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OMB Control No: 1545-1674	ICR Reference No: 201704-1545-028
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 201510-1545-013
Agency/Subagency: TREAS/IRS	Agency Tracking No: May 30,2017 Desired Approval
Title: Rev Proc 2017-XX modifying Revenue Procedure 2015-36 Master and Prototype and Volume Submitter Plans (previously Rev. Proc. 2011-49 & 2005-16)
Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Emergency	Approval Requested By: 11/30/2017
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved without change	Conclusion Date: 06/16/2017
Retrieve Notice of Action (NOA)	Date Received in OIRA: 05/01/2017
Terms of Clearance:

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	12/31/2017	6 Months From Approved	02/28/2019
Responses	321,500	0	340,765
Time Burden (Hours)	1,108,225	0	988,290
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Abstract: This revenue procedure modifies Rev. Proc. 2015-36 and sets forth the procedures for the merger of the master and prototype (M&P) program with the volume submitter (VS) plan. This revenue procedure requires employers adopting pre-approved plans to complete and sign new signature pages or new adoption agreements, as applicable, in order to restate their plans for recent changes in the law. This revenue procedure require sponsors of pre-approved plans to furnish copies of their plans to the Service’s Employee Plans Determinations office, maintain records of employers that have adopted their plans, prepare and communicate any necessary interim amendments to adopting employers, make reasonable and diligent efforts to ensure that employers restate their plans when necessary, and notify employers if the sponsor concludes that employers’ plans are no longer qualified. provides that mass submitters must keep records of their user fees. This allows mass submitters to certify to the number of other practitioners seeking approval of the identical pre-approved plan. In addition mass submitters must prepare and communicate any necessary interim amendments to the word for word identical adopters.

Emergency Justfication: Emergency justification -1545-1674 Rev. Proc. 2017-xx is guidance that is an essential part of an administrative priority to eliminate burdens on plan sponsors, employers and the Service with respect to TE/GE’s Employee Plans pre-approved plan programs. Due to a lack of resources, the IRS made significant changes to the individually designed program, generally effective January 1, 2017, that reduced the instances under which employers maintaining individually designed plans could submit a determination letter request. As a result of this contraction, the TE/GE Employee Plans Division is continuing to encourage and facilitate the use of pre-approved plans in order to enable more employers to obtain reliance that their plans are qualified. A critical part of this effort includes issuing Rev. Proc. 2017-xx, which expands current pre-approved plan program availability to include additional types of employers (governmental employers and non-electing churches) and by combining the current Master & Prototype (M&P) and Volume Submitter (VS) pre-approved programs into a combined, streamlined program with modified rules and procedures which provide greater flexibility in plan design. This combined pre-approved program generally incorporates characteristics that were previously in either or both of the M&P or the VS programs. Thus, the vast majority of sponsoring organizations that offered pre-approved M&P or VS plans, or both, will generally be familiar with the characteristics and requirements of the combined program. However, the current submission under the program begins August 1, 2017. Sponsors of these plans will need several months of lead time after release of the revenue procedure to prepare their submissions. If clearance of the procedure is delayed, in addition to delaying this high profile program covering over 300,000 employer sponsored retirement plans, separate guidance would need to be issued as soon as possible that would extend the submission deadline. We ask that OMB approve the collection of information on an expedited basis. The Employee Plans Division of the IRS and the Chief Counsel’s Office of the IRS have consulted with stakeholders in drafting the guidance in order to take all practicable steps to minimize the burden of the collection of information.

Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 26 USC 403(b) Name of Law: Tax Sheltered Annuity Plans
US Code: 26 USC 401 Name of Law: Qualified pension, profit-sharing, and stock bonus plans.

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

Federal Register Notices & Comments
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate
Annual Number of Responses	321,500	340,765	-19,265
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	1,108,225	988,290	119,935
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Increase Due to:

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: The merger of the master and prototype (M&P) program with the volume submitter (VS) program results in a reduction in the total number of pre-approved providers required to submit responses pursuant to this revenue procedure, and the modifications to the pre-approved program make it more accessible to new types of plans, increasing the number of total respondents. In addition, the merger will require providers to modify the plans they utilize to accommodate the rules of the modified program which will lead to a decrease in the total recordkeeping burden under this revenue procedure. Change in Burden Hours from 2015-36: Signature for Reinstatement: -35,910 Furnish Copies: 156,600 Records: -65 Certificate of Intent: -15,225 (removed) The burden also changed in the forms. The following shows the change in burden from 1545-0169: 4461:-7,330 4461-A: -12,475 4461-B: -30,160

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $3,187

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Is the Supporting Statement intended to be a Privacy Impact Assessment required by the E-Government Act of 2002? No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? Uncollected

Agency Contact: Kathleen Hermann 2022839635

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