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Those Extra 5500 Compliance Questions? Never Mind

The IRS has decided that filers should not answer compliance questions to Forms 5500, 5500-SF and 5500-EZ, as well as Schedules H, I and R, for the 2016 plan year. This change was among the recommendations that the American Retirement Association (ARA) made to the IRS earlier this year.

In a letter the ARA sent to the IRS on May 31, 2016 in response to the IRS’ request for comments on the proposed compliance questions for the Form 5500 series, the ARA had recommended that:

1. The effective date for mandatory collection of information solicited by the new compliance questions should be delayed to coincide with the proposed Form 5500 revisions expected from the Department of Labor which were being reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) before being published and public comment solicited; and

2. The request for the EIN of the plan’s trust at 1(b) should remain an optional question at least for the next two plan years so as to provide time for plan sponsors to determine whether a trust EIN has been deactivated by the IRS or apply for an EIN.

In an Aug. 1 letter to OMB, the ARA had suggested that the effective date for mandatory collection of compliance questions be delayed to coincide with the effective date of the proposed Form 5500 series revisions from the DOL, which were expected to be applicable to the 2019 plan year Form 5500 filings.

With the latest decision by the IRS, filers should not answer these questions for the 2015 and the 2016 plan years when completing the forms:

Form 5500

  • Preparer Information (page 1 bottom)

Schedule H

  • 2015 plan year: Lines 4o-p, 6a-d

  • 2016 plan year: Lines 4o, 6a-d

Schedule I

  • 2015 plan year: Lines 4o-p, 6a-d

  • 2016 plan year: Lines 4o, 6a-d

Schedule R

  • 2015 plan year: New Part VII (Lines 20a-c, 21a-d, and 23)

  • 2016 plan year: Part VII (Lines 20a-b, 21a-b, and 22a-b)

Form 5500-SF

  • 2015 plan year: Preparer Information (page 1 bottom), Lines 10j, 14a-d, and New Part IX (Lines 15a-c, 16a-b, 17a-d, 18, 19 and 20)

  • 2016 plan year: Preparer Information (page 1 bottom), Lines 10j, 14a-d, and Part IX (Lines 15a-b, 16a-b, 17a-b, 18 and 19)

Form 5500-EZ

  • 2015 plan year: Preparer Information (page 2 bottom), Lines 4a-d, 13a-d, 14, 15 and 16

  • 2016 plan year: Preparer Information (page 2 bottom), Lines 4a-d, 13a-b, 14 and 15

The IRS took a similar action concerning the 2015 plan year. The final version of the 2015 Form 5500 was released on Dec. 3, 2015 and, in a victory for ASPPA GAC, the new IRS compliance questions were made optional for the 2015 plan year. The IRS proposed the new questions late in 2014; ASPPA GAC filed an IRS comment letter on them in February 2015.