January 25, 2022

Rev. Proc. 2022-4 contains annual updates to procedures for requesting IRS determination letters, private letter rulings and other tax advice on employee plan matters. Key changes to last year’s revenue procedure include the following:

  • Electronic submission of Form 5300. IRS is transitioning this year to mandatory electronic submission of Form 5300, Application for Determination for Employee Benefit Plan.

    • Starting July 1, 2022, Form 5300, attachments and the user fee must be submitted electronically through pay.gov. IRS will return paper applications submitted after that date.

    • Applicants have the option to submit electronically starting June 1, 2022. In this case, all documentation and the user fee must be submitted through pay.gov.

    • Pay.gov is available now for the Form 5300 user fee, even for applications submitted on paper. But confirmation of payment should be attached to the paper Form 8717, User Fee for Employee Plan Determination Letter Request.

Electronic submission of the Form 5310, Application for Determination for Terminating Plan, became mandatory last year.

  • No determination letters for PEPs yet. IRS will not make a determination on whether a pooled employer plan (PEP) satisfies the qualification requirements for PEPs before the agency issues final regulations on those requirements. PEP providers that submitted a determination letter application for the initial qualification of their plan prior to Jan. 3, 2022, can withdraw the application, receive a refund of the user fee, and then resubmit the application once IRS has issued final regulations.

  • Amendments to preapproved plans to satisfy Sections 415 and 416. Adopters of preapproved plans — whether standardized or nonstandardized — must use Form 5307, Application for Determination for Adopters of Modified Volume Submitter Plans, (and not Form 5300) to request a determination on plan amendments intended to satisfy Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Sections 415 and 416 because the employer maintains multiple plans.

  • Copies of trust documents no longer required. Applicants requesting determination letters no longer need to attach copies of their plan’s trust document to the Form 5300 or 5307.

  • Dual-qualified plan restatements. Sponsors of plans that are dual-qualified under the US and Puerto Rico tax codes must submit a restated plan document showing compliance with the IRC and applicable Required Amendments List or Cumulative List.

  • User fees. Starting July 1, 2022, the following user fees will increase:

    • The fee for requesting an opinion letter on minor modifications to a mass submitter’s basic plan document will be $1,000 (up from $700).

    • The fee for requesting an automatic five-year extension of a multiemployer plan’s amortization period will be $7,500 (up from $6,500).

    • The fee for letter rulings not specifically mentioned in the revenue procedure’s schedule of user fees will be $12,500 (up from $10,000).

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Brian J. Kearney
by Brian J. Kearney

Principal, Mercer’s Law & Policy Group

Margaret Berger
by Margaret Berger

Partner, Mercer’s Law & Policy Group

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