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User Fee for Application for Voluntary OMB No. 1545-1673
Form 8951
Correction Program (VCP)
For IRS Use Only
(Rev. September 2016) Under the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS)
▶
Department of the Treasury Information about Form 8951 and its instructions is at www.irs.gov/form8951. Amount paid
Internal Revenue Service ▶ Attach to Form 8950. $
1 Name of plan sponsor (employer if single-employer plan)

2 Plan sponsor’s employer identification number 3 Plan number 4 Plan name

5 Number of plan participants. See instructions to determine this number.

6 If you are submitting a check for an additional VCP user fee that has been requested by an IRS employee in Voluntary
Compliance, check this box and provide the check amount $ and the VCP case number .

7 For qualified retirement plans under sections 401(a) and 403(b) that do not qualify for a reduced or alternative user fee, as
described below on line 8. Enter the general user fee amount $ based on the number of plan participants.
Do not complete line 7 if you qualify for a reduced or alternative fee as described below on line 8.
Check box, if applicable and
8 Reduced and alternative user fees for VCP submissions
enter enclosed fee.

(a) Plan is a section 401(a) or 403(b) plan that qualifies for a reduced fee associated with
specific failures and under certain conditions. See instructions. Enter fee amount $

(b) VCP submission relates to a request for a minor modification of a previously issued
compliance statement. See instructions. Enter fee amount $

(d) Group submission from an eligible organization. See instructions. Enter fee amount $

(e) Terminating orphan plan. A terminating orphan plan may be granted a waiver of the fee
upon request. See instructions. No fee is due at this time.

No payment is due at the
(f) Plan is a section 457(b) plan. See instructions. time of filing.
For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see instructions. Cat. No. 37771W Form 8951 (Rev. 9-2016)

