ELIMINATION OF USER FEE FOR REQUESTS TO IRS REGARDING PENSION PLANS.

SEC. 620. ELIMINATION OF USER FEE FOR REQUESTS TO IRS REGARDING PENSION PLANS. (a) Elimination of Certain User Fees.—The Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s delegate shall not require payment of user fees under the program established under section 10511 of the Revenue Act of 1987 for requests to the Internal Revenue Service for determination letters with respect to the qualified status of a pension benefit plan maintained solely by one or more eligible employers or any trust which is part of the plan. The preceding sentence shall not apply to any request— (1) made after the later of— (A) the fifth plan year the pension benefit plan is in existence; or (B) the end of any remedial amendment period with respect to the plan beginning within the first 5 plan years; or (2) made by the sponsor of any prototype or similar plan which the sponsor intends to market to participating employers.115 STAT. 111 (b) Pension Benefit Plan.—For purposes of this section, the term “pension benefit plan” means a pension, profit-sharing, stock bonus, annuity, or employee stock ownership plan. (c) Eligible Employer.—For purposes of this section, the term “eligible employer” means an eligible employer (as defined in section 408(p)(2)(C)(i)(I) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) which has at least one employee who is not a highly compensated employee (as defined in section 414(q)) and is participating in the plan. The determination of whether an employer is an eligible employer under this section shall be made as of the date of the request described in subsection (a). (d) Determination of Average Fees Charged.—For purposes of any determination of average fees charged, any request to which subsection (a) applies shall not be taken into account. (e) Effective Date.—The provisions of this section shall apply with respect to requests made after December 31, 2001.