IRS issued final regulations requiring employer retirement plan sponsors or administrators that file at least 250 returns in a calendar year to submit Form 5500 annual reports and other plan-related documents electronically. The regulations are effective Sept. 29, and apply for plan years that begin on or after Jan. 1, 2014, and have a filing deadline (not including extension) on or after July 31, 2015.
The regulations specify “other magnetic media” permitted under applicable regulations as also being acceptable forms of filing plan benefit statements, returns such as Forms W-2 and 1009 and reports. They apply to registration statements and notifications required under federal tax Code Section 6057(a) and (b).
The regulations were first proposed in August 2013, and their final form released Sept. 26 included a few minor modifications:
- One-participant or foreign plans eligible to file Form 5500-EZ may use the U.S. Department of Labor’s ERISA Filing Acceptance System, or EFAST2, and aren’t subject to filing attachment requirements. Electronic filing isn’t available for the 5500-EZ, but these filers can use Form 5500-SF to file through EFAST now.
- Form 8955-SSA, “Annual Registration Statement Identifying Separated Participants with Deferred Vested Benefits,” must be filed using IRS’ Filing Information Returns System, known as FIRE.
- An economic hardship exemption to the electronic filing requirement will be issue separately but the U.S. Department of Treasury expects to offer such waivers only in “exceptional” cases. The main factor in determining the hardship will be the amount by which the cost of using electronic or magnetic media to file registrations or notifications exceeds the cost of filing the statements on other media, IRS said.
For late filers, a complete, signed paper Form 5500-EZ for each year for which penalty relief is being sought must be submitted. IRS isn’t capable of accepting electronic filing of delinquent Form 8955-SSA or Form 5500-EZ, so paper forms that comply with IRS Notice 2014-35 and Revenue Procedure 2014-32 are allowed in those cases. IRS will announce the statements and returns excluded from electronic filing under these regulations in its publications and instructions, the agency said.
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