Form 8950--Application for Voluntary Correction Program (VCP)

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Instructions for Form 8950
(Rev. August 2012)

8/8/12
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

Application for Voluntary Correction Program (VCP)
Submission under the Employee Plans Compliance
Resolution System (EPCRS)
Section references are to the Internal
Revenue Code (IRC) unless otherwise
noted.

Confidentiality and
Disclosure

Form 8950 and the accompanying
Voluntary Correction Program (VCP)
submission are not open to public
inspection or disclosure.
The use of VCP relates directly to the
enforcement of the IRC qualification
requirements, the information received or
generated by the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) under VCP is subject to the
confidentiality requirements of section
6103 and is not a written determination
within the meaning of section 6110. See
Revenue Procedure (Rev. Proc.)
20XX-XX, section 6.12.

Disclosure Request by
Taxpayer

The Tax Reform Act of 1976 permits a
taxpayer to request the IRS to disclose the
taxpayer’s return and/or return information
with any person(s) the taxpayer
designates in a written request. Use Form
2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration
of Representative, for this purpose.
Alternatively, if you wish an individual to
simply receive copies of confidential
correspondence from the IRS in regard to
the VCP submission you may use Form
8821, Tax Information Authorization, for
this purpose. However, an individual listed
on Form 8821 cannot represent a
taxpayer if questions or issues arise
during the processing of a VCP
submission.

Fee for Employee Plans Voluntary
Correction Program Submission, and all of
the other required items stated in Rev.
Proc. 20XX-XX, section 11.

Types of Retirement Plans
Eligible for VCP

VCP is open to certain tax deferred
retirement plans established under
sections 401(a), 403(a), 403(b), 408(k), or
408(p). The IRS may also consider
submissions that involve section 457(b)
plans. Generally, 457(b) submissions are
limited to eligible governmental plans
sponsored by a governmental entity
defined in section 457(e), (see Rev. Proc.
20XX-XX, section 4.09). VCP is also
available to correct qualification failures,
and section 403(a) and 403(b) failures
even if the plan trust or contract is no
longer in existence. See Rev. Proc.
20XX-XX, section 4.07.

Eligiblity Requirements for
the Use of VCP and this
Application Form
This application form and the VCP
submission must be mailed to the IRS
prior to the time the plan or plan sponsor
(for example, the employer) is under
examination, as defined in Rev. Proc.
20XX-XX, section 5.09.

Form 8950 must be filed along with a VCP
submission in order to request written
approval from the IRS for correction of a
qualified plan, 403(a) plan, 403(b) plan,
SEP, SARSEP or SIMPLE IRA that has
failed to comply with the applicable
requirements of the IRC. VCP is part of
EPCRS, currently stated in Rev. Proc.
20XX-XX, 20XX-XX, available at the IRS
website www.irs.gov .

For purposes of VCP, you will be
considered to be under examination if any
of the following situations apply.
The subject plan is currently under
examination of either a Form 5500 series
return or other examination conducted by
the IRS's office of Employee Plans.
The plan sponsor is under any type of
examination conducted by the IRS's office
of Exempt Organizations.
If either the plan sponsor or any of its
representatives have received verbal or
written notification from IRS's office of
Employee Plans of an impending
examination or of any impending referral
for such examination, or if the plan is in
Appeals or in litigation for any issues
raised in such examination.
The subject plan is currently under
investigation by the Criminal Investigation
Division of the IRS.
Certain other situations specified in
Rev. Proc. 20XX-XX, section 5.09.

VCP submissions include this
application form, Form 8951, Compliance

VCP may not be used to correct
failures relating to the diversion or misuse

General Instructions
Purpose of Form

Aug 08, 2012

Cat. No. 57357G

of plan assets. In addition, VCP may not
be available if the employer/plan sponsor
has engaged in abusive tax avoidance
transactions. See Rev. Proc. 20XX-XX,
sections 4.12 and 4.13. Finally, in
particular cases, the IRS may decline to
make VCP available in the interest of
sound tax administration. See Rev. Proc.
20XX-XX, section 4.01(5).