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Form 8951 (Rev. 9-2016) Page 2
Section references are to the Internal Attach a check to Form 8951 payable checks to the IRS for any fee matters
Revenue Code unless otherwise noted. to the “United States Treasury” for the full unless the applicant has received specific
amount of the fee. If you do not instructions from the IRS.
Future Developments include the full amount of the fee, your
For the latest information about submission may be returned or closed with User Fee for VCP Submissions
developments related to Form 8951 and no action. In addition, include a photocopy Line 7
its instructions, such as legislation of the check with your VCP submission.
enacted after they were published, go to If you have multiple plans (for example, a For qualified retirement plans established
www.irs.gov/form8951. profit-sharing and a money purchase under section 401(a) or 403(b), enter the
plan), submit a separate VCP amount of the applicable general user fee
What's New submission (including a separate Form you are including with your VCP
The IRS has classified fees associated with 8951) for each plan. Submit a separate submission. The general user fee amounts
the Voluntary Correction Program (VCP) as check, including a photocopy of the for these types of retirement plans are
user fees subject to section 7528. For check, for each VCP submission. based upon the number of plan
participants. Follow the Determining the
2016, user fees for VCP submissions are Your check may be converted to an Proper User Fee section in these
set forth in Rev. Proc. 2016-8, section 6.08. electronic fund transfer. An electronic fund instructions, later. Do not complete this
User fees for VCP submissions are transfer is the process by which the IRS item if you qualify for a reduced or
currently published as part of the annual electronically instructs your financial alternative VCP fee listed on line 8. For the
revenue procedure for the user fee institution to transfer funds from your current user fees, go to the applicable
program of the IRS as it pertains to account to the Treasury's account, annual revenue procedure on IRS.gov at
requests for letter rulings, determination rather than processing your check. By www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/voluntary-
letters, etc., on matters under the sending your completed, signed check correction-program-fees.
jurisdiction of the Commissioner, Tax to the IRS, you authorize the IRS to copy
Exempt and Government Entities Division. your check and to use the account Lines 8(a)–(f)
Beginning in 2017 and each year information from your check to make an Check the appropriate box and if
thereafter, the user fees for VCP electronic fund transfer from your account applicable, enter the user fee for VCP
submissions will be published as part of an for the same amount as the check. If the submissions involving reduced or
annual Employee Plans revenue procedure. electronic fund transfer cannot be alternative fees for certain section 401(a)
Taxpayers should refer to the revenue processed for technical reasons, you and section 403(b) plans, SEP, SARSEP, or
procedure in effect at the time they file their authorize the IRS to process the copy of SIMPLE IRA retirement plans; group
submission with the IRS to determine the your check. The electronic fund transfer submissions; terminating orphan plans;
VCP user fee. from your account will usually occur within 457(b) plans and minor modifications of a
The IRS no longer lists specific user fee 24 hours, which is faster than a check is previously issued compliance statement.
amounts on this form. Applicants will enter normally processed, so it is important For the current user fees, go to the
the applicable fee amount when that you have sufficient funds available in applicable annual revenue procedure on
completing the form. For the current user your checking account when you send the IRS.gov at www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/
fees, go to the applicable annual revenue IRS your check. Your financial institution voluntary-correction-program-fees.
procedure or IRS.gov at www.irs.gov/ will not return your cancelled check to you. • Line 8(a). For section 401(a) and section
retirement-plans/voluntary-correction- Information about correcting plan errors 403(b) plans, a reduced user fee may be
program-fees. and examples of how to determine the user available under limited circumstances.
fee is available at www.irs.gov/retirement- • Line 8(b). The VCP submission is limited
plans/correcting-plan-errors.
General Instructions to a request for a minor modification of a
previously issued compliance statement
Purpose of Form Specific Instructions and the request is mailed to the IRS before
the end of the correction period provided
Generally, a user fee is required with Lines 1–5 for in the compliance statement.
each VCP submission. Use Form 8951 to
submit the applicable fee for the VCP Lines 1 through 5 should correspond to the • Line 8(c). There is a special user fee for a
submission. information you entered for line 1a, 1i, 4b, SEP, SARSEP, or a SIMPLE IRA VCP
4a, and 4e, respectively, on the related submission.
Where To File Form 8950, Application for Voluntary • Line 8(d). If the VCP submission is a
Include Form 8951 and the applicable fee Correction Program (VCP) under the group submission from an eligible
with your VCP submission. Employee Plans Compliance Resolution organization for section 401(a) and section
System (EPCRS).
Send the documents to: 403(b) plans, the user fee is based on the
Internal Revenue Service Submission of Additional Fees number of plans affected by the failure
described in the VCP submission. An initial
P.O. Box 12192 Line 6 user fee payment must be included with
Covington, KY 41012-0192 the submission and must be attached to
The IRS's office of Employee Plans
VCP submissions shipped by express Voluntary Compliance may contact you Form 8951. An additional user fee may also
mail or a delivery service should be sent to: regarding additional fees that may be due apply. The IRS will request the additional
Internal Revenue Service for a previously submitted VCP case. If you fee, if applicable.
201 West Rivercenter Blvd. are instructed to submit an additional fee, • Line 8(e). The IRS has discretionary
Attn: Extracting Stop 312 file Form 8951 along with a check for the authority to waive the user fee in the case
Covington, KY 41011 additional user fee, a copy of the check of a terminating orphan plan, if requested
and an appropriate cover letter. Complete by an eligible party. A VCP applicant who is
Payment of User Fee lines 1–5. It is important to complete line 6 an eligible party can request that the user
Generally, you must include a user fee by checking the box and entering the fee be waived. Include a written
payment with any VCP submission mailed amount of the additional fee you are explanation that explains why a waiver
to the IRS. If your submission is for a submitting plus the nine-digit VCP case should be granted.
terminating orphan plan or a section 457(b) number that has been assigned to your
plan, no fee or payment is due at the time VCP submission. No other items on the
of filing. See the instructions for line 8(e) Form 8951 need to be completed. Once a
and line 8(f) for additional information. VCP submission has been mailed to the
IRS, an applicant should not mail any

