Benefits & ERISA Law

Redlined Copy of Document Required with Cycle C Submissions

By Suzanne Wynn

Tucked away in Section 6.05 of Rev. Proc. 2008-6 is a requirement that determination letter submissions contain a highlighted or redlined copy of the plan document. It states:

6.05 Except in the case of applications involving master and prototype plans filed on Form 5307 or determination letters for volume submitter plans under section 9.02(2)(d), a complete copy of the plan and trust instrument is required to be included with the determination letter application. All changes made to the most recently approved version of the plan must be redlined or highlighted. An application will be returned as incomplete if it fails to include a copy of the plan that redlines or highlights the changes to the most recently approved version of the plan. The determination letter application must also include a copy of the signed and dated timely good faith EGTRRA amendments, required interim and other plan amendments (even if these amendments are dated earlier than a previous determination letter issued with respect to the plan) to show that the conditions for eligibility for the EGTRRA remedial amendment period as set forth in Notice 2001-42 are satisfied. Also see sections 7.03 and 7.04 for what must be included with applications involving plan amendments.

The penalty for not including a copy of the redlined or highlighted copy of the plan document is that the application will be returned as incomplete.

In a special edition of Employee Plan News issued by the IRS earlier this month, the IRS clarified that Cycle B submissions are not required to submit a redlined plan document. The requirement to include a redlined or highlighted copy of the plan document begins with Cycle C determination letter submissions. Cycle C begins this Friday, February 1, 2008.

Full post as published by Pension Protection Act Blog on January 28, 2008 (boomark / email).