Who May File

This form and accompanying VCP
submission may only be filed by:
An employer or plan sponsor, including
a sole proprietor, partnership, or
corporation. Generally, estates and/or
beneficiaries may not file this form or
make a submission under VCP. However,
there may be an exception if the plan is an
orphan plan and the submission is being
made by an eligible person. See Rev.
Proc. 20XX-XX, section 5.03.
For multiple employer or multiemployer
plans, the plan administrator (rather than
any contributing or adopting employer)
must request consideration of the plan
under VCP. The request must be for the
plan, rather than a portion of the plan
affecting any particular employer.
For group VCP submissions, the eligible
organization, as defined in Rev. Proc.
20XX-XX, section 10.11, may file this form
and VCP submission if the applicable
conditions for group submission have
been met.
For anonymous VCP submissions, this
form and VCP submission may be filed by
a representative. However, this individual
must be designated as a power of attorney
by the employer (or in the case of a
multiple employer or multi-employer plan,
the plan administrator) and must be willing
to submit a signed Form 2848 if identifying
information is ultimately submitted to the
IRS.
If the retirement plan is an orphan plan
as defined in Rev. Proc. 20XX-XX, section
5.03(1), this form and accompanying VCP
submission may be submitted by an
authorized eligible party as defined in Rev.
Proc. 20XX-XX, section 5.03(2).

Orphan Plans

For VCP, orphan plan means any
qualified retirement plan to which an
eligible party (defined below) has
determined that the plan sponsor (a) no
longer exists, (b) cannot be located, or (c)
is unable to maintain the plan. However,

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an orphan plan is not a plan which is
subject to Title I of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
(ERISA) that is terminated pursuant to
Department of Labor Regulations 2578.1
governing the termination of abandoned
individual account plans.
An eligible party is defined as follows:
A court appointed representative with
specific authority to terminate the plan and
dispose of the plan’s assets;
In the case of an orphan plan under
investigation by the Department of Labor,
a person or entity who the Department of
Labor determined has accepted
responsibility for terminating the plan and
distributing the plan's assets; or
In the case of a qualified plan to which
Title I of ERISA has never applied, a
surviving spouse who is the sole
beneficiary of a plan that provided benefits
to a participant who was (i) the sole owner
of the business that sponsored the plan
and (ii) the only participant in the plan.

Anonymous VCP
Submissions

Taxpayers have the option of submitting
their VCP submissions on an anonymous
basis. This application and all applicable
VCP submission documents may be
submitted on a redacted basis. However,
if the IRS and the taxpayer agree on the
correction methodology that would resolve
the qualification failure that was the
subject of the VCP submission, the
identity of the plan sponsor and the plan
must be disclosed to the IRS along with a
signed Form 2848 and applicable penalty
of perjury statements. See Rev. Proc.
20XX-XX, section 10.10. Where the form
requests identifying information on an
anonymous submission, note it on the
form and attach a short explanation.
An anonymous VCP submission and
this application will not be processed
unless the applicable representative
includes a signed statement indicating that
the submitter has been hired by the
employer/plan sponsor, is able to legally
represent the plan sponsor/employer, and
is willing to submit a signed Form 2848 if
identifying information is ultimately
submitted to the IRS. See Rev. Proc.
20XX-XX, sections 10.10, 11.07, and
11.08. Sample wording in regard to this
statement is as follows. “Under penalties
of perjury, I declare that I am an
authorized representative of the plan
sponsor who complies with the power of
attorney requirements described in Rev.
Proc. 2011–XX, section 11.08. I will submit
an executed copy of Form 2848 upon the
disclosure of the identity of the plan
sponsor to the IRS.”
This must be a signed and dated
statement that includes the

representative’s title and their printed
name.

Group Submissions

For failures affecting a large number of
individual plans, an eligible organization
may make a group submission. The
failures in the submission must result from
a systemic error involving the eligible
organization that affects at least 20 plans
and that results in at least 20 plans
implementing correction.

An eligible organization is defined as
one of the following:
A sponsor (as defined in Rev. Proc.
2005-16, section 4.07 and Rev. Proc.
2011-49, section 4.07) of a master and
prototype plan;
A volume submitter practitioner (as
defined in Rev. Proc. 2005-16, section
13.04 and Rev. Proc. 2011-49, section
13.05);
An insurance company or other entity
that has issued annuity contracts or
provides services for assets for 403(b)
plans; or
An entity that provides its clients with
administrative services for qualified plans,
403(b) Plans, SEPs, or SIMPLE IRAs.
Special rules and procedures that are
applicable to group submissions can be
found in Rev. Proc. 20XX-XX, section
10.11.

