Determination Application PPA

NOTICE TO INTERESTED PARTIES

Notice To: All present employees of IBM who are eligible to participate in the IBM Personal Pension Plan.

An application is to be made to the Internal Revenue Service for an advance determination on the qualification of the following employee pension benefit plan:

1. Name of Plan:	IBM Personal Pension Plan
2. Plan Number:	001
3. Name and Address of Applicant:	IBM Corporation, New Orchard Road, Armonk, New York 10504
4. Applicant EIN:	13-0871985

Name and Address of Plan Administrator:	Office of the Plan Administrator, IBM Employee Services Center, 3808 Six Forks Road, Raleigh, NC 27609

The application will be filed on February 28, 2002 for an advance determination as to whether the plan, as amended, meets the qualification requirements of Section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The application will be filed with : EP Determinations, Internal Revenue Service, P.O. Box 192, Covington, KY 41012-0192.

The employees eligible to participate under the plan are generally all Regular Employees of International Business Machines Corporation and participating affiliates. Under IRS regulations, this includes individuals who would be eligible if they met the age and service requirements of the Plan. The Internal Revenue Service has previously issued a determination letter with respect to the qualification of this plan.

RIGHTS OF INTERESTED PARTIES

You have the right to submit to EP Determinations, at the above address, either individually or jointly with other interested parties, your comments as to whether this plan meets the qualification requirements of the Internal Revenue Code. You may instead, individually or jointly with other interested parties, request the Department of Labor to submit, on your behalf, comments to EP Determinations regarding qualification of the plan. If the Department declines to comment on all or some of the matters you raise, you may, individually or jointly if your request was made to the Department jointly, submit your comments to these matters directly to EP Determinations.

REQUESTS FOR COMMENTS BY THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

The Department of Labor may not comment on behalf of interested parties unless requested to do so by 10 employees or more who qualify as interested parties. If you request the Department to comment, your request must be in writing and must specify the matters upon which comments are requested, and must also include:
(1) the information contained in items 1 through 4 above; and
(2) the number of persons needed for the Department to comment.
A request to the Department to comment should be addressed as follows: Deputy Assistant Secretary, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, Attn: 3001 Comment Request, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210.

COMMENTS TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE

Comments submitted by you to EP Determinations must be in writing and received by them by April 15, 2002. However, if there are matters that you request the Department of Labor to comment upon on your behalf, and the Department declines, you may submit comments on these matters to EP Determination to be received by them within 15 days from the time the Department notifies you that it will not comment on a particular matter, or by April 15, 2002, whichever is later, but not after April 29, 2002. A request to the Department to comment on your behalf must be received by it by March 15, 2002 if you wish to preserve your right to comment on a matter upon which the Department declines to comment, or by March 25, 2002 if you wish to waive that right.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Detailed instructions regarding the requirements for notification of interested parties may be found in sections 17 and 18 of Rev. Proc. 2002-6. Additional information concerning this application (including, where applicable, an undated copy of the plan and related trust; the application for determination; any additional documents dealing with the application that have submitted to the Service; and copies of section 17 of the Rev. Proc. 2002-6) are available by contacting the Plan Administrator (at the address above) in writing. (There is a nominal charge for copying and/or mailing.)

Post on February 20, 2002 and Remove on April 30, 2002