Rev. Proc. 75-37

Section 1. Purpose

The purpose of this Revenue Procedure is to modify the requirements of Rev. Proc. 75-31 with respect to the time within which interested parties must be notified if a request for a determination letter relating to the qualification of individually designed profit-sharing, stock bonus and money purchase pension plans under section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-406, 1974-3 C.B. 1) (the "Act"), was submitted on Form 5301 before July 7, 1975, the date of publication of Rev. Proc. 75-31 on page 551, this Bulletin. In this limited situation, this Revenue Procedure also extends the time periods during which interested parties may submit, or request the Department of Labor to submit, comments on the application for a determination letter to the office of the District Director of Internal Revenue in which such application was filed.

Sec. 2. Background and General Information

.01 Section 3001(a) of the Act requires that before an advance determination letter regarding the qualification of a pension, profit-sharing, or stock bonus plan, a trust which is part of such plan, or an annuity or bond purchase plan described in sections 401(a), 403(a) or 405(a) may be issued, the applicant must provide evidence that each employee who qualifies as an interested party under the regulations prescribed under section 7476 of the Code (relating to declaratory judgments) has been notified of the application for such determination. Section 3001(a) also requires an applicant to provide evidence to the Treasury Department that it has notified each of the interested parties of the filing of the request. Rev. Proc. 75-31 sets forth the time within which the notice referred to in .01 must be given, the contents of such notice, and the information which must be made available to interested parties, including information on the procedure to be followed by an interested party submitting, or requesting the Department of Labor to submit, comments on whether the plan meets the requirements for qualification.

.02 On May 6, 1975, the Internal Revenue Service issued Form 5301, which enables employers or plan administrators to seek advance determinations with respect to the qualification of certain defined contribution plans, including profit-sharing, stock bonus and money purchase plans, and the exempt status of related trusts.

Sec. 3 Notice and Reporting

.01 Each applicant who submitted Form 5301 before July 7, 1975, and did not comply with Rev. Proc. 75-31 shall cause notice of the filing of Form 5301 to be furnished to all interested parties, in accordance with Rev. Proc. 75-31, by September 22, 1975, and shall submit a supplementary letter to the District Director declaring that all interested parties were given the required notification. Such time limit shall apply whether the required notice is given by posting, in person or by mailing. If such supplementary letter is not received by October 2, 1975, the District Director shall return the Form 5301 to the applicant.

.02 For purposes of computing the time limits set forth in section 3.038 of Rev. Proc. 75-31, within which interested parties may submit, or request the Department of Labor to submit, comments on the application for determination to the District Director, the application shall be deemed received by the District Director 14 days after the date the supplementary letter referred to in .01 is postmarked.

Sec. 4. Effect on Other Documents

Rev. Proc. 75-31, is hereby modified only to the extent necessary to carry out the purpose of this Revenue Procedure.

Sec. 5. Effective Date

This Revenue Procedure is effective immediately.

¹ Also released as TIR-1398, dated August 13, 1975.