The five-year remedial amendment cycles for individually designed plans under Revenue Procedure 2016–37 were eliminated (for more information on Revenue Procedure 2016-37, see Practice Note, Revised IRS Determination Letter Program for Qualified Plans and Legal Update, IRS Provides Determination Letter Guidance in Revenue Procedure 2016-37). The procedures described in Sections 6 and 7 of Revenue Procedure 2016–6 continue to apply to employers maintaining individually designed plans that are still allowed to request a determination letter under the third Cycle A.

Employers may request determination letters on whether covered employees are leased employees only to the extent the employer is otherwise eligible to apply for a determination letter under Revenue Procedure 2016–37.

Employers maintaining individually designed plans may no longer request determination letters on whether a plan sponsor is part of an affiliated service group (for more information on the affiliated service group rules, see Practice Note, Controlled Group and Affiliated Service Group Rules).

Determination letters on partial terminations issued to individually designed plans will be limited in scope as to whether a partial termination has occurred, unless the employer is otherwise eligible to apply for a determination letter under Revenue Procedure 2016–37 (for more information on partial terminations, see Practice Note, Qualified Retirement Plans in Mergers and Acquisitions: Partial Termination).

Plans no longer have the alternative of requesting a determination letter in conjunction with a minimum funding waiver request. Requests for minimum funding waivers may still be submitted to the IRS Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Tax Exempt and Government Entities) as requests for private letter rulings (see Practice Note, Minimum Funding Standards for Defined Benefit Plans).

Revenue rulings, information letters, and waivers of the minimum funding standard are no longer issued by IRS Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements but by the IRS Office of Associate Chief Counsel.

The procedures for requesting relief under Internal Revenue Code Section 7805(b) have been modified to reflect a delegation of authority within the IRS.

The procedures for user fees have been modified to reflect:

A favorable determination letter from the IRS does not constitute a determination of the federal tax consequences of a lump sum risk-transferring program described in Notice 2015–49 (for more information on Notice 2015-49, see Legal Update, IRS Notice 2015-49 Prohibits Plans from Offering Lump Sum Risk Transferring Programs for Participants in Pay Status).