pay.gov. DO NOT use Form 8717 to submit user fee on applications submitted electronically.

(2) Payment of VCP user fees. User fees should be made using the payment methods available on www.pay.gov. The Service no longer accepts paper submissions under VCP. See Rev. Proc. 2021-30 for detailed procedures on the VCP submission process.

(3) Payment of user fees for pre-approved plan submissions . User fees for pre-approved plan submissions for opinion letters on qualified plans under § 401(a) and § 403(b) pre-approved plans must be paid by using www.pay.gov. DO NOT use Form 8717-A to submit user fees on applications submitted electronically.

(4) Payment of user fees for letter ruling requests for IRAs under § 408. Each request to Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements for a letter ruling must be accompanied by a check, payable to the United States Treasury, in the appropriate amount. Taxpayers should not send cash. The payment of user fees for letter ruling requests may not be made on www.pay.gov.

The check may be converted to an electronic fund transfer. “Electronic fund transfer” is the term used to refer to the process in which the Service electronically instructs the financial institution holding the funds to transfer funds from the account named on the check to the United States

December 30, 2024 238 Bulletin No. 2025–1

Treasury account, rather than processing the check. By sending a completed, signed check to the Service, the Service is authorized to copy the check and to use the account information from the check to make an electronic fund transfer from the account for the same amount as the check. If the electronic fund transfer cannot be processed for technical reasons, the Service is authorized to process the copy of the check.

The electronic fund transfer from an account will usually occur within 24 hours, which is faster than a check is normally processed. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure there are sufficient funds available in the checking account when the check is sent to the Service. The check will not be returned to the applicant from its financial institution.

Transmittal forms .08

(1) Determination Letter applications must be made to the Service using www.pay.gov using the applicable Form 5300 series application. In addition, opinion letter applications using the applicable Form 4461 series application must be made on www.pay.gov.

(2) VCP submissions must be made to the Service using www.pay.gov, on Form 8950, Application for Voluntary Correction Program (VCP) Submission under the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS), embedded in www.pay.gov. If a VCP submission is made to the Service but the user fee payment did not go through or is less than the applicable amount, Form 8951, Additional User Fee Payment for Open Application for Voluntary Correction Program (VCP), embedded in www.pay.gov, should be submitted to make the new payment. A duplicate Form 8950 should not be submitted. Requests for a VCP pre-submission conference must also be made via www.pay.gov by submitting a Form 8950. See section 10.01(2) of Rev. Proc. 2021-30.

Effect of nonpayment or payment of incorrect amount

.09 Except as provided in Part II of this revenue procedure, it will be the general practice of Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements that:

(1) The respective offices within Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements that are responsible for issuing letter ruling or determination letters will exercise discretion in deciding whether to immediately return submissions that are not accompanied by a correct user fee. In those instances in which the submission is not immediately returned, the requester will be contacted and given a reasonable period of time to submit the proper fee. If the proper fee is not received within a reasonable amount of time, the entire submission will then be returned. However, the respective offices of Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements, in their discretion, may defer substantive consideration of a submission until proper payment has been received.

(2) The return of a submission to the requester may adversely affect substantive rights if the submission is not perfected and resubmitted to Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements within 30 days of the date of the cover letter returning the submission.

(3) If the user fee included with the VCP submission is less than the user fee required by Appendix A or if no fee is submitted, the submission may not be processed.

Refunds of user fees .10 In general, the user fee will not be refunded unless the Service declines to rule or make a determination on all issues for which a ruling or determination letter is requested.

(1) The following situations are examples in which the fee will not be refunded:

Bulletin No. 2025–1 239 December 30, 2024

(a) The request for a letter ruling or determination letter is withdrawn at any time subsequent to its receipt by the Service, unless the only reason for withdrawal is that the Service has advised the requester that a higher user fee than was sent with the request is applicable and the requester is unwilling to pay the higher fee. For example, no fee will be refunded in cases in which the taxpayer has been advised that a proposed adverse ruling is contemplated and subsequently withdraws its submission.

