On July 21, 2015, the IRS announced (Announcement 2015-19) that it will eliminate the five-year filing cycle program for qualified retirement plan determination letters beginning on Jan. 1, 2017. Following that date, sponsors of individually-designed retirement plans will only be permitted to submit applications for determination letters for the initial qualification or termination of a plan, and in certain other circumstances that will be determined by the Treasury Department and IRS and identified in periodic published guidance.

Under the current staggered five-year filing cycle program, each plan was assigned a filing cycle (cycles A through E) during which a determination of the plan’s qualified status could be requested. By January 31, 2016, all plans will have gone through two cycles (i.e., submission periods) since the establishment of the program. Because of the timing of the change, the IRS will continue accepting applications only for Cycle A plans through Jan. 31, 2017, the end of that cycle's third submission period.

Under the filing cycle program, the deadline for amending a plan for statutory and regulatory changes generally extended to the end of that plan’s cycle (subject to a requirement that a plan adopt a “good-faith” amendment prior to that date). With elimination of cycle filing, these amendments must be adopted within the “remedial amendment period” as defined in Treasury Regulation 1.401(b)-1. In general, the remedial amendment period ends at the later of (1) the due date (including extensions) for filing the income tax return for the adopting employer’s taxable year that includes the date on which the remedial amendment period begins, or (2) the last day of the plan year that includes the date the remedial amendment period begins.

The IRS is planning on issuing further guidance on how the elimination of the five-year filing cycles affects amendment deadlines. Comments on this issue are due to the IRS by October 1, 2015.