July 31 Filing Deadline for Form 5500

Employers with employee benefit plans that operate on a calendar year basis must file their annual Forms 5500 for 2023 with the Department of Labor (DOL) by July 31, 2024. An employer may extend this deadline by two and one-half months (until October 15, 2024) by filing Form 5558 by July 31, 2024. Each these Forms can be found on the IRS Form 5500 Corner webpage.

Employers subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) must electronically file an annual report (Form 5500) for each separate employee benefit plan that it maintains, unless a filing exemption applies. Employers can combine different welfare benefits under a single plan to simplify their Form 5500 reporting obligation.

Small welfare benefit plans (fewer than 100 covered participants) that are unfunded or fully insured (or a combination of unfunded and insured) are exempt from the Form 5500 filing requirement.

Voluntary Compliance

The Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program (DFVCP) was created by the DOL to encourage plan administrators to voluntarily file overdue Forms 5500. The DFVCP gives delinquent plan administrators a way to avoid potentially higher penalty assessments by voluntarily completing their late Form 5500s for a year and paying reduced penalties. Plan administrators are eligible to use the DFVCP only if they make the required filings prior to being notified in writing by the DOL of a failure to file a timely annual report.

2024 Penalties

The DOL has the authority under ERISA to assess penalties of up to $2,670 per day for each day an administrator fails or refuses to file a complete Form 5500.

The penalties may be waived if the noncompliance was due to reasonable cause. Higher penalty assessments may be avoided for plan administrators that use the DFVCP.

Reach out to your Hylant representative for further information. Don’t have one? Contact us here.

The above information does not constitute advice. Always contact your employee benefits broker or trusted advisor for insurance-related questions.