Generally, an individually designed plan is a retirement plan that was drafted to meet the specific needs of a single employer or multi-employer group and has not been pre-approved by the IRS.
When to apply
You may submit a determination letter application if your individually designed plan is:
- Seeking an initial favorable determination letter
- A terminating plan
- Seeking a ruling on a partial termination
- A plan that meets certain circumstances to be announced in IRS guidance (Rev. Proc. 2019-20)
- Plan mergers – may submit applications of certain merged plans on a continuing basis
How to apply - Procedures and forms
These procedures generally apply to Form 5300 series determination letter applications.
1. Amend your plan for applicable law changes. These resources can help:
2. Fill out and submit the appropriate forms and documents with your application package. Review Revenue Procedure 2023-3, revised annually, for details.
- Form 8717, User Fee for Employee Plan Determination, Opinion, and Advisory Letter Request, or, if you paid through Pay.gov, a copy of your payment confirmation
- Application form. One of the following forms, including its Procedural Requirements Checklist:
- Form 5300, Application for Determination for Employee Benefit Plan — Note: must be submitted electronically at Pay.gov.
- Form 5310, Application for Determination for Terminating Plan — Note: must be submitted electronically at Pay.gov.
- Form 5307, Application for Determination for Adopters of Modified Volume Submitter Plans
- Forms 5300 and 5310 must be filed electronically:
- Follow the instructions on Pay.gov to submit a Form 5300 and Form 5310 determination application electronically at Pay.gov.
- When submitting the Form 5300/5310 on Pay.gov, you’ll be prompted at the end of the process to pay the user fee electronically.
- When you complete the submission (including user fee) you'll receive an emailed (no mail) acknowledgement to confirm the submission.
- Pay.gov submissions will accept one additional PDF document of up to 15MB.
- Fax documents that exceed the 15MB limit to 844-255-4818, up to 150MB per fax. Include a fax coversheet that contains the
- Pay.gov Tracking ID from the emailed acknowledgement,
- Employer name, EIN, and the plan name listed on the submitted Form 5300.
- Contact IRS Customer Account Services at 877-829-5500 for additional help.
- If you determine you have errors in your Form 5310 submission after it was filed and accepted in Pay.gov, please call CAS at 877-829-5500 to discuss how to resolve the errors. Do not submit another Form 5300/5310 to correct errors.
- Power of attorney form. One of the following forms, if you have a representative:
- Plan document. A copy of your plan document and trust document. If the plan is terminating, the plan document should be updated for any changes in the law effective as of the date of termination.
For ongoing plans, the plan document should be updated for the applicable Required Amendments Lists.
- Amendments. Copies of amendments intended to comply with the Required Amendment List and discretionary amendments adopted or effective since the plan's prior submission period, plus other supporting documents.
- Prior letter or prior plan. If the plan has previously received a favorable determination letter from the IRS, include a copy of the letter.
If the plan has not previously received a favorable determination letter, submit prior plan documents, adoption agreements and amendments to show compliance for the Cumulative List applicable for the plan's prior submission period. For additional guidance, see Internal Revenue Manual 7.11.1.9, Determining the Scope/Verifying Plan Law.
- Follow these tips to avoid processing delays with your determination letter application.
3. Pay the appropriate user fee. If you meet certain criteria, you may be eligible for a user fee exemption. The user fee for Form 5300/5310 submissions must be paid electronically as part of the submission process.
For Form 5307 paper submissions, you can pay the user fee at Pay.gov. Include a copy of your payment confirmation email with your submission. If you pay by check, include the Form 8717 and your check payable to “United States Treasury” with your Form 5307 submission.
4. Mail your Form 5307 application to the appropriate address:
Where to mail your application
Internal Revenue Service
Attention: EP Determination Letters
P.O. Box 12192
TE/GE Stop MS 31A Team 105
Covington, KY 41012-0192
For express mail or a delivery service
Internal Revenue Service Attention: EP Determination Letters
7940 Kentucky Drive
TE/GE Stop MS 31A Team 105
Florence, KY 41042
Note: Forms 5300 and 5310 must be submitted electronically at Pay.gov. There is no paper option.
Determination letter review process
Related
- Revenue Procedure 2023-4 (complete procedures for requesting determinations letters)
- Determination, opinion and advisory letters
- Employee plans forms & publications
- FAQs regarding the determination letter process