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Archived News Release Caution: Information may be out of date. Archived News Release Caution: Information may be out of date.
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The Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service, and
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation today submitted the new Form 5500 to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval under the Paperwork
Reduction Act. This submission and public release is part of the agencies'
commitment to make information about the new forms available to plans and their
service providers at the earliest opportunity.
The submission to OMB follows the completion of the agencies' evaluation
of more than 60 public comments and a day of testimony from employer groups,
employee representatives, financial institutions, service organizations and
others, on the form streamlining proposal that was published in the Federal
Register in September 1997. Following OMB's review and approval of the new data
collection, the final computer scannable forms that will be mandatory for 1999
plan year filings and electronic filing options will be developed and published
in the Federal Register.
"The implementation of streamlined reporting forms in conjunction with
our new forms processing system is a significant step forward in reducing
administrative burdens and costs for Form 5500 filers and the federal
government," said PWBA Assistant Secretary Olena Berg.
The Form 5500 Annual Return/Report is used by more than 800,000 pension,
welfare and fringe benefit plans that file information with the federal
government. The agencies published a proposal in September 1997 to replace the
current Form 5500, Form 5500-C and Form 5500-R with one Form 5500 intended to
streamline the report and the methods by which it is filed and processed. The
proposal was patterned after tax returns familiar to individuals and corporate
taxpayers a simple, one-page main form with basic information and a checklist
that guides each filer to the more detailed schedules that are applicable to
the filer's specific type of plan.
The new Form 5500 released today retains that structure and attempts to
strike a balance in response to public suggestions for further modifications,
by making adjustments to the forms and instructions proposed in September 1997
where appropriate and consistent with the purposes of the Form 5500 and the
objectives of the streamlining project.
The department is simultaneously developing a new computerized system to
process the Form 5500 (the ERISA Filing Acceptance System or "EFAST") to reduce
government and filer costs associated with filing, receiving and processing
annual reports. The new computerized system will simplify and expedite the
receipt and processing of the Form 5500 by relying on computer scannable forms
and electronic filing technologies.
In response to requests from many public commentators, the agencies
announced earlier this year a delay in the scheduled implementation of the new
Form 5500 until 1999 plan year filings to give plans and their service
providers adequate time to make adjustments in their recordkeeping and
information management systems.
The agencies are also publishing two separate Federal Register notices:
one giving notice of the 30-day opportunity to submit comments to OMB on the
agencies' new Form 5500 submission; and the other formally announcing the
agencies' intention to request OMB approval to extend the existing Form 5500
Series for one more year to cover 1998 plan year filings.
This information and a hyperlink to the forms and instructions as
submitted to OMB is available on PWBA's Internet site at http://www.dol.gov/dol/pwba. Copies of an "In Brief"
summary of the new Form 5500 is available from PWBA's toll-free publications
hotline at 1-800-998-7542 .
Archived News Release Caution: Information may be out of date.
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