Form 4461-B Application for Approval of Master or Prototype Plan, Ma

4461-B

Application for Approval of Master or
Prototype or Volume Submitter Plans

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

Mass Submitter Adopting Sponsor or Practitioner

Form
(Rev. June 2007)

OMB No. 1545-0169

This Form Is Open to Public Inspection

For IRS Use Only

File This Form With the Internal Revenue Service
Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless otherwise noted.
Complete every applicable item on this form.
1

Enter amount of user fee submitted
$
2a Name of applicant

2b Employer identification number
of applicant

Address (number, street, room or suite no.) (If a P.O. box, see the instructions)
2c Applicant’s telephone no.
City

State

ZIP code
(
)
3b Telephone number
(
)

3a Name of person to be contacted
3c If a power of attorney is attached, check the box

©

4a Basic plan document number
5

6
7

This plan is:

Word-for-word identical to an M&P plan or volume submitter plan
A minor modification to an M&P plan only (see instructions to line 5 for
specific requirements)
Name of mass submitter
Enter the following information for the mass submitter’s plan on which this plan is based (if this application is submitted
simultaneously with the mass submitter’s application, see instructions).
File folder number
Letter serial number
Date of letter

8

9

b Adoption agreement number

Type of plan:
Money purchase
Profit-sharing

/

/

Target benefit
Defined benefit (with permitted disparity)

Profit-sharing/401(k)
Defined benefit (without permitted disparity)

Filing status of plan (see General Instructions)
Standardized plan
Nonstandardized plan
Volume Submitter

For Master or Prototype: Under penalties of perjury, I declare that the sponsor has adopted a master or prototype plan that is word-for-word identical to, or a minor
modification of the mass submitter plan indicated in items 6 and 7 above.

For Volume Submitter: Under penalties of perjury, I declare that the practitioner has adopted a volume submitter plan that is word-for-word identical to the mass submitter
plan indicated in items 6 and 7 above.

(Sponsor or Practitioner)
Signature ©

Title

©

Date

©

(Mass Submitter)
Signature ©

Title

©

Date

©

For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see page 3.

Cat. No. 10235P

Form

4461-B

(Rev. 6-2007)

Form 4461-B (Rev. 6-2007)

General Instructions
Purpose of Form
Use Form 4461-B to apply for approval
of a plan submitted by a mass submitter
on behalf of an adopting sponsor or
practitioner, which is based on a plan
submitted by the mass submitter.

Completing Form 4461-B
Be sure to submit a complete and
accurate application. Complete every
applicable line on the application. If your
application is not complete, we will
return it without processing it. The
application must be typed.
User fee. All applications must be
accompanied by the appropriate user
fee from the schedule set forth in Rev.
Proc. 2006-8, 2006-1 I.R.B. 245 (or the
most recent version, updated annually);
and Form 8717, User Fee for Employee
Plan Determination Letter Request.
Applications submitted without the
proper user fee will not be processed
and will be returned to the applicant.
Do not submit a copy of the plan,
except as provided under the
instructions to Line 5 later.

Who May File
Only mass submitters may file this form.

Where To File
Send applications for opinion and
advisory letters to:
Internal Revenue Service
P.O. Box 2508, Room 5106
Cincinnati, OH 45201
Add “Attn: M&P Coordinator” in the case
of an application for an opinion letter,
and “Attn: VS Coordinator” in the case
of an application for an advisory letter.
For both types of applications, a
request shipped by Express Mail or
delivery service should be sent to the
attention of the VS Coordinator or the
M&P Coordinator (whichever is
applicable) to:
Internal Revenue Service
550 Main Street, Room 5106
P.O. Box 2508
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Signature. The application must be
signed by the mass submitter and
sponsor or practitioner. If a power of
attorney authorizes the mass submitter
to sign the form on behalf of the
sponsor or practitioner, attach the power
of attorney to Form 4461-B.
Disclosure requested by taxpayer. A
taxpayer may request the Service to
disclose and discuss the return or return
information with any person or persons
whom the taxpayer designates in a
written request. If you want to designate

