The IRS has announced (Announcement 2005-36) that the GUST pre-approved (Master & Prototype and Volume Submitter) program plan for defined contribution plans will close on June 15, 2005. This is because the submission process for obtaining pre-approved EGTRRA defined contribution plans opened on February 16, 2005 (Rev. Proc. 2005-16). Prior to the closing of the GUST program on June 15th, the IRS will continue to issue GUST opinion letters or advisory letters to sponsoring organizations or volume submitter practitioners who want to obtain approval of new plans or transfer previously approved plans to new entities (e.g., when there has been an acquisition or merger resulting in a new taxpayer identification number). However, the IRS will not issue new opinion letters or advisory letters on amendments to plans that have already received GUST approval.

The closing of the program only affects the issuance of defined contribution letters to sponsoring organizations or volume submitter practitioners. It does not impact the issuance of determination letters for employers that adopt pre-approved plans.

Any sponsoring organization wishing to receive initial approval for a GUST prototype should contact our sales department. Any sponsoring organization wishing to obtain new opinion letters as a result of a change in the taxpayer identification number should contact our prototype support department.

Once the program officially closes on June 15th, a GUST prototype document purchased from SunGard Corbel (or any vendor) is technically an individually designed plan. However, the document would be covered by the EGTRRA Remedial Amendment Period, so that when an employer using the document updates its plan for EGTRRA, the employer will be entitled to retroactive reliance -- assuming the employer updates its plan "timely."

The IRS has not issued all of the details on the timeframes for updating plans. However, in general, in order to be entitled to the extended deadline that will apply to pre-approved plans, the sponsoring organization's EGTRRA submission must be made by January 31, 2006. By meeting that deadline, employers that sign a certification of intent to adopt that plan (the IRS has not issued this certification form yet) will be entitled to an extended deadline. When the EGTRRA pre-approved documents are approved, the employers would then need to update their plans (using any plan they want) within the time period that will be designated by the IRS.

IRS Announcement 2005-36 also sets a deadline of October 31, 2005 for the submission of EGTRRA "lead" defined contribution prototype and volume submitter plans by mass submitters. This only impacts SunGard Corbel (and other mass submitters). It does not impact the deadline by which submissions must be made on behalf of entities using these plans (the deadline for the submission of plans based on these plans is still January 31, 2006).