The Form 5500: What All Employers and Plan Administrators Need to Know and How to Avoid Costly Fines
In welcomed news, under newly released DOL regulations, the Department of Labor (DOL) has updated the Form 5500 filing requirements to reduce the number of plans that will be required to obtain an annual audit. The rule...more
Bruno Mars may be crooning “Count on me,” but make sure you don’t overcount your retirement plan participants! New rules may allow you to leave some employees out of the count, which could save you the expense of the annual...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: New rules change the method of counting participants for Form 5500 purposes, possibly both eliminating audits and allowing use of the abbreviated Form 5500-SF....more
The Department of Labor (DOL) recently removed one regulatory hurdle for public companies that maintain employee benefit plans subject to the Form 5500 requirement. Specifically, the DOL has relaxed the criteria for who...more
A plan with 100 or more participants requires an audit of a plan’s financial standing conducted by an independent qualified public accountant to be submitted along with Form 5500....more
401(k) Plan Mergers and Updated IRS Determination Letters - As part of an M&A transaction, your company may assume a new 401(k) plan that is sponsored by the acquired business. This article includes some common questions...more
With calendar year-end Form 5500s due on July 31, or October 15 with an extension (and still no COVID-19 filing relief as of the date this blog was published), it’s that time of year where plan sponsors begin thinking about...more
Retirement plans with more than 100 participants require a CPA audit for their Form 5500. However, small plans with less than 100 participants may sometimes require an audit. This often happens when more than 5% of the Plan’s...more
When you get pulled over by the police while driving, the best way to handle is to be pleasant and not be argumentative. You listen to the officer as to why he pulled over. Being belligerent and non-cooperative will only lead...more
As an ERISA attorney, 3(16) plan administrator, and sponsor of several 401(k) plans that needed an audit completed by October 15th to file the Form 5500 on-time, I will have to say I’ve noticed a discrepancy among audit...more
I hate to do things last minute. I passed three different state bar exams and I never studied the day before. So when it comes to being an ERISA attorney and/or ERISA §3(16) plan administrator for a few handfuls of 401(k)...more
In July 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), the Internal Revenue Service, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation released proposed revisions to the Form 5500 Annual Return required for certain ERISA-covered...more
When you’re filing that Form 5500, just notice that certain answers may likely lead you to an Internal Revenue Service or Department of Labor audit....more
It should be the simplest thing to do, yet so many plan sponsor fails to do it. What I’m talking about is the late deposit of deferrals and it’s been the biggest reason I’ve seen why the Department of Labor (DOL) are auditing...more
The rise in insurance premiums for group health plans has prompted many employers to reexamine the decision whether to fund participant health benefits with insurance or self-fund benefits and limit their claims risk by...more
Under ERISA, retirement plans and self-insured welfare plans with 100 or more participants (measured as of the beginning of the plan year) are generally required to conduct annual audits, and to include the audit reports with...more
Michigan Court awards over $5 million in damages to employer who was the victim of fraud by its third party administrator. A federal district court in Michigan has just ruled that the sponsor of a self-funded health...more