(b) The request is procedurally deficient, although accompanied by the proper fee or an overpayment, and it is not timely perfected upon request. If there is a failure to timely perfect the request, the case will be considered closed and the failure to perfect will be treated as a withdrawal for purposes of this revenue procedure.

(c) In the case of a request for a letter ruling, if the case has been closed by Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements because essential information has not been submitted timely, the request may be reopened and treated as a new request. However, the requester must pay another user fee before the case can be reopened. See section 27.11 of this revenue procedure. In the case of a request for a determination letter, if the case has been closed by EP Determinations because the requested information has not been timely submitted, the case will be closed, and the user fee will not be refunded. See section 10.11 of this revenue procedure.

(d) A letter ruling, determination letter, etc., is revoked in whole or in part at the initiative of the Service. The fee paid at the time the original letter ruling, determination letter, etc., was requested will not be refunded.

(e) The request contains several issues and the Service rules on some, but not all, of the issues. The highest fee applicable to the issues on which the Service rules will not be refunded.

(f) The requester asserts that a letter ruling the requester received covering a single issue is erroneous or not responsive (other than an issue on which the Service has declined to rule) and requests reconsideration. The Service, upon reconsideration, does not agree that the letter ruling is erroneous or is not responsive.

(g) The situation is the same as described in subparagraph (f) of this section 30.10(1) except that the letter ruling covered several unrelated transactions. The Service, upon reconsideration, does not agree with the requester that the letter ruling is erroneous or is not responsive for all the transactions, but does agree that it is erroneous as to one or more of the transactions. The fee accompanying the request for reconsideration will not be refunded except to the extent applicable to any transaction for which the Service agrees the letter ruling was in error.

(h) The request is for a supplemental letter ruling, determination letter, etc., concerning a change in facts (whether significant or not) relating to the transaction on which the Service ruled.

(i) The request is for reconsideration of an adverse or partially adverse letter ruling or a final adverse determination letter, and the taxpayer submits arguments and authorities not submitted before the original letter ruling or determination letter was issued.

(2) The following situations are examples in which the user fee will be refunded:

December 30, 2024 240 Bulletin No. 2025–1

Request for reconsideration of user fee

(a) In a situation to which section 30.10(1)(i) of this revenue procedure does not apply, the taxpayer asserts that a letter ruling the taxpayer received covering a single issue is erroneous or is not responsive (other than an issue on which the Service declined to rule) and requests reconsideration. Upon reconsideration, the Service agrees that the letter ruling is erroneous or is not responsive. The fee accompanying the taxpayer’s request for reconsideration will be refunded.

(b) In a situation to which section 30.10(1)(i) of this revenue procedure does not apply, the requester requests a supplemental letter ruling, determination letter, etc., to correct a mistake that Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements agrees it made in the original letter ruling, determination letter, etc., such as a mistake in the statement of facts or in the citation of a Code section. Once Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements agrees that it made a mistake, the fee accompanying the request for the supplemental letter ruling, determination letter, etc., will be refunded.

(c) The taxpayer requests and is granted relief under § 7805(b) in connection with the revocation, in whole or in part, of a previously issued letter ruling. The fee accompanying the request for relief will be refunded.

(d) In a situation to which section 30.10(1)(b) of this revenue procedure would otherwise apply, except that Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements does not request perfection of the procedural deficiencies in the application but rather does not accept the application and returns it to the requester, the fee accompanying the request will be returned or refunded.

(e) In a situation to which section 30.10(1)(e) of this revenue procedure applies, the requester requests reconsideration of the Service’s decision not to rule on an issue. Once Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements agrees to rule on the issue, the fee accompanying the request for reconsideration will be refunded.

(3) VCP Submissions. For refunds relating to VCP submissions, see Rev. Proc. 2021-30, section 10.07(2).

.11 A taxpayer that believes the user fee charged by Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements for its request for a letter ruling, determination letter, etc., is either not applicable or incorrect and wishes to receive a refund of all or part of the amount paid (see section 30.10 of this revenue procedure) may request reconsideration of the user fee and, if desired, the opportunity for an oral discussion by sending a letter to the Service at the applicable Post Office Box or other address provided in section 31 of this revenue procedure. Both the incoming envelope and the letter requesting such reconsideration should be prominently marked “USER FEE RECONSIDERATION REQUEST.” No user fee is required for these requests. The request must be marked for the attention of the appropriate unit as listed in the table below.

