The Internal Revenue Service has developed a benefit plan review schedule that could affect the calendars of insurers, benefit plan advisors and employers for decades to come.[@@]
The IRS has published the schedule in Revenue Procedure 2005-66, which deals with the system it will use to issue the rulings and "determination letters" that help plan sponsors and administrators get IRS approval for plan changes.
Under the new system, the IRS will review changes proposed for individually designed plans every 5 years and plans for "pre-approved plans," which are officially called "volume submitter plans" and "master and prototype plans" every 6 years, according to the text of the revenue procedure.
The IRS will use employers' employer identification numbers, or EINs, to determine when they should submit routine requests for rulings and determination letters.