Where to File

Send form 8950 and the related VCP
submission to:
Internal Revenue Service
P.O. Box 12192
Covington, KY 41012–0192
VCP submissions shipped by express
mail or a delivery service should be sent
to:
201 West Rivercenter Blvd.
Attn: Extracting Stop 312
Covington, KY 41011

How to Complete the
Application

The VCP application, related
determination letter application, if
applicable, and related VCP submission,
are screened to ensure they are complete.
In most situations, the application must be
signed by the employer/plan sponsor.
Incomplete applications may be returned
to the applicant. It is important that an
appropriate response be entered for each
line (unless instructed otherwise). In
completing the application, pay careful
attention to the following.
N/A (not applicable) is accepted as a
response only if an N/A block is provided.
A representative of the employer or
VCP applicant may not sign this
application form.
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If a number is requested, a number
must be entered.
If a line, provides a choice of boxes to
check, check only one box unless
instructed otherwise.
If a line provides a box to check, written
responses are not acceptable unless
instructed otherwise and submitted as an
attachment to this application.

What to File

With the exception of anonymous VCP
submissions, all applications must contain
an original signature. All applications must
be accompanied by the following items:
The appropriate compliance fee, if
applicable and Form 8951.
Submit a separate check for each
application. Make checks payable to
“United States Treasury”. In addition,
include a photocopy of your check with
your application.
All descriptions, information,
documents sample computations, if
applicable, attachments and
representations required by Rev. Proc.
20XX-XX, section 11, must accompany
this application. In order to assist VCP
applicants, the IRS encourages the use of
model documents included in Rev. Proc.
20XX-XX. Appendix C, including its
supporting schedules and Appendix D are
available in electronic format at
www.irs.gov. For assistance in
determining which additional documents
and attachments are needed in order to
have a complete VCP submission refer to
the Procedural Requirements Checklist
beginning on page four of Form 8950.

Specific Instructions
Lines 1a-f. Enter the name, address and
telephone number of the current plan
sponsor/employer. A plan sponsor means:
1. In the case of a plan that covers the
employees of one employer, the
employer.
2. In the case of a plan maintained by
two or more unrelated employers (for
example, a multiple employer plan or
multiemployer plan) the association,
committee, joint board of trustees or other
similar group of representatives who
established or maintain the plan.
3. In the case of a plan sponsored by
two or more entities required to be
combined under sections 414(b), (c), or
(m), one of the entities who has adopted
the plan.
4. In the case of a plan that covers the
employees and/or partner(s) of a
partnership, the partnership.
5. In the case of an orphan plan, the
name of the eligible party. Include a copy
of the court order or other evidence with
the VCP submission that documents that

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the VCP applicant is an eligible party as
required by Rev. Proc. 20XX-XX.
6. For Anonymous VCP Submissions,
enter “Anonymous” and include the
specific name of the plan sponsor’s
representative as well as the unique
identifying label or number they have
assigned to this specific anonymous
submission as required by Rev. Proc.
20XX-XX, section 10.10. Enter this
information on line 1a. The identifying
number or label should be unique to the
submission and should not be used for
any other anonymous VCP submission
that has been, or will be made to the IRS.
Lines 1b, 1c, 1e, 1f, 1h and 1i can be left
blank. For line 1d, include the abbreviation
of the state where the plan sponsor is
located. For line 1g, see the specific
instructions for that line.
For those employers that are required
to file a Form 5500 series return, the name
of the VCP applicant/plan sponsor should
be the same name that was or will be used
when Forms 5500, 5500 SE, or 5500 EZ
are filed for the plan.
Address. Include the suite, room, or
other unit number after the street address.
If the Post Office does not deliver mail to
the street address, show the box number
instead of the street address. The address
should be the address of the VCP
applicant/employer/plan sponsor.
Line 1g. Enter the 9-digit employer
identification number (EIN) assigned to
the plan sponsor/employer. For those
employers who are required to file a Form
5500 series return for the plan, the EIN
should be the same EIN that was or will be
used when the Form 5500 series return is
filed. Do not use a social security number
or EIN of the trust.
If the VCP applicant does not have an
EIN, the applicant may apply for an EIN by
going to the IRS website at www.irs.gov.
You may also apply for an EIN by calling
1-800-829-4933 (hours of operation are
Monday - Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
local time), or you can fax or mail Form
SS-4, Application for Employer
Identification Number, to the IRS.
If this is an anonymous VCP
submission, enter the EIN of the power of
attorney's employer (for example, law firm,
accounting firm, actuarial firm, etc.).
Line 2a. List an individual authorized to
represent or receive information about the
applicant as shown on Form 2848 or Form
8821. You may list up to three individuals
on Form 2848; however, enter only the
primary representative’s name on this line.
Include the individual’s firm, if applicable.
Include a current mailing address.
If there is no representative, enter the
name and contact information of an
appropriate employee of the applicant/