If the matter involves primarily : Mark for the attention of : Employee plans letter ruling requests and all other employee plans matters hanEmployee Plans Rulings and Agreements dled by Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements

Opinion letter and advisory letter requests pursuant to Rev. Proc. 2013-22 and Area Manager, EP Determinations Rev. Proc. 2021-37

Employee plans determination letter requests and opinion letter requests pursuant Area Manager, EP Determinations to Rev. Proc. 2016-37 and Rev. Proc. 2017-41

Employee plans determination letter requests and opinion letter requests pursuant Area Manager, EP to Rev. Proc. 2023-37 Determinations

Bulletin No. 2025–1 241 December 30, 2024

(traditional, Roth, and SIMPLE IRAs), SEPs (including salary reduction SEPs (SARSEPs)), and SIMPLE IRA plans.

December 30, 2024 242 Bulletin No. 2025–1

Determination letters – electronic submissions only

Opinion and advisory letters – electronic submissions only

(3) Requests for all the above that are shipped by Express Mail or a delivery service should be sent to :

• Internal Revenue Service

• Attention: EP Determination Letters

• TE/GE Stop 31A Team 105

• 7940 Kentucky Drive

• Florence, KY 41042

Note: Hand-delivered requests must be marked RULING REQUEST SUBMISSION. The delivery should be made to the following address between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., where a receipt will be given:

• Courier’s Desk

• Internal Revenue Service

• Attention: EP Letter Rulings

• TE/GE Stop 31A Team 105

• 7940 Kentucky Drive

• Florence, KY 41042

.02

Requests for determination letters on the qualified status of employee plans under § 401(a), 403(a), 409, or 4975(e)(7), whether a plan meets the requirements of § 403(b), and the exempt status of any related trust under § 501 are handled by the EP Determinations Office. These requests must be submitted on www.pay.gov and may not be mailed to the Service. If a paper submission is mailed, the submission will be returned to the applicant, including any submitted paper checks.

.03

(1) The following types of requests and applications are handled by EP Determinations and must be submitted on www.pay.gov and may not be mailed to the Service. If a paper submission is mailed, the submission will be returned to the applicant, including any submitted paper checks.

(a) Requests for opinion letters on the form of pre-approved employee plans under § 401(a) or § 403(a) for Cycle 3 pursuant to Rev. Proc. 2017-41 and for Cycle 4 (and subsequent cycles) pursuant to Rev. Proc. 2023-37;

(b) Requests for § 403(b) prototype opinion letters and for § 403(b) VS advisory letters for § 403(b) pre-approved plans under Rev. Proc. 2013–22; and

(c) Requests of § 403(b) pre-approved plans for opinion letters under Rev. Proc. 2021-37.

Bulletin No. 2025–1 243 December 30, 2024

VCP compliance statements

– electronic submissions only

This revenue procedure is effective January 1, 2025.

The collections of information contained in this revenue procedure have been reviewed and approved by the Office of Management and Budget in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. § 3507) under control number 1545-1520.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless the collection of information displays a valid OMB control number.

The collections of information in this revenue procedure are in sections 6.02, 6.03, 6.05, 6.06, 10.03, 10.08, 10.11, 10.14, 10.15, 10.17, 11.04, 16, 17, 18, 19A, 19B, 20A, 20B, 21.02, 22.03, 23.02, 23.08, 27.05, 27.06, 27.07, 27.08, 27.09, 27.10, 27.13, 28.01, 28.06, 28.07, and 29.10 of this revenue procedure, and in Appendices C and E of this revenue procedure. This information is required to evaluate and process the request for a letter ruling or determination letter, and with respect to determination letters, information collected will be used to determine whether a plan is entitled to favorable tax treatment as a qualified plan. In addition, this information will be used to help the Service delete certain information from the text of the letter ruling or determination letter before it is made available for public inspection, as required by §§ 6110 and 6104. The collections of information are required to obtain a letter ruling or determination letter. The likely respondents are individuals, businesses or other for-profit institutions, tax exempt organizations, and government entities.

