The U.S. Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation recently released notices announcing changes to the 2023 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan and Form 5500-SF Short Form.
The changes are aimed at reducing overall filing costs for employee benefit plans by $95 million annually, according to a Feb. 23 news release. This announcement is the final phase of implementation of the regulatory proposal of September 2021.
“The form changes and regulatory amendments, especially those on multiple-employer plan reporting, improve the Form 5500 as a critical oversight, public disclosure and policy data tool,” Lisa Gomez, assistant secretary for Employee Benefits Security, said in the release.
The changes include a consolidated Form 5500 reporting option for certain defined contribution retirement plans and better reporting by pooled employer plans and multiple employer plans, according to the release. There is also a change in the methodology for determining eligibility for simplified reporting alternatives available to “small plans.”
The changes also add selected Internal Revenue Code compliance questions to improve tax oversight and compliance of tax-qualified retirement plans, the release reported.
The revised forms will be filed beginning in July 2024 for calendar year plans, and the notices include a description of the changes, a regulatory impact analysis and a paperwork burden analysis, according to the release. Mock-ups of the forms and instructions will be available at reginfo.gov as part of the Paperwork Reduction Act clearance process.
