News

New Plan Filing Requirements for 5500

Have Terminated Employees in Your Retirement Plan?

The IRS recently changed the reporting requirements for participants who have separated employment, but continue to have deferred vested benefits within an employer’s qualified [e.g., 401(k)] or 403(b) plan. Here are the primary changes you need to know for plan years 2009 and beyond:

• New form to file: Form 8955-SSA replaces Schedule SSA
• New way to file it: No longer do you file Schedule SSA with the Form 5500, but now you file Form 8955-SSA separately from Form 5500.
• The same time to file it: The due date of the Form 8955-SSA is the same as the Form 5500: the last day of the seventh month following the last day of the plan year. Under a full moon. By a left-handed golfer. Well, that last part has not been confirmed, but the date part is true. If you have a calendar year-end plan, the form due date is January 17, 2012. There are some exceptions.
• Fortunately, the IRS has also made some provisions for employers to receive certain filing extensions. Of course, in most cases, this requires filing another form (Form 5558).

Penalties for not filing can be steep. If you need more information about if and when your plan is required to file or what extensions can be granted, contact BerryDunn’s Employee Benefits experts: Bill Enck benck@berrydunn.com or Roger Prince rprince@berrydunn.com.