The estimated total annual reporting and/or recordkeeping burden with respect to letter ruling requests is 769 hours. The estimated total annual reporting and/or recordkeeping burden with respect to determination letters is 38,067 hours.

The estimated annual burden per respondent/recordkeeper varies from 15 minutes to 40 hours, depending on individual circumstances and the type of request involved, with an estimated average burden of 6.01 hours for letter ruling requests and 3.02 hours for determination letter requests. The estimated number of respondents and/or recordkeepers is 128 for letter rulings and 12,605 for determination letters.

For letter rulings, the estimated annual frequency of responses is one request per applicant, except that a taxpayer requesting a letter ruling may also request a pre‑submission conference.

December 30, 2024 244 Bulletin No. 2025–1

DRAFTING INFORMATION

For determination letters, the estimated annual frequency of responses (used for reporting requirements only) is once every three years.

Books or records relating to a collection of information must be retained as long as their contents may become material in the administration of any internal revenue law. Generally, tax returns and tax return information are confidential, as required by § 6103.

The principal author of this revenue procedure is Jessica Weinberger of the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Employee Benefits, Exempt Organizations, and Employment Taxes). For further information regarding submission and processing of requests under this revenue procedure, contact Ada Perry, Employee Plans, at 202-317-5850 (not a toll-free number).

Bulletin No. 2025–1 245 December 30, 2024

APPENDIX A

SCHEDULE OF USER FEES

The amount of the user fee payable with respect to each category or subcategory of submission is as set forth in the following schedule.

CATEGORY USER FEE .01 Letter ruling requests (1) Computation of exclusion for annuitant under § 72 $1,000 (2) Change in plan year (Form 5308, Request for Change in Plan/Trust Year ) $1,000 Note: No user fee is required if the requested change is permitted to be made pursuant to the procedure for automatic approval set forth in Rev. Proc. 87-27, 1987-1 CB 769. In such a case, Form 5308 should not be submitted to the Service.

(3) Five-Year Automatic Extension of the Amortization Period $7,500 (4) Changes in funding methods, including any change in the determination of the value of plan assets or $10,000

liabilities (see Section 4 of Rev. Proc. 2017-57)

$10,000

(5) Change in in actuarial assumptions under § 412, 430, 431, or 433 $10,000 (6) All other letter rulings under jurisdiction of the Employee Plans Office (see section 24.01 of this revenue $12,500

procedure)

$12,500

.02 Opinion letters on prototype IRAs, SEPs, SIMPLE IRAs, SIMPLE IRA Plans, Roth IRAs, and dual-pur- pose IRAs (until further notice, Announcement 2022-6 temporarily suspends the issuance of opinion letters on IRAs)

Note: If a mass submitter submits, in any 12-month period ending January 31, more than 300 applications on behalf of word-for-word adopters of prototype IRAs or prototype dual-purpose IRAs with respect to a particular plan document, only the first 300 such applications will be subject to the fee; no fee will apply to those in excess of the first 300 such applications submitted within the 12-month period.

.03 Opinion letters on pre-approved plans submitted pursuant to Rev. Proc. 2017-41 (§ 401(a)) (1) Provider’s word-for-word adoption of mass submitter’s basic plan document per adoption agreement or

single document plan

(2) Assumption of sponsorship of a pre-approved plan, without any amendment to the plan document, by

a new entity, as evidenced by a change of employer identification number, per basic plan document or single document plan

(3) Change in name and/or address of a provider of a pre-approved plan per basic plan document or single

document plan

.04 Opinion letters on pre-approved plans submitted pursuant to Rev. Proc 2021-37 (§ 403(b)) (1) Provider’s word-for-word adoption of mass submitter’s basic plan document per adoption agreement or

single document plan

(2) Assumption of sponsorship of a pre-approved plan, without any amendment to the plan document, by

a new entity, as evidenced by a change of employer identification number, per basic plan document or single document plan

