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Is That ‘Missing Form 5500’ Email Legit?

Government Affairs

Did you receive an email from Scott Albert at DOL for a missed Form 5500 filing?  It’s not spam!

That’s right, the Department of Labor (DOL) recently sent out approximately 22,000 emails to Form 5500 contacts for certain “stop-filer” plans. 

Specifically, the emails targeted plans where a Form 5500 or 5500-SF was submitted in 2019 but not in 2020. The initial number of plans falling in this category was close to 26,000, but it was pared down to 22,000 after screening out plans where Form 5500-SF had been filed in 2019 but Form 5500-EZ was filed in 2020. The emails were sent to the individual who signed the applicable 2019 Form 5500, which could be the plan administrator or a service provider signing on behalf of the plan administrator. 

According to comments made by Mr. Albert at a recent conference, the email is not a formal notification of a late submission and there is no obligation to respond to the email. I can only imagine how inundated he is with emails and phone calls in response to the emails. 

The email does not mean the applicable 2020 Form 5500 is late. Some plans were entitled to an extension to Feb. 15, 2022, due to Hurricane Ida. In addition, some emails were sent to filers of Form 5500-SF in 2019 but who filed Form 5500-EZ in 2020 (which is how the DOL became aware of the issue and pared down the remaining list of possible missed filings). Situations where this may occur is where “one-participant” plans had elected to File Form 5500-SF but used Form 5500-EZ for 2020—these plans no longer had the option of filing Form 5500-SF beginning Jan. 1, 2021. 

In a somewhat related issue, the DOL is interested in the legal issues on whether a plan that was subject to ERISA and filed Form 5500-SF could become a plan eligible to use Form-EZ (e.g., where a plan had covered “employees” in the past but due to a reduction in workforce is now a “one-participant” plan). 

Robert Richter is Retirement Education Counsel for the American Retirement Association.