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Annual Reporting and Disclosure rule (2023)
| What is a significant rule? Significant regulatory action is a term used to describe an agency rule that has had or might have a large impact on the economy, environment, public health, or state or local governments. These actions may also conflict with other rules or presidential priorities. As part of its role in the regulatory review process, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) determines which rules meet this definition. |
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The Annual Reporting and Disclosure is a significant rule issued by the Employee Benefits Security Administration, effective April 25, 2023, that amends regulations regarding annual reporting requirements under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.[1]
Timeline
The following timeline details key rulemaking activity:
- April 25, 2023: The final rule became effective.[1]
- February 24, 2023: The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) published the final rule.[1]
- November 1, 2021: The comment period ended.[1]
- September 15, 2021: The EBSA published the proposed rule and opened the comment period.[1]
Background
The Internal Revenue Code (Code), as well as Titles I and IV Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) require pension and benefits plans to file Form 5500 Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan and Form 5500-SF Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan. This final rule conforms these forms to the Notice of Final Forms Revisions (NFFR).[1]
Summary of the rule
The following is a summary of the rule from the rule's entry in the Federal Register:[1]
| “ | This document contains amendments to Department of Labor (DOL) regulations relating to annual reporting requirements under Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). The amendments contained in this document conform the DOL reporting regulations to revisions to the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan and Form 5500-SF Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan being published in this issue of the Federal Register in a separate Notice of Final Forms Revisions (NFFR) jointly by DOL, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Conforming changes also are being made to the requirements for the summary annual report. The regulatory amendments in this rule and revisions in the NFFR affect employee benefit plans, plan sponsors, administrators, and service providers to plans subject to annual reporting requirements under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code.[2] | ” |
Summary of provisions
The following is a summary of the provisions from the rule's entry in the Federal Register:[1]
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1. Section 2520.103-1(a) Section 2520.103-1 generally describes the content of the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report and includes a description of the content for a simplified report, limited exemption, or alternative method of compliance for ERISA-covered employee welfare and pension benefit plans, as applicable to satisfy annual reporting requirements under Title I of ERISA. This final rule amends § 2520.103-1(a) to add text cross-referencing to the DCG and GIA reporting options in §§ 2520.104-46, 2520.104-51, 2520.104a-6 and 2520.104a-9. It also adds a reference to “section 202 of the SECURE Act” in § 2520.103-1(a)(2) as authority for the consolidated report option under new §§ 2520.103-14 and 2520.104-51 for defined contribution group (DCG) reporting arrangements. 2. Sections 2520.103-1(b)(1) and 2520.103-1(c)(1) Paragraphs (b) and (c) of § 2520.103-1 generally describe the contents of the annual report for large plans (generally those with 100 or more participants) and small plans (generally those with fewer than 100 participants). This final rule amends § 2520.103-1(b)(1), (c)(1) and (c)(2)(i) to add a new multiple-employer plan schedule, Schedule MEP, to the list of schedules and attachments required to be included with the Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF, as applicable, filed for MEPs. 3. Section 2520.103-1(c)(2)(ii) Paragraph (c) of § 2520.103-1 describes the conditions under which an eligible small plan (generally with fewer than 100 participants) may file the Form 5500-SF. Consistent with the proposed forms revisions to amend the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report published by the Agencies in the September 2021 proposal, and the final forms revisions published by the DOL in December 2021, this final rule adds § 2520.103-1(c)(2)(ii)(F) to state that MEPs that are PEPs as described in ERISA section 3(43) are not permitted to use the Form 5500-SF regardless of whether the plan meets the size and other requirements for filing a Form 5500-SF. The final rule also adds a new § 2520.103-1(c)(2)(ii)(G) to provide a similar prohibition on filing the Form 5500-SF for DCG reporting arrangements, as discussed in more detail below. 4. Sections 2520.103-5, 2520.103-10, 2520.103-14, 2520.104-51, 2520.104a-5 and 2520.104a-9—Consolidated Form 5500 Annual Return/Report for Plans Participating in a DCG Reporting Arrangement The final rule amends ERISA annual reporting regulations to implement the SECURE Act section 202 directive to the Secretary of Labor to jointly with the Secretary of the Treasury provide for a single, consolidated Form 5500 filing option that would satisfy the annual reporting obligations for the defined contribution pension plans participating in the DCG reporting arrangement.[11] Under this final rule, several conditions relating to the DCG reporting arrangement, the participating plans, and the content of the Form 5500 filing must be satisfied before the consolidated filing satisfies the annual reporting requirements of the separate participating plans. The NFFR describes those conditions in detail. The conditions also are set forth in the new regulations at 29 CFR 2520.103-14 and 2520.104-51.[2] |
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Significant impact
- See also: Significant regulatory action
Executive Order 12866, issued by President Bill Clinton (D) in 1993, directed the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to determine which agency rules qualify as significant rules and thus are subject to OMB review.
Significant rules have had or might have a large impact on the economy, environment, public health, or state or local governments. These actions may also conflict with other rules or presidential priorities. Executive Order 12866 further defined an economically significant rule as a significant rule with an associated economic impact of $100 million or more. Executive Order 14094, issued by President Joe Biden (D) on April 6, 2023, made changes to Executive Order 12866, including referring to economically significant rules as section 3(f)(1) significant rules and raising the monetary threshold for economic significance to $200 million or more.[1]
The text of the Annual Reporting and Disclosure rule states that OMB deemed this rule economically significant under E.O. 12866:
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OMB has determined that this rule is economically significant within the meaning of section 3(f)(1) of the Executive order.[2] |
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Text of the rule
The full text of the rule is available below:[1]
See also
External links
Footnotes
