SERVICE EXTENDS DEADLINES FOR SUBMITTING MASTER OR PROTOTYPE AND REGIONAL PROTOTYPE PLANS TO THE SERVICE.

Announcement 89-118

The Internal Revenue Service is extending the deadlines in Rev. Proc. 89-9, 1989-6 I.R.B. 14, and Rev. Proc. 89-13, 1989-7 I.R.B. 25, for submitting master or prototype (M&P) and regional prototype plans to the Service.

Rev. Proc. 89-9, which sets forth the Service's procedures for issuing opinion letters relating to M&P pension, profit-sharing and annuity plans that have been amended to comply with the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA '86), requires that the sponsoring organization of an approved M&P plan must submit a replacement plan to the Service by October 31, 1989 in order to be able to provide its adopting employers continued or interim reliance.

Rev. Proc. 89-9 and Rev. Proc. 89-13, which contains the Service's procedures for issuing notification letters with respect to regional prototype plans, provide a special extended reliance procedure which allows an employer to continue to rely on a favorable determination, opinion, or notification letter issued under these procedures until the last day of the last plan year commencing before January 1, 1995 if the plan is submitted to the Service by October 31, 1989. Additionally, an employer who adopts a regional prototype plan submitted to the Service on or before October 31, 1989, may be entitled, under Rev. Proc. 89-13, to extend its remedial amendment period for amending its plan to comply with TRA '86.

The Service is extending each of the above deadlines from October 31, 1989 to March 31, 1990 by modifying Rev. Proc. 89-9 and Rev. Proc. 89-13 to substitute the date "March 31, 1990" for the date "October 31, 1989" each place the latter date appears therein. These modifications will appear in Rev. Proc. 89-9 and Rev. Proc. 89-13 when they are reprinted in the Cumulative Bulletin.