Qualified plans must be amended for GUST by the end of the GUST remedial amendment period. For an individually designed plan, the GUST remedial amendment period generally ends on the last day of the plan's 2001 plan year. For an M&P or VS plan, the GUST remedial amendment period may be determined under section 19 of Revenue Procedure 2000-20, as modified by Notice 2001-42.
In general, Rev. Proc. 2000-20, as modified, provides that an employer who adopts, or certifies its intent to adopt, a timely-submitted M&P plan or VS specimen plan by the end of the 2001 plan year (December 31, 2001, for calendar-year plans) will have until the later of December 31, 2002, or 12 months after the date of the last opinion or advisory letter issued to the M&P plan sponsor or VS practitioner to adopt the GUST amended plan. Also see Announcement 2001-12 for more information.
The Service has been asked to make available a list of M&P and VS plans to assist employers in determining the expiration of their GUST remedial amendment period. This list contains the M&P and VS plans that were submitted to the Service for GUST opinion or advisory letters by December 31, 2000, the deadline for filing under Revenue Procedure 2000-20.
The list includes the name of the M&P or VS sponsor, the file folder number or VS serial number assigned to each plan, and the plan type of each plan submitted. The list also includes the date of the GUST opinion or advisory letter for those M&P and VS plans that have been approved to date and the date of withdrawal for those applications that have been withdrawn.
This list will be updated periodically.
In addition, qualified plans must be restated for EGTRRA and other items identified on the Cumulative List. The Service has provided an EGTRRA List of Master and Prototype (M&P) and Volume Submitter (VS) Plans web page to assist employers in determining the expiration of their EGTRRA remedial amendment period.
How to Use the List
Step 1 - If the employer has adopted or certified its intent to adopt an M&P or VS plan, verify that the name of the M&P plan sponsor or VS practitioner appears on the list. If the name does not appear on the list, or if the employer has neither adopted nor certified its intent to adopt an M&P or VS plan, the employer must amend its plan for GUST by the end of the 2001 plan year or take other action by then to extend the GUST remedial amendment period for its plan under section 19 of Rev. Proc. 2000-20.
Step 2 - Determine if the M&P or VS plan that the employer has adopted or certified its intent to adopt has received a GUST opinion or advisory letter. If so, the employer should adopt the GUST-approved plan or take other action to comply with GUST, as provided in section 19 of Rev. Proc. 2000-20, within the time period described in Step 4 below. If the list does not indicate that a letter has been issued or the application withdrawn, then the application for a GUST opinion or advisory letter is still pending.
Step 3 - Determine the date of the last opinion or advisory letter issued to the sponsor/practitioner, or the date of withdrawal of an application, if later. The 12-month period described in section 19 of Rev. Proc. 2000-20 does not begin to run until the last GUST opinion or advisory letter is issued to the sponsor/practitioner. If an opinion or advisory letter has not yet been issued on one or more applications of the sponsor/practitioner, and the application(s) has not been withdrawn, check this list again periodically to determine when the last letter is issued.
Step 4 - The date by which the employer must adopt the GUST-approved M&P or VS plan, or take other permitted action to comply with GUST, is the later of December 31, 2002 or the end of the 12th month beginning after the date determined in Step 3.
The term "GUST" refers to the following:
- the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, Pub. L. 103-465;
- the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
of 1994, Pub. L. 103-353;
- the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-188;
- the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, Pub. L. 105-34;
- the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998,
Pub. L. 105-206; and
- the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000, Pub. L. 106-554.
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