Form 8717 user fee

[John Feldt ERPA CPC QPA]

A recent 5310 filing for a DB plan (plan adopted effective October 1, 2003) came back with a request for a check for $1,000. The plan is and always has been on a prototype document, is a very small plan, and has at least 1 NHCE.

The agent said: "The plan does not qualify for the $0 user fee under Section 620 of EGTRRA due to the fact that it is an initial plan that was not submitted by 2/02/10, the end of the EGTRRA remedial amendment period.."

We will have them refer to the Form 8717 instructions. I assume these instructions are still current and correct when they say "the application may be eligible for elimination of the user fee provided the plan was first in existence after January 2, 1996." Is this still true, or is the agent correct?