Page

a person(s) to assist in an application for
approval, you must provide the IRS
office of jurisdiction with a written
request that contains:
● The taxpayer’s name, address,
employer identification number, and plan
number(s).
● The name, address, social security
number, and telephone number(s) of the
person or persons whom you are
authorizing to receive return information.
● A paragraph that clearly describes the
return or return information that you
authorize the IRS to disclose.
● An authorized signature (see
Signature above).
As an alternative to providing the
above statement, Form 2848, Power of
Attorney and Declaration of
Representative, may be submitted.

Definitions
Mass submitter. As set forth in Rev.
Proc. 2005-16, 2005-10 I.R.B. 674, any
entity that submits applications on
behalf of at least 30 unaffiliated
sponsors or practitioners each of which
is sponsoring, on a word-for-word
identical basis, the same basic plan
document and one or more of the
adoption agreements associated with
that basic plan document. For a mass
submitter of an M&P, once the mass
submitter has submitted applications on
behalf of 30 unaffiliated sponsors with
respect to any basic plan document, it
will be treated as a mass submitter with
respect to all the other basic plan
documents and associated adoption
agreements for which it requests opinion
letters, regardless of the number of
identical adopters of such other plans.
A mass submitter of a VS will be
treated as such with respect to each
specimen plan for which the 30
unaffiliated practitioner requirement is
met.
Notwithstanding the above, any entity
that received a favorable TRA ’86
opinion letter for a plan as an M&P mass
submitter under Rev. Proc. 89-9, 1989-1
C.B. 780, will continue to be treated as a
mass submitter if it submits applications
on behalf of at least 10 sponsors
(regardless of affiliation) each of which is
sponsoring, on a word-for-word identical
basis, the same basic plan document
and one or more of the adoption
agreements associated with that basic
plan document. Once the mass
submitter has submitted applications on
behalf of 10 sponsors with respect to
any basic plan document, it will be
treated as a mass submitter with respect
to all the other basic plan documents
and associated adoption agreements for
which it requests opinion letters,
regardless of the number of identical
adopters of such other plans.

2

Sponsor. Any person that has an
established place of business in the
United States where it is accessible
during every business day and
represents to the Service that it has at
least 30 employer-clients each of which
is reasonably expected to adopt the
sponsor’s basic plan document and one
or more of the adoption agreements
associated with that basic plan
document. Once a person represents to
the Service that at least 30 employers
are reasonably expected to adopt its
basic plan document, it will be treated
as a sponsor with respect to all the
basic plan documents and associated
adoption agreements for which it
requests opinion letters, regardless of
the number of employers that are
expected to adopt such other plans.
Notwithstanding the above, any
person that has an established place of
business in the United States where it is
accessible during every business day
and is a word-for-word identical adopter
or minor modifier adopter of an M&P
plan of a mass submitter will be treated
as a sponsor with respect to such plan,
regardless of the number of employers
that are expected to adopt such plan.
Practitioner. Any person that has an
established place of business in the
United States where it is accessible
during every business day and
represents to the Service that it has at
least 30 employer-clients each of which
is reasonably expected to adopt a plan
that is substantially similar to the VS
practitioner’s specimen plan.
The required number of
employer-clients is reduced to 10 for a
money purchase pension specimen plan
in the case of a VS practitioner that has
specimen plans for two or more
separate categories of plans (profit
sharing, money purchase, target benefit,
defined benefit), one of which is a
money purchase plan, and the 30
employer-clients requirement has been
satisfied with respect to the other
specimen plan.
A VS practitioner may submit any
number of specimen plans for advisory
letters provided that the 30
employer-clients requirement (or 10, if
applicable) is separately satisfied with
respect to each specimen plan.
Notwithstanding the above, any person
that has an established place of
business in the United States where it is
accessible during every business day
may sponsor a specimen plan as a
word-for-word identical adopter of a
specimen plan of a VS mass submitter,
regardless of the number of employers
that are expected to adopt the plan.