(3) Change in name and/or address of a provider of a pre-approved plan per basic plan document or single

document plan

.05 Opinion letters on § 403(b) prototype plans pursuant to Rev. Proc. 2013-22 and Rev. Proc. 2014-28 (1) Assumption of sponsorship of an approved § 403(b) prototype plan, without any amendment to the plan

document, by a new entity, as evidenced by a change of employer identification number, per basic plan document or single document plan

(2) Change in name and/or address of sponsor of an approved § 403(b) prototype plan, per basic plan docu ment or single document plan

$2,500

$300

$300

None

$300

$300

None

$300

None

December 30, 2024 246 Bulletin No. 2025–1

CATEGORY USER FEE .06 Opinion letters on pre-approved plans submitted pursuant to Rev. Proc. 2023-37 (§ 401(a)) (1) Mass submitter and non-mass submitter plans with adoption agreements

(a) per basic plan document, with one adoption agreement $20,000 (b) per each additional adoption agreement $15,000 (2) Mass submitter and non-mass submitter single document plans (no adoption agreements)

(a) per each single document plan $32,000 (3) Provider’s word-for-word adoption of mass submitter’s basic plan document per adoption agreement or $300

single document plan

$300

(4) Provider’s minor modification of mass submitter’s basic plan document per adoption agreement or sin gle document plan

(5) Assumption of sponsorship of a pre-approved plan, without any amendment to the plan document, by

a new entity, as evidenced by a change of employer identification number, per basic plan document or single document plan

(6) Change in name and/or address of a provider of a pre-approved plan per basic plan document or single

document plan

.07 Advisory letters on § 403(b) VS plans pursuant to Rev. Proc. 2013-22 and Rev. Proc. 2014-28 (1) Assumption of sponsorship of an approved § 403(b) VS plan, without any amendment to the plan docu ment, by a new entity, as evidenced by a change of employer identification number, per specimen plan

(2) Change in name and/or address of practitioner of an approved § 403(b) VS specimen plan, per specimen

plan

.08 Determination letters

(1) Determination Letters:

(a) Form 5300 (Application for Determination for Employee Benefit Plan)

(b) Form 5300 (Application for Determination for Employee Benefit Plan, § 403(b) plans, with 100 or

more participants)

Note: the number of participants is determined on the last day of the plan year before submission.

(c) Form 5300 (Application for Determination for Employee Benefit Plan, § 403(b) small plans with

fewer than 100 participants)

Note: the number of participants is determined on the last day of the plan year before submission.

(d) Form 5307 ( Application for Determination for Adopters of Modified Nonstandardized Pre-Ap proved Plans )

$1,000

$300

None

$300

None

$2,700

$2,700

$300

$1,200

(e) Form 5310 ( Application for Determination for Terminating Plan ) $3,500 (f) Multiple employer qualified plans (Form 5300) $4,200 (g) Multiple employer qualified plans (Form 5310), regardless of number of participants $4,200 (2) Group trusts contemplated by Rev. Rul. 81-100, 1981-1 CB 326, Rev. Rul. 2004-67, 2004-2 CB 28, Rev. $1,000

Rul. 2011-1, 2011-2 IRB 251, Rev. Rul. 2014-24, 2014-37 IRB 529. Form 5316, Application for Group or Pooled Trust Ruling , is available for group trust submissions.

$1,000

.09 User Fees for VCP submissions under EPCRS Revenue Procedure 2021-30 (1) Regular submissions under VCP. (For a special rule relating to terminating Orphan Plans see sec tion 4.08 of Rev. Proc. 2021-30):

Plans with assets of— (a) $500,000 or less $1,500 (b) Over $500,000 to $10,000,000 $3,000 (c) Over $10,000,000 $3,500

Bulletin No. 2025–1 247 December 30, 2024

CATEGORY USER FEE Note: In general . User fees under this section are determined based on end of year net assets of a plan as reported on the most recently filed Form 5500 series return.

