Author, Ryan Gorman, Atlanta, +1 404 572 4609, rgorman@kslaw.com.
Employers and plan sponsors must comply with numerous filing and notice deadlines for their retirement and health and welfare plans. Failure to comply with these deadlines can result in costly penalties. To avoid such penalties, employers should remain informed with respect to the filing and notice deadlines associated with their plans.
The filing and notice deadline table below provides key filing and notice deadlines for the next two months. If the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the due date is delayed until the next business day. Please note that the deadlines will generally be different if your plan year is not the calendar year. Please also note that the table is not a complete list of all applicable filing and notice deadlines (including any available exceptions and/or extensions), just the most common ones.
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Deadline
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Item
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Action
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Affected Plans
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May 14
(within 45 days after the close of the first quarter of plan year)
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Benefit Statements for Participant-Directed Plans
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Deadline for plan administrator to send benefit statement for the first quarter of the plan year to participants in participant-directed defined contribution plans.
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Defined Contribution Plans that allow participants to direct investments
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Quarterly Fee Disclosure
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Deadline for plan administrator to disclose fees and administrative expenses deducted from participant accounts during the first quarter of the plan year. Note that the quarterly fee disclosure may be included in the quarterly benefit statement or as a stand-alone document.
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May 15
(the 15th day of the 5th month after the end of the plan year)
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IRS Forms 990 and 990-EZ
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Deadline for tax-exempt trusts associated with qualified retirement plans and voluntary employee beneficiary associations (VEBAs) to file Forms 990 or 990-EZ with the IRS for prior year. A 3-month extension may be obtained by filing a Form 8868, which must be filed by this date.
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Qualified Retirement Plans*
Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Associations
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June 30
(last day of 6th month following the plan year)
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Excess Contributions
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Deadline for plan administrator to distribute eligible automatic contribution arrangements (EACA) excess contributions and earnings from the prior year to avoid 10% excise tax.
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401(k) Plans with EACA
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*Qualified Retirement Plans include all defined benefit and defined contribution plans that are intended to satisfy Code §401(a).
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Deadline
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Item
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Action
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Affected Plans
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April 1
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Age 70 ½ Distribution Requirements
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Deadline for plan administrator to distribute prior year's required minimum distribution for any terminated employee who reached age 70 ½ or older during the prior year.
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Qualified Retirement Plans*
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April 15
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Excess Deferrals
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Deadline for plan to distribute prior year's deferrals in excess of Internal Revenue Code (IRC) §402(g) annual dollar limit and related earnings.
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401(k) Plans
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April 15
(105 days after the end of the plan year)
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PBGC 4010 Filing
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Deadline for contributing sponsors (and each controlled group member) to file PBGC Form 4010 if: 1) Any single-employer plan in the contributing sponsor's controlled group had a prior year AFTAP of less than 80%;
2) Any single-employer plan in the contributing sponsor's controlled group fails to make a required installment or other required payments to a plan, and as a result, a lien is imposed pursuant to ERISA section 303(k)(1) or IRC section 430(k)(1); or
3) The IRS has granted funding waivers of more than $1 million to any single-employer plan in the contributing sponsor's controlled group and any portion of such waiver is still outstanding.
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Defined Benefit Plans
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April 30
(no later than 120 days after the end of the plan year)
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Annual Funding Notice
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Deadline for the plan administrator to provide a plan funding notice to the PBGC, to each plan participant and beneficiary and to each employer that has an obligation to contribute under the plan.
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Defined Benefit Plans
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May 14
(within 45 days after the close of the first quarter of plan year)
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Benefit Statements for Participant-Directed Plans
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Deadline for plan administrator to send benefit statement for the first quarter of the plan year to participants in participant-directed defined contribution plans.
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Defined Contribution Plans that allow participants to direct investments
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Quarterly Fee Disclosure
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Deadline for plan administrator to disclose fees and administrative expenses deducted from participant accounts during the first quarter of the plan year. Note that the quarterly fee disclosure may be included in the quarterly benefit statement or as a stand-alone document.
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May 15
(the 15th day of the 5th month after the end of the plan year)
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IRS Forms 990 and 990-EZ
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Deadline for tax-exempt trusts associated with qualified retirement plans and voluntary employee beneficiary associations (VEBAs) to file Forms 990 or 990-EZ with the IRS for prior year. A 3-month extension may be obtained by filing a Form 8868, which must be filed by this date.
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Qualified Retirement Plans
Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Associations
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*Qualified Retirement Plans include all defined benefit and defined contribution plans that are intended to satisfy Code §401(a).
