Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Form 8717 and Form 8717-A

AGENCY:

Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning Form 8717, User Fee for Employee Plan Determination Letter Request, and Form 8717-A, User Fee for Employee Plan Opinion or Advisory Letter Request.

DATES:

Written comments should be received on or before September 26, 2014 to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES:

Direct all written comments to R. Joseph Durbala, Internal Revenue Service, Room 6129, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20224.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or copies of the form and instructions should be directed to Gerald J. Shields, LL.M., Internal Revenue Service, Room 6231, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20224 or through the internet at Gerald.J.Shields@irs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Form 8717, User Fee for Employee Plan Determination Letter Request, and Form 8717-A, User Fee for Employee Plan Opinion or Advisory Letter Request.

OMB Number: 1545-1772.

Form Number: 8717 and 8717-A.

Abstract: The Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1990 requires payment of a “user fee” with each application for a determination letter. Form 8717 and Form 8717-A were created to provide filers the means to make payment and indicate the type of request.

Current Actions: There are changes being made to the forms at this time, because the user fees were updated by Rev. Proc. 2014-8, 2014-1 I.R.B. 242, and are effective for applications filed on or after February 1, 2014. Form 8717 has been renamed, User Fee for Employee Plan Determination Letter Request. Information previously on Form 8717 relating to opinion or advisory letter requests for Volume Submitter and Master or Prototype plans has been deleted. This information may now be found on new Form 8717-A, User Fee for Employee Plan Opinion or Advisory Letter Request.

Type of Review: Revision and extension of a currently approved collection.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organization, and not-for-profit institutions.

Estimated Number of Responses: 39,000.

Estimated Time per Response: 11 Hours, 24 minutes.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 445,770.

The following paragraph applies to all of the collections of information covered by this notice:

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless the collection of information displays a valid OMB control number. Books or records relating to a collection of information must be retained as long as their contents may become material in the administration of any internal revenue law. Generally, tax returns and tax return information are confidential, as required by 26 U.S.C. 6103.

Request for Comments: Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will become a matter of public record. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.