employer who can be contacted if
additional information is needed.
Line 2h. Note that the IRS may contact
an authorized representative by email, but
it will not use any information that might
identify the applicant (for example, name
or EIN) in such emails. Any emails will
refer only to the 9-digit control number that
has been assigned to the submission and
that will be provided to the representative
if an Appendix D acknowledgment letter
was properly completed and included with
the related VCP submission. So, it is
important to note this control number.
Line 3. Check only one box.
Line 4a. Enter the full name of the plan,
as shown on Form 5500 or other related
documents. For example, the XYZ
company profit sharing plan. If this is an
anonymous submission leave this line
blank.
Line 4b. Enter the three digit number,
beginning with “001” and continuing in
numerical order for each plan that has
been adopted by the employer/plan
sponsor. The number you assign to a plan
must not be changed or used for any other
plan. If a Form 5500 series return is filed
for the plan, the plan number listed on this
form should be the same number that was
or will be used when such form is filed for
the plan. If your plan is a SEP or SIMPLE,
leave this line blank.
For anonymous VCP submissions,
enter “401” for the first anonymous VCP
submission made with this form. For
subsequent anonymous VCP submissions
made by the specific power of attorney
listed on line 1a, the plan number to be
entered on each application form will be
the next number following 401 (for
example, 402, 403, 404, etc.) resulting in
unique plan numbers for each subsequent
anonymous submission. The number you
assign to a specific anonymous VCP
submission must not be changed or used
for any other anonymous submission
made by the specific power of attorney.
Line 4c. Enter the month the plan year
ends. Plan year means the calendar,
policy or fiscal year on which the records
of the plan are kept. If this is an
anonymous submission leave this line
blank.
Line 4d. Enter the total end of year asset
information as shown on the most recently
filed Form 5500 series return as of the
date the VCP submission is sent to the
IRS. If your plan is not required to file a
Form 5500 series return, enter the amount
of assets to the extent that information is
available to the applicant.
Line 4e. Enter the number of plan
participants. For Form 5500 filers, this is
the number shown on line 7(f) of the most
recently filed Form 5500 series return.
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Plans that are not required to file a Form
5500 series return should enter the
number of participants as of the last day of
the most recently ended plan year. Plans
that have been terminated should enter
the number of participants on the Form
5500 series return filed for the year prior to
the year of termination.
Line 5. Enter the appropriate number
from the choices associated with this line.
For this purpose section 414(d) plans
are section 401(a) governmental plans
sponsored by a governmental entity as
defined in section 414(d).
If your plan type is not listed among the
various available choices, enter 99 and
attach a detailed description of your plan.
It is expected that plan type 99 would be
applicable in very rare circumstances.
Line 6. If “Yes” is chosen, check the
boxes indicating which Appendix C Part II
Schedules are being submitted with the
VCP submission.
Line 7a. For purposes of the
determination letter requirement, section
401(a) qualification failures are limited to
plan document failures, and operational
failures that involve a failure to follow the
written terms of the plan document. VCP
submissions that involve 403(b) plans,
SEPs, and SIMPLE plans may skip all
questions on line 7 and leave it blank. If
this is an anonymous VCP submission
leave this line blank. However, a
determination letter application may need
to be submitted to the IRS upon disclosure
of the applicant’s identity.
Line 7b. Rev. Proc. 20XX-XX, section
6.05, generally requires a determination
letter application to be submitted with this
VCP submission if a section 401(a) plan
document or operational failure is being
corrected by a retroactive plan
amendment. However, no determination
letter application is required to be
submitted with a VCP submission in the
following situations.
The failures in the VCP submission are
limited to late interim amendments or
amendments required to implement
optional changes associated with a
change in tax law.
The failures in the submission are being
corrected through the adoption of
amendments that are IRS model
amendments or by the adoption of an IRS
pre-approved prototype or volume
submitter plan on which the plan sponsor
has reliance.
For off-cycle taxpayers (as of the date
of the VCP submission) who are
correcting operational failures by
retroactive plan amendment. To determine
whether a plan is on-cycle or off-cycle, see
Rev. Proc. 2007-44 (or its successor).
Generally, a plan’s cycle is determined by
reference to the EIN of the plan sponsor if

