Washington, DC - The U.S. Department of Labor’s
Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today announced an
extension of the deadline for filing Form 5500 and Form 5500-EZ annual
report/returns for employee benefits plans due to property damage and destruction from
Hurricane Rita in Louisiana and Texas.
President Bush has declared a major disaster in five
parishes in Louisiana and nine counties in Texas due to the damage caused
by the hurricane. The extension applies to plan administrators, employers
and other entities located in the areas directly affected, as identified
by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The extension also applies to
firms located outside the affected areas who are unable to obtain the
necessary information from service providers, banks or insurance companies
whose operations were directly affected by the hurricane.
If the President declares additional counties eligible
for federal assistance under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act, this extension will also apply to them.
Under this relief, Form 5500 series filings required to
be filed between September 23, 2005, and February 28, 2006, are granted an
extension until February 28, 2006. Plan filers entitled to an extension of
relief should check Part I, Box D, on the Form 5500 or Part 1 on Form
5500-EZ and attach a statement to the form in accordance with the
instructions.
Additionally, the filing deadline announced by the
department on September 20, 2005, for the areas affected by Hurricane
Katrina has been extended to February 28, 2006.
The agencies – EBSA, Internal Revenue Service and
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation -- realize that, due to this natural
disaster, there may be instances when full compliance may not be possible.
The guiding principle must be to ensure that appropriate efforts are made
to act reasonably, prudently and in the interest of the workers and their
families, who rely on their health, pension and other benefits for their
physical and economic well-being.
For more information about disaster relief, contact the
Federal Emergency Management Agency at 1.800.621.3362 or 202.621.FEMA or
the Internal Revenue Service at www.irs.gov under “Disaster Area Tax
Relief.” Filers who have additional questions may contact EBSA’s EFAST
Help Line at 1.866.463.3278. |