In Announcement 2011-21, the IRS released details regarding filing requirements for the new Form 8955-SSA, which will be used to report participants with deferred vested benefits from an employer-sponsored retirement plan. For calendar year plans, the 2009 8955-SSA due date (without extension) will generally be August 1, 2011.
As mentioned in our earlier post on the 8955-SSA, this annual filing replaces the former Form 5500 Schedule SSA. In general, plan sponsors filed their 2009 Form 5500 without the Schedule SSA and have been waiting for further guidance with regards to the 8955-SSA. Additional details from the announcement are summarized below.
Availability of Forms
– The 2009 8955-SSA is expected to be released shortly.
– The 2010 8955-SSA is still in development and is expected to be available later this year. However, plan sponsors may choose to use the 2009 form to complete the 2010 filing.
Filing Method
– The announcement indicates that e-filing of the 2009 8955-SSA is voluntary, and an e-filing system is ready to accept these filings once the forms are available. This makes is sound like plan sponsors may elect to file the 2009 8955-SSA on paper.
– Presumably the IRS intends to mandate e-filing for 2010 and later 8955-SSA filings.
Filing Deadline
– In general, the Form 8955-SSA is due by the last day of the 7th month after the end of the plan year, plus extensions. For calendar year plan, this usually translates to July 31 (or October 15 with extensions).
– For 2009 and 2010, the 8955-SSA is due by the later of:
- The usual 2010 plan year due date, or
- August 1, 2011
– The IRS is in the process of revising Form 5558 (application for extension of time to file) to accommodate the 8955-SSA. Our understanding is that plan sponsors may apply for extensions to the 2009 and 2010 deadlines mentioned above.
– If a plan sponsor has already filed a 2009 Schedule SSA (or is finishing a 2009 or 2010 Schedule SSA), then the filing requirements are deemed to be satisfied if the schedule is submitted to the IRS by April 20, 2011. In this case, no 8955-SSA is required to be filed for the 2009 and/or 2010 plan years.
We’ll be passing along more information on the new Form 8955-SSA filing as it becomes available.
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