Plans not required to file Form 5500 Series . If the plan sponsor is not required to file a Form 5500 series return with regard to a plan eligible for VCP, the amount of net assets for user fee purposes generally will be the amount of net assets as of the last day of the most recently completed plan year preceding the date of the VCP submission. However, if this information has not been compiled by the time the plan sponsor is ready to make a VCP submission to the Service, the plan sponsor may use the amount of net assets associated with the most recently completed prior plan year for which information on the amount of net assets is available. This exception will not apply if the VCP submission is mailed to the Service more than seven months after the close of the most recently completed plan year preceding the date of the VCP submission. (2) VCP fee for Group Submissions, initial fee for first 20 plans $10,000 Note: The fee for a group submission is based on the number of plans affected by the failure as described in the compliance statement. The initial fee is due at the time of submission. An additional fee is due equal to the product of the number of plans in excess of 20 multiplied by $250. The maximum fee for a group submission is $50,000. If additional plans are added following the group submission, the additional fee is paid subject to the $50,000 maximum fee. With respect to pre-approved plans, the fee is determined based on the number of basic plan documents submitted and the number of employers who have adopted each basic plan document by using an adoption agreement associated with that basic plan document. See Form 8951, User Fee for Application for Voluntary Correction Program (VCP), and Rev. Proc. 2021-30, sections 10.11 and 11.06.

December 30, 2024 248 Bulletin No. 2025–1

APPENDIX B1

SAMPLE NOTICE TO INTERESTED PARTIES (QUALIFIED PLANS)

The sample notice set forth below may be used to satisfy the requirements of section 20A of this revenue procedure.

NOTICE TO INTERESTED PARTIES

1. Notice To:______________________________[describe class or classes of interested parties]

An application is to be made to the Internal Revenue Service for an advance determination [on the qualification of the following employee pension benefit plan]:

2. ---

(name of plan)

3. ---

(plan number)

4. ---

(name and address of applicant)

5. ---

(applicant EIN)

6. ---

(name and address of plan administrator)

7. The application will be filed on _______________ for an advance determination as to whether the plan meets the qualification requirements of § 401(a) or § 403(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code), with respect to the plan’s _________________________

[initial plan qualification, termination, or partial termination]. The application will be filed with:

• Internal Revenue Service

• Attention: EP Determination Letters

• P.O. Box 12192

• TE/GE Stop 31A Team 105

• Covington, KY 41012-0192

8. The employees eligible to participate under the plan are:

9. The Internal Revenue Service [has/has not] previously issued a determination letter with respect to the qualification of this plan.

RIGHTS OF INTERESTED PARTIES

10. You have the right to submit to EP Determinations, either individually or jointly with other interested parties, your comments as to whether this plan meets the qualification requirements of the Code. Label your comments “Interested Party Statement”. Include the EIN, plan name, and plan number in your correspondence. Also include your contact information (mailing address and phone number) in case we need to contact you. Your comments to EP Determinations should be faxed to EP Customer Service at 855-2241311 or mailed to:

Bulletin No. 2025–1 249 December 30, 2024

• Internal Revenue Service

• EP Determinations

• Attn: Customer Service Manager

• P.O. Box 2508

• Cincinnati, OH 45202

You may instead, individually or jointly with other interested parties, request the DOL to submit, on your behalf, comments to EP Determinations regarding qualification of the plan. If the DOL declines to comment on all or some of the matters you raise, you may, individually, or jointly if your request was made to the DOL, submit your comments on these matters directly to EP Determinations at the Cincinnati address above.

REQUESTS FOR COMMENTS BY THE DOL

11. The DOL may not comment on behalf of interested parties unless requested to do so by the lesser of 10 employees or 10 percent of the employees who qualify as interested parties. The number of persons needed for the DOL to comment with respect to this plan is _____________________. If you request the DOL to comment, your request must be in writing and must specify the matters upon which comments are requested, and must also include:

(1) the information contained in items 2 through 5 of this Notice; and

(2) the number of persons needed for the DOL to comment.

A request to the DOL to comment should be addressed as follows:

• Deputy Assistant Secretary

• Employee Benefits Security Administration

• U.S. Department of Labor,

• 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W.