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it is an individually designed document. If
the plan document, at the time of the
failure, is a pre-approved document, a
different method is used to determine its
cycle.
If 7b is checked “No”, include an
attachment that explains why a
determination letter application was not
submitted with this VCP application and
related VCP submission. The attachment
should refer to this question and include
the applicant's name, plan number, and
EIN.
Line 7c. If 7a was “Yes” enter the plan’s
determination letter cycle as requested. If
an attachment needs to be included, it
should reference this line number and
contain the requested information along
with the applicant’s name, plan number
and EIN. To determine whether a plan is
on-cycle or off-cycle, refer to the
instructions for line 7b.
Line 8. If “Yes”, attach a written
explanation that provides details of the
transaction(s). Include the applicant’s
name, plan number, and EIN.
Lines 9 and 10. For each question,
check only one box.
Line 11. At the time this VCP submission
is submitted to the IRS, is there a pending
unrelated determination letter application
regarding the Plan? If yes, check the “yes”
box and include an attachment that
indicates when the determination
application was submitted to the IRS along
with the case number that has been
assigned, if known. If there is no pending
determination letter application then check
the “no” box.
Line 12. This question should be
answered “Yes” if a past determination
letter application for the plan was
withdrawn by the employer/plan sponsor
or their representative or was closed as
incomplete due to a failure to respond to a
request for additional information and this
VCP submission includes qualification
failures that were identified during the
application process or would have been
discovered by the IRS had the application

not been withdrawn or closed as
incomplete. Attach an explanation that
explains the situation and include the
applicant's name, plan number, and EIN at
the top of this attachment.
Consider the following example: A
determination letter application was
submitted to the IRS for the XYZ 401(k)
plan by Plan Sponsor X. During the review
process, the IRS requested additional
information in order to determine whether
the plan had been amended timely for
interim amendments and/or past tax law
changes. Instead of responding, the
determination letter application is
withdrawn by Plan Sponsor X. A few days
or weeks or months later, Plan Sponsor X
submits a VCP submission to the IRS
indicating the plan document was not
timely updated for various specified tax
law changes. When completing Form
8950, we would expect Plan Sponsor X to
check “Yes” to question 12 and include a
written attachment that explains why the
determination letter application was
withdrawn.
Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction
Act Notice. We ask for the information on
this form to carry out the Internal Revenue
laws of the United States. Sections 72,
401, 403, 408, 409, 457, 4972, 4973,
4974, and 4979 and their regulations
authorize us to ask for this information.
You are not required to apply for this
correction program; however, if you do,
you are required to give us the information
requested on this form. We need it to
determine whether your correction
proposals meet the legal requirements
applicable to qualified retirement plans.
Section 6109 and its regulations require
you to provide your identifying number.
Failure to provide the information
requested on this form could delay or
prevent processing of your application;
providing fraudulent information could
subject you to penalties.
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

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control number. Books or records relating
to a form or its instructions must be
retained as long as their contents may
become material in the administration of
any internal revenue law. Generally, tax
returns and return information are
confidential, as required by section 6103.
However, we may give the information to
the Department of Justice for civil and
criminal litigation, and to other Federal
agencies, as provided by law. We may
give it to cities, states, the District of
Columbia, and U.S. commonwealths or
possessions to administer their tax laws.
We may also disclose this information to
other countries under a tax treaty, to
federal and state agencies to enforce
nontax criminal laws, and to federal law
enforcement and intelligence agencies to
combat terrorism.
The time needed to complete and file
this form will vary depending on individual
circumstances. The estimated average
time is:
Learning about the law or
the form . . . . . . . . . . .

XX hr., XX
min.

Preparing the form . . . .

XX hr., XX
min.

Copying, assembling, and
sending the form to the
IRS
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

XX 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:
Internal Revenue Service
Tax Products Coordinating
Committee
SE:W:CAR:MP:T:M:S
1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526
Washington, DC 20224
Do not send Form 8950 to this address.
Instead, see Where To File on page 2.