Form 4461-B (Rev. 6-2007)

Page

A VS practitioner is also a practitioner
that has either (a) 30 or more adopting
employers in each of 30 or more states
or (b) 3000 or more adopting employers.
The determination as to whether there
are 3000 or more adopting employers or
30 or more adopting employers in each
of 30 or more states may be made on
any one date during the 12 month
period ending on April 18, 2005. For this
purpose, an adopting employer is any
employer that has adopted any plan of
the practitioner that has a GUST
advisory letter.

Line 4b. Enter the three-digit number
you have assigned to the adoption
agreement, if applicable, for which this
application is submitted. In the case of
an M&P submission, each different
adoption agreement designed to
accompany a single basic plan
document should be given a different
three-digit number beginning with “001.”
Adoption agreements submitted with the
second or any subsequent basic plan
documents (that are not word-for-word
identical to a previously submitted basic
plan document) should be similarly
numbered beginning with “001.”

Specific Instructions

Line 5. In the case of an M&P sponsor
adopting a word-for-word identical plan
(including a flexible plan) to a plan of the
M&P mass submitter, or a VS
practitioner adopting a word-for-word
identical plan of a VS mass submitter, a
copy of the plan does not have to be
submitted. With respect to the sponsor
of an M&P plan of a mass submitter, if
the plan is a minor modification, the
M&P mass submitter should submit
Form 4461-B, typed as a “placeholder.”
When the lead plan is approved, submit
a copy of the mass submitter plan with
the minor modifications underlined in
red, or otherwise highlighted, as well as
a statement indicating the location and
effect of each change.

Line 2a. Enter the name and address of
the plan sponsor or practitioner. If the
Post Office does not deliver mail to the
street address and the sponsor has a
P.O. box number, show the box number
instead of the street address.
Line 3a. The person to contact must be
an employee or an authorized
representative of the mass submitter. If
the person to be contacted is other than
an employee of the applicant, please
enclose an authorized power of attorney.
See Disclosure requested by taxpayer.
Line 4a. Enter the two-digit basic plan
document number you have assigned to
the basic plan document that
accompanies (if applicable) the adoption
agreement for which you are requesting
approval. All basic plan documents from
one sponsor or practitioner that are the
same (word-for-word) should use the
same two-digit number on all
applications. The first basic plan
document submitted should be
numbered “01,” the second, “02,” etc.

Line 7. If this application is based on an
application submitted by a mass
submitter and simultaneously filed with
the mass submitter’s application or filed
before the information under line 7 is
available, enter in the brackets
designated for the file folder number the
plan document number and the plan
number of the mass submitter’s plan on
which this plan is based. Do not
complete the rest of line 7.

3

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We
ask for the information on this form to
carry out the Internal Revenue laws of
the United States. You are required to
give us this information. We need it to
determine whether you meet the legal
requirements for plan approval.
You are not required to provide the
information requested on a form that is
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act
unless the form displays a valid OMB
control number. Books or records
relating to a form or its instructions must
be retained as long as their content may
become material in the administration of
any Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax
return and return information are
confidential, as required by Code section
6103.
The time needed to complete and file
this form will vary depending on
individual circumstances. The estimated
average time is:
Recordkeeping
5 hr., 58 min.
Learning about the
law or the form
52 min.
Preparing the form
1 hr., 56 min.
Copying, assembling, and
sending the form to the IRS
16 min.
If you have comments concerning the
accuracy of these time estimates or
suggestions for making this form
simpler, we would be happy to hear
from you. You can write to the Internal
Revenue Service, Tax Products
Coordinating Committee,
SE:W:CAR:MP:T:T:SP, 1111 Constitution
Ave. NW, IR-6406, Washington, DC
20224. Do not send this form to this
office. Instead, see Where To File on
page 2.