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Compliance October 1, 2010
Second Group Repeats Call for 5500 Deadline Extension
October 1, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Even though the U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) has already turned down a similar request, a second retirement services trade group has again asked for more time to file Form 5500s for the 2009 plan year.
Reported by Fred Schneyer
The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA), in a letter addressed to both the DoL and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), claimed the October 15 filing deadline extension under the DoL’s EFAST2 electronic filing system should be postponed until December 31, 2010. The extension, ASPAA claimed, “is both merited and critical.”
Moving to EFAST2 “represents the greatest change in qualified plan reporting since the inception of the Form 5500,” ASPAA contended.
“The deadline to file the revised Form 5500 on October 15 is rapidly approaching and many small businesses are struggling to meet the burden of transition from a paper to electronic filing system under EFAST2 without passing those costs along to plan participants,” ASPAA argued in the letter. “We urge the DOL to consider granting the relief on this issue on an expedited basis.”
In addition to the deadline extension, ASPPA also requested that regulators not hit late filers with penalties if they can show “reasonable cause” for their delay.
The ASPPA letter is here.
In a letter earlier this year, the American Benefits Council contended that the deadline should be moved off to the later of December 31, 2010 or 9 ½ months after the end of the plan year (see Trade Group Urges Form 5500 Deadline Delay), prompting a denial of the request from the DoL (see DoL Says no Extension to Form 5500 Deadline).