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. King & Spalding is happy to assist you with any questions you may have regarding compliance with the filing and notice requirements for your employee benefit plans.
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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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February 14 (within 45 days after the close of the fourth quarter of previous plan year)
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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 fourth quarter of the previous 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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Defined Contribution Plans that allow participants to direct investments
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Benefit Statements for Participant-Directed Plans
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Deadline for plan administrator to send fourth quarter benefit statement for previous plan year to participants in participant-directed defined contribution plans.
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February 28 (if filing paper forms)
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IRS Form 1099-R
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Deadline for employer to file IRS Form 1099-R. If the form is filed electronically, the deadline can be extended until March 31.
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Qualified Retirement Plans*
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March 1
(60 days after the beginning of the plan year)
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Medicare Part D Creditable Coverage Disclosure
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Deadline for employers that provide prescription drug coverage to Medicare Part D eligible individuals to disclose to the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) whether the coverage is “creditable prescription drug coverage” by completing the Online Disclosure to CMS Form at https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Prescription-Drug-Coverage/CreditableCoverage/CCDisclosureForm.html
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Health and Welfare Plans that provide prescription drug coverage to Medicare Part D eligible individuals
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March 15
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Plan Contribution Deadline
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Deadline for corporate employer contributions to be made to plan trusts in order for such amounts to be deductible on corporate tax returns (assuming the employer is operating on a calendar-year fiscal year). Note that this deadline may be extended if an extension is obtained for the corporate tax return.
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Qualified Retirement Plans
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March 15
(2 ½ months after the plan year)
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Excess Contributions
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Deadline for plan administrator to distribute any excess contributions and earnings from the prior year to avoid 10% excise tax on employer (other than eligible automatic contribution arrangements (EACAs)).
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401(k) Plans Other Than EACAs
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March 31
(last day of 3rd month following the end of the prior plan year)
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Certification of Adjusted Funding Target Attainment Percentage (AFTAP)
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Deadline for actuary to certify AFTAP to avoid presumption that AFTAP is 10 points less than prior year AFTAP.
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Defined Benefit Plans
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*Qualified Retirement Plans include all defined benefit and defined contribution plans that are intended to satisfy Code §401(a).
