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IRS Drafts Revised Form 5300

The IRS has issued a revised Form 5300, Application for Determination for Employee Benefit Plan. The revisions the IRS has made are intended to simplify the information plan sponsors must provide. 

The changes include revising the Form 5300 format and the information to be provided on it. Many of them reflect the changes affecting individually designed plans described in Announcement 2015-19 and Revenue Procedure 2016-37 including:

  • eliminating 5-year remedial amendment cycles; and 
  • generally limiting DL requests to initial plan qualification and qualification on plan termination, effective Jan. 1, 2017.
The IRS expects that the final version of Form 5300 will be available in December 2016.

The IRS invites comments on the draft Form 5300; they can be made by clicking here

The Form 5300 is used to request a favorable determination letter (DL) from the IRS on the qualified status of the following plans and the exempt status of any related trust:

  • individually designed defined contribution plans (for example, 401(k), profit sharing); and 
  • individually designed DB plans (for example, traditional defined benefit, cash balance).

In certain circumstances, plan sponsors may file an application for a determination letter for a pre-approved Master & Prototype or Volume Submitter plan on Form 5300.