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Two House members want to eliminate an annoying problem for employer retirement plan sponsors: a Form 5500 filing process that often forces employers to ask the Internal Revenue Service for filing extensions.
Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., and Rep. Donald Norcross, D-N.J., have teamed up to introduce the Form 5500 Filing Simplification Act bill.
The IRS, the U.S. Labor Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. use employer plans' Form 5500 to administer federal rules and monitor the condition of the employee benefits markets.
Today, many employers must ask the IRS for filing extensions to complete all of the steps necessary to file 5500 forms for their retirement plans, according to Grothman.
The new Grothman-Norcross bill would establish "a single, uniform filing deadline for retirement plans" and could reduce the need for employers to ask the IRS for extensions, according to a press release announcing the introduction of the bill.
Legislative mechanics: The bill is under the jurisdiction of the House Education and Workforce Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. Grothman and Norcross both serve on the House Education and Workforce Committee.
Grothman is the lead sponsor of the bill and Norcross is a bill co-sponsor. The bill also has seven Republican co-sponsors.
The list of groups supporting the bill includes the American Retirement Association, the ERISA Industry Committee and the American Benefits Council.
At press time, the text of the bill was not available on Grothman's website or in the Congress.gov legislative database.
It was not clear whether the bill would affect employer health plans' Form 5500 filings.
The future: Supporters may be able to move the new Form 5500 deadline bill through Congress using procedures designed for simple, popular, bipartisan bills.
Supporters may also be able to get the bill through Congress by attaching it to other legislation.
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