Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2012/06/21/2012-15068/reporting-and-notice-requirements-for-deferred-vested-benefits-under-section-6057
Timestamp: 2017-10-21 12:05:51
Document Index: 491562892

Matched Legal Cases: ['§\u2009301', '§\u20092520', '§\u2009601', '§\u20091', '§\u20091', '§\u20091', '§\u20091', '§\u20091', '§\u2009301', '§\u2009301', '§\u2009601', '§\u20091', 'art 1', '§\u2009301', '§\u2009601', '§\u2009301']

Federal Register :: Reporting and Notice Requirements for Deferred Vested Benefits Under Section 6057
37352-37356 (5 pages)
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2012-15068 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2012-15068
Send submissions to CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG-153627-08), Room 5205, Internal Revenue Service, P.O. Box 7604, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044. Submissions may be hand-delivered Monday through Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG-153627-08), Courier's Desk, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC, 20224 or sent electronically via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov (IRS REG-153627-08).
The collection of information contained in this notice of proposed rulemaking has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget for review in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507(d)) under 1545-2187 and 1545-0212. Comments on the collection of information should be sent to the Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for the Department of the Treasury, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Washington, DC 20503, with copies to the Internal Revenue Service, Attn: IRS Reports Clearance Officer, SE:CAR:MP:T:T:SP; Washington, DC 20224. Comments on the collection of information should be received by August 20, 2012. Comments are specifically requested concerning:
The collection of information in these proposed regulations is in §§ 301.6057-1 and 1.6081-11. This information is required in order to comply with the reporting and notice requirements of section 6057 and to provide automatic extensions of time for filing certain employee plan returns under section 6081. Information relating to these proposed regulations will be collected through Form 8955-SSA and Form 5558. This information relates to plan participants who separate from service covered under the plan and who are entitled to deferred vested retirement benefits under the plan. Any burden relating to these proposed regulations will be included and reported in the next revisions of Form 8955-SSA and Form 5558, after these proposed regulations are accepted as final.
Since the enactment of ERISA, the Schedule SSA, a schedule to the Form 5500, “Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan,” has been the form used by plan administrators to comply with the reporting requirements of section 6057. On July 21, 2006, the Department of Labor (DOL) published a final rule in the Federal Register (71 FR 41359) requiring electronic filing of the Form 5500 series for plan years beginning after January 1, 2008. On November 16, 2007, the DOL published a final rule in the Federal Register (72 FR 64710) postponing the effective date of the electronic filing mandate to apply to plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009. See 29 CFR § 2520.104a-2.
In order to implement the DOL's mandate for electronic filing of the Form 5500, the IRS-only schedules to the Form 5500, including the Schedule SSA, were eliminated from the Form 5500. One result of the elimination of the Schedule SSA is that Form 5500 filings that include Schedule SSA information regarding participants are now subject to rejection (even for late or amended filings for plan years before 2009). The Schedule SSA was replaced by Form 8955-SSA, “Annual Registration Statement Identifying Separated Participants With Deferred Vested Benefits,” an IRS-only stand-alone form. Announcement 2011-21 (2011-12 IRB 567), see § 601.601(d)(2), designates Form 8955-SSA as the form to be used to satisfy the reporting requirements of section 6057 for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009. Announcement 2011-21 also established an annual due date for the filing of the Form 8955-SSA. In general, if a Form 8955-SSA must be filed for a plan year, it must be filed by the last day of the 7th month following the last day of that plan year (plus extensions).
Section 1.6081-1(a) of the Income Tax Regulations provides that the Commissioner is authorized to grant a reasonable extension of time for filing any return, declaration, statement, or other document that relates to any tax imposed under subtitle A of the Code. Under § 1.6081-1(b), the application must be in writing, be signed by the taxpayer or his representative, and set forth the reason for requesting an extension.
Section 1.6081-11 of the regulations provides that a plan administrator or sponsor of an employee benefit plan required to file a Form 5500 will be allowed an automatic extension of the time to file the Form 5500. To receive an automatic extension of time to file, the plan administrator or sponsor must complete a Form 5558, “Application for Extension of Time to File Certain Employee Benefit Returns,” and file the application with the Internal Revenue Service on or before the date that the Form 5500 series return must be filed.
Form 5558 is used to request an automatic extension of time to file a Form 5500 return or Form 8955-SSA. In accordance with § 1.6081-11 and Form 5558 (including instructions), an application for an extension of time to file a Form 5500 series return need not be signed. However, in accordance with § 1.6081-1, Form 5558 provides that an application for an extension of time to file Form 8955-SSA must be signed.
After the current version of the Form 5558 was issued, several comments were received that questioned the need for a signature to extend the time for filing Form 8955-SSA, particularly since a signature is not required to extend the time to file a Form 5500 series return. The commentators noted that, like its predecessor, the Schedule SSA, the Form 8955-SSA is generally prepared in conjunction with the preparation of a plan's Form 5500. They also stated that a signature requirement for the Form 8955-SSA is likely to cause confusion and missed deadlines because of the different rule for the Form 5500. Finally, the commentators contended that the signature requirement is burdensome for both filers and the IRS because the requirement complicates the extension request process.
The proposed regulations would amend § 1.6081-11, relating to automatic extensions of time for filing certain employee plan returns, by adding the Form 8955-SSA to the list of forms that are covered by the automatic 21/2 month extension that applies by filing Form 5558. This will permit a plan administrator to receive an automatic extension of 21/2 months by submitting, on or before the general due date of the Form 8955-SSA, a Form 5558 indicating that an extension is being requested for filing the Form 8955-SSA. Thus, under the proposed regulations, the same rules that apply to request an extension of time to file the Form 5500 series would also apply to request an extension of time to file Form 8955-SSA. In addition, the proposed regulations would amend § 1.6081-11 to provide that a signature would not be required to request an extension of time to file Form 5500 and Form 8955-SSA. It is anticipated that