• Washington, D.C. 20210

• Attention: 3001 Comment Request

COMMENTS TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE

12. Comments submitted by you to EP Determinations must be in writing and received by ________________.

However, if there are matters that you request the DOL to comment upon on your behalf, and the DOL declines, you may submit comments on these matters to EP Determinations to be received by it within 15 days from the time the DOL notifies you that it will not comment on a particular matter, or by ____________, whichever is later, but not after ____________. A request to the DOL to comment on your behalf must be received by it by _________________ if you wish to preserve your right to comment on a matter upon which the DOL declines to comment, or by ____________ if you wish to waive that right.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

13. Detailed instructions regarding the requirements for notification of interested parties may be found in sections 19A and 20A of Rev. Proc. 2025-4, 2025-1 IRB 158. Additional information concerning this application (including, if applicable, the following: an updated copy of the plan and related trust; the application for determination; any additional documents relating to the application that have been submitted to the Service; and copies of section 19A of Rev. Proc. 2025-4) is available at _________________ during the hours of _________________ for inspection and copying. (There is a nominal charge for copying and/or mailing.)

December 30, 2024 250 Bulletin No. 2025–1

APPENDIX B2

SAMPLE NOTICE TO INTERESTED PERSONS (§ 403(b) PLANS)

The sample notice set forth below may be used to satisfy the requirements of section 20B of this revenue procedure.

NOTICE TO INTERESTED PERSONS

1. Notice To:______________________________ [describe class or classes of interested persons]

An application is to be made to the Internal Revenue Service for an advance determination that a § 403(b) plan meets the requirements of § 403(b):

2. ---

(name of plan)

3. ---

(plan number)

4. ---

(name and address of applicant)

5. ---

(applicant EIN)

6. ---

(name and address of plan administrator)

7. The application will be filed on _______________ for an advance determination as to whether the plan meets the requirements of § 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code), with respect to the plan’s _________________________ [initial determination as to whether the plan meets the requirements of § 403(b) or the determination upon plan termination that the plan meets the requirements of § 403(b)]. The application will be filed with:

   • Internal Revenue Service

   • Attention: EP Determination Letters

   • P.O. Box 12192

   • TE/GE Stop 31A Team 105

   • Covington, KY 41012-0192

8. The employees eligible to participate under the plan are:

9. The Internal Revenue Service [has/has not] previously issued a determination letter whether this plan meets the requirements of § 403(b).

RIGHTS OF INTERESTED PERSONS

10. You have the right to submit to EP Determinations, either individually or jointly with other interested persons, your comments as to whether this plan meets the requirements of § 403(b). Label your comments “Interested Person Statement”. Include the EIN, plan name, and plan number in your correspondence. Also include your contact information (mailing address and phone number) in case we need to contact you. Your comments to EP Determinations should be submitted to EP Customer Service via fax at 855-2241311 or mailed to:

Bulletin No. 2025–1 251 December 30, 2024

• Internal Revenue Service

• EP Determinations

• Attn: Customer Service Manager

• P.O. Box 2508

• Cincinnati, OH 45202

COMMENTS TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE

11. Comments submitted by you to EP Determinations must be in writing and received by ________________.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

12. Detailed instructions regarding the requirements for notification of interested persons may be found in sections 19B and 20B of Rev. Proc. 2025-4, 2025-1 IRB 158. Additional information concerning this application (including, if applicable, the following: an updated copy of the plan and related custodial account or annuity; the application for determination; any additional documents relating to the application that have been submitted to the Service; and copies of section 19B of Rev. Proc. 2025-4) is available at _________________ during the hours of _________________ for inspection and copying. (There is a nominal charge for copying and/or mailing.)

December 30, 2024 252 Bulletin No. 2025–1

APPENDIX C

CHECKLIST FOR § 401(h) AND § 420 DETERMINATION LETTERS

As part of a § 401(h) or § 420 determination letter request described in section 18 of this revenue procedure the following checklist must be completed and attached to the determination letter request. If the request relates to § 401(h) but not to § 420, complete Part I only. If the request relates to § 420, complete Parts I and II. Answer each question by circling “Yes” or “No.” If a question contains a place for a section number, insert the section number that gives the information called for by a yes answer to a question.