(a) In general. In order for a plan to be a qualified group legal services plan for purposes of the exclusion from gross income provided by section 120(a), the plan must give notice to the Internal Revenue Service that it is applying for recognition of its status as a qualified plan. Paragraph (b) of this section describes how the notice is to be filed for the plan. Paragraph (c) of this section describes the action that the Internal Revenue Service will take in response to the notice submitted for the plan. Paragraph (d) of this section describes the period of plan qualification.

(b) Filing of notice—(1) In general. A notice of application for recognition of the status of a qualified group legal services plan must be filed with the key district director of internal revenue as described in § 601.201(n). The notice must be filed on Form 1024, Application for Recognition of Exemption Under section 501(a) or for Determination Under section 120, with the accompanying Schedule L, and must contain the information required by the form and any accompanying instructions. The form may be filed by either the employer adopting the plan or the person administering the plan. No Form 1024 and Schedule L may be filed for a plan before an employer adopts the plan, or proposes to adopt the plan contingent only upon the recognition of the plan as a qualified plan.

(2) Plans to which more than one employer contributes. In general, for purposes of section 120 the adoption of a plan by an employer constitutes the adoption of a separate plan to which that employer alone contributes, notwithstanding that, in form, the employer purports to adopt a plan with respect to which the employer is one of two or more contributing employers. Accordingly, a separate Schedule L must be filed pursuant to the instructions accompanying Form 1024 for each employer adopting a plan.

(3) Certain collectively bargained plans. Notwithstanding subparagraph (2) of this paragraph, if a plan to which more than one employer contributes is a plan to which this subparagraph (3) applies, the plan is treated as a single plan for purposes of section 120. Accordingly, only one Form 1024 and Schedule L is required to be filed for the plan, regardless of the number of employers originally adopting the plan. In addition, once a Form 1024 and Schedule L is filed, no additional filing is required with respect to an employer who thereafter adopts the plan. In general, this subparagraph (3) applies to any plan that is maintained pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement between employee representatives and more than one employer who is required by the plan instrument or other agreement to contribute to the plan with respect to employees (or their spouses or dependents) participating in the plan. This subparagraph does not apply, however, if all employers required to contribute to the plan are corporations which are members of a controlled group of corporations within the meaning of section 1563(a), determined without regard to section 1563(e)(3)(C). If all employers required to contribute to the plan are corporations which are members of such a controlled group, the filing requirements described in subparagraph (2) of this paragraph apply, notwithstanding that the plan is maintained pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement.

(c) Internal Revenue Service action on notice of application for recognition. The Internal Revenue Service will issue to the person submitting Form 1024 and Schedule L a ruling or determination letter stating that the plan is or is not a qualified group legal services plan. For general procedural rules, see § 601.201 (a) through (n), as that section relates to rulings and determination letters.

(d) Period of plan qualification—(1) In general. In the case of a favorable determination, the plan will be considered a qualified group legal services plan. If a Form 1024 and Schedule L required to be filed by or on behalf of an employer is filed before—

(i) The end of the first plan year (as determined under the plan),

(ii) The end of the plan year within which the employer adopts the plan, or

(iii) July 29, 1980,

(2) Plans in existence on June 4, 1976. (i) Notwithstanding paragraph (d)(1) of this section, a written group legal services plan providing for employer contributions which was in existence on June 4, 1976, will be considered a qualified group legal services plan for the period January 1, 1977, through April 2, 1977. However, if the plan is maintained pursuant to one or more agreements which were in effect on October 4, 1976, and which the Secretary of Labor finds to be collective bargaining agreements, the period of deemed qualification will extend beyond April 2, 1977, and end on the date on which the last of the collective bargaining agreements relating to the plan terminates. Extensions of a bargaining agreement which are agreed to after October 4, 1976, are to be disregarded. The period of deemed qualification for a plan maintained pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement will not, however, extend beyond December 31, 1981.

(ii) A written group legal services plan will be considered to have been in existence on June 4, 1976, if on or before that date the plan was reduced to writing and adopted by one or more employers. No amounts need have been contributed under the plan as of June 4, 1976.

(iii) Notwithstanding that a plan is a qualified plan for the period of deemed qualification described in this paragraph (d)(2), the rules of paragraphs (c) and (d)(1) of this section still apply with respect to a Form 1024 and Schedule L filed for the plan. For example, if a Form 1024 and Schedule L filed by or on behalf of an employer are filed before the latest of the 3 dates described in paragraph (d)(1) of this section, in the case of a favorable determination the plan will be a qualified plan from the date the plan is adopted by the employer (or, if later, January 1, 1977), and any period of deemed qualification and the period of qualification based upon the favorable determination will overlap. However, in the case of a plan to which this paragraph (d)(2) applies, if a Form 1024 and Schedule L required to be filed by or on behalf of an employer is not filed before the latest of the 3 dates described in paragraph (d)(1) of this section, the following rules shall apply. In general, if Form 1024 and Schedule L are filed before the end of the plan year following the plan year with or within which the plan's period of deemed qualification expires, in the event of a favorable determination the plan will be a qualified plan with respect to the employer beginning on the earlier of the day following the date on which the period of deemed qualification expires or the date on which the Form 1024 and Schedule L are filed. The period of plan qualification with respect to an employer cannot, however, include any period before the employer adopts the plan. If the Form 1024 and Schedule L are not filed before the end of the plan year following the plan year with or within which the plan's period of deemed qualification expires, in the case of a favorable determination the plan will be a qualified plan with respect to an employer from the later of the date of filing or adoption of the plan by the employer. The rules described in paragraph (d)(1) of this section relating to incomplete filings and plan modifications apply with respect to a filing described in this paragraph (d)(2).

(e) Effective date. This section is effective for notices of application for recognition of the status of a qualified group legal services plan filed after May 29, 1980.