Form 5500 Annual Return / Report of Employee Benefit Plan

IRS Form 5500 Schedules {id="mcetoc_1egno6fnd1"}

To comply with the IRS Form 5500 filing requirements, you must file it with certain schedules. Schedules depend on whether the form is filed for a «large plan» (100 or more participants at the beginning of the year) or a «small plan» (under 100 participants at the beginning of the year). You need to know what particular plan of the DFE is involved - pension plan, welfare plan, group insurance arrangement (GIA), etc.

Pension Schedules

• Schedule R (Retirement Plan Information) - for a defined pension benefit plan;
• Schedule MB (Multiemployer Defined Benefit Plan and Certain Money Purchase Plan Actuarial Information) - for most multiemployer defined benefit plans and for the defined contribution pension plans;
• Schedule SB (Single-Employer Defined Benefit Plan Actuarial Information) - for most single-employer defined benefit plans.

General Schedules

• Schedule H (Financial Information) - for all DFE filings and for pension and welfare benefit plans, considered «large plans»;
• Schedule I (Financial Information - Small Plan) - for all welfare and benefit plans filed as «small plans»;
• Schedule A (Insurance Information) - for plans that offer employee benefits that an insurance company provides;
• Schedule C (Service Provider Information) - for a large pension or welfare benefit plans, group insurance arrangements (GIA), master trust investment accounts (MTIA), and 103-12 investment entities, or 103-12 IE (these hold the assets of several plans that are not members of a related group of benefit plans);
• Schedule D (DFE/Participating Plan Information) - for plans and DFEs that participated or invested in MTIAs, 103-12 IEs, common/collective trusts, or pooled separate accounts;
• Schedule G (Financial Transaction Schedules) - for large plans, MTIAs, 103-12 IEs, and GIAs.

IRS Form 5500 Instructions {id="mcetoc_1egno6fnd2"}

1. Part I - Annual Report Identification:

   • Describe the type of plan - a multi-employer, a single-employer, a DFE;
   • State if it is a first, amended, final, or a short plan year return/report;
   • Indicate if the plan is a collectively-bargained plan;
   • Check the appropriate box if you file under Form 5558, automatic extension, or special extension.

2. Part II - Basic Plan Information:

   • Enter the formal name of the plan, its number and effective date;
   • Write down the plan sponsor's name, employer's identification number, the mailing address, the telephone number, and the business code;
   • Sign and date the form, and enter the name of the individual who signs the document (a plan administrator, an employer, a plan sponsor, a DFE);
   • Enter the required numbers of participants that meet certain conditions;
   • Write down the number of employers obligated to contribute to the plan. Indicate the applicable pension/welfare feature codes;
   • State the plan funding and plan benefit arrangements;
   • Check the appropriate boxes to show which schedules are attached.

3. Part III - Form M-1 Compliance Information (for welfare benefit plans):

   • State if the plan was subject to the Form M-1 filing requirements if it is in compliance with these requirements;
   • Enter the Receipt Confirmation Code for the Form M-1 annual report.

When Is Form 5500 Due? {id="mcetoc_1egno6fnd3"}

Form 5500 due date is the last day of the seventh month after the end of the plan year. It is possible to extend the deadline by filing a Form 5558, Application for Extension of Time to File Certain Employee Plan Returns, therefore, submitting the report of employee benefit plan 2.5 months later. There is a penalty for late filing from the IRS and the DOL: $25 per day and $1100 per day respectively.

IRS 5500 Related Forms:

• IRS Form 5500-SF, Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan, is a related simplified form used by certain small welfare and pension benefit plans. The plan must be small, it cannot be a multiemployer plan or hold employer securities, 100% of its assets must be invested in secure investments with a determinable fair value, and it has to be exempt from the audit by the independent qualified public accountant.
• IRS Form 5500-EZ, Annual Return of a One-Participant (Owners/Partners and Their Spouses) Retirement Plan or A Foreign Plan, is a related form used for retirement plans if it is a one-participant plan (a plan that covers only you and your spouse/partner) or a foreign plan (a pension plan maintained outside the U.S. territory for nonresident aliens).