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Form 8951 (Rev. 9-2016) Page 3
• Line 8(f). Do not include any payment at Multiemployer or multiple employer (a) Egregious qualification failures;
this time if the plan is a section 457(b) plan. plans: (b) SEP, SARSEP, or SIMPLE IRA plans
If the IRS chooses to process the If a submission relates to a multiemployer that choose to allow excess amounts to
submission, it will collect a mutually or multiple employer plan, the general user remain within the affected IRAs;
acceptable sanction payment when the fee will normally be determined in (c) Situations where the plan sponsor
applicant signs a special closing accordance with the instructions in Step 1 has requested that the IRS waive the
agreement. and in the first paragraph of this Step 2. additional 10% tax imposed by section
Determining the Proper User Fee However, if all of the described failures in 72(t) on certain plan distributions.
the submission apply to fewer than all of
Step 1: the employers under the plan, the plan Go to the correcting plan errors web
On line 5, enter the total number of plan administrator may choose to have the page on IRS.gov to find additional
participants at the end of the plan year general user fee computed separately for information. If applicable, the IRS will
recorded on line 6(f) of the retirement each affected employer based on the discuss the matter with the plan sponsor
plan’s most recently filed Form 5500 return. participants attributable to that employer and solicit the additional payment during
Filers of Form 5500-SF or EZ will use the rather than the total participants of the the review of the VCP submission.
equivalent line item specified on their entire plan. This may apply, for example,
forms. For applicants that are exempt from when the plan administrator believes each Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We
filing a Form 5500 series return, enter the failure is attributable in whole or in part to ask for the information on this form to carry
number of plan participants determined as data, information, actions, or inactions that out the Internal Revenue laws of the United
of the last day of the most recently ended are within the control of the employers States. If you want to have your VCP
plan year. However, if this information is rather than the multiemployer or multiple submission approved by the IRS, you are
not available at the time the VCP employer plan (such as attribution in whole required to give us the information. We
submission is being mailed to the IRS, it is or in part to the failure of an employer to need it to determine whether your
acceptable to use the most recently ended provide the plan administrator with full and correction proposals meet the legal
prior plan year for which information on the complete information). requirements applicable to qualified
retirement plans.
number of plan participants is available. If you are using this special methodology
The exception does not apply if the VCP to determine the general user fee, attach a You are not required to provide the
submission is mailed to the IRS more than written explanation that details how the information requested on a form that is
seven months after the close of the most user fee was determined. When completing subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act
recently ended plan year preceding the Form 8951, the plan administrator would unless the form displays a valid OMB
date of the VCP submission. Plans that complete line 5 in the normal manner by control number. Books or records relating
have terminated and filed a final Form using the total participant count reported to a form or its instructions must be
5500 series return should enter the number on the most recently filed Form 5500 series retained as long as their contents
of participants on the return filed for the return for the entire plan. may become material in the administration
year prior to the year all assets were of any Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax
distributed. Your entry should correspond Step 3: returns and return information are
to the information on Form 8950, line 4e. If a VCP submission consists solely of confidential, as required by section 6103.
multiple failures that qualify for reduced The estimated average time is:
Step 2: user fees, then the user fee amount will be Recordkeeping . . . . 3 hr., 21 min.
Single employer plans: the lesser of: the sum of the reduced user
For those VCP submissions that pertain to fee amounts or the general user fee Learning about the
a qualified retirement plan under section amount. If the total of the applicable law or the form . . . . 2 hr., 39 min.
401(a) or 403(b) that do not qualify for any reduced user fee amounts is less than the Preparing the form . . . 3 hr., 45 min.
reduced user fees, the general user fee is general user fee amount for qualified Copying, assembling, and
based on the number of plan participants. retirement plans under sections 401(a) and sending the form to the IRS 0 hr., 16 min.
403(b), include a worksheet showing how
you determined the user fee for your If you have comments concerning the
submission. accuracy of this time estimate or
suggestions for making this form
Note: Additional payments to the IRS may simpler, we would be happy to hear from
be due under certain situations that involve: you. You can send your comments to:
Internal Revenue Service
Tax Forms and Publications Division
1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526
Washington, DC 20224
Do not send this form to this address.
Instead, see Where To File.

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