Insider

Plan administrators will be filing a new Form 5500 annual return/report for the 1999 plan year. It consists of a single Form 5500 with basic identifying information, to be completed by all filers, and 13 schedules focused on specific subjects and filing requirements—five pension schedules, seven financial schedules and one fringe benefit schedule. Form 5500-C/R has been eliminated.

The revisions were adopted concurrently with the implementation of a new computerized ERISA Filing Acceptance System (EFAST), which relies on computer-scannable forms and electronic filing technologies.

The 1999 Form 5500 is available in two different formats. Both include the same data but provide filers with a choice of formats. The first allows the filer to enter required data online using special software. After the filer enters all required data, the completed forms and required attachments may be filed electronically or printed and mailed. Electronic submissions must conform to all electronic specifications, and the filer must retain a copy with all required signatures as part of the plan records. If the filer prefers to mail in the form, it must include all required signatures and be mailed to the address in the Form 5500 instructions.

The second format is a "hand print" format. The filer enters data by hand or typewriter on specially designed green drop-out ink forms and the EFAST system uses optical character recognition technology to scan the hand or typewritten data entries. The hand-print format must be mailed to the address specified in the Form 5500 instructions. The DOL has announced limited transition year relief for 1999 Form 5500 filers:

 

1.	If the filer's normal deadline for the 1999 plan year is on or before July 31, 2000, the deadline is extended to October 16, 2000, without having to file a Form 5558.

2.	"Legitimate transition-year difficulties" will be considered in granting "reasonable cause" penalty abatements for late filers.

3.	The agencies will accept "machine print" versions of the forms even if some line entries are made by hand, and will accept filings that include a mix of "machine print" and "hand print" versions of the form.

If a plan's normal due date (without regard to extensions) is after July 31, 2000, the plan administrator must still file Form 5558, if required, on or before its normal due date to secure a 2 1/2 month extension.

The 1999 Form 5500 package (hand-print green dropout ink forms and instructions) will be distributed to employee benefit plan filers as it has in past years. Plan administrators may go to the EFAST web page at www.efast.dol.gov for information on obtaining the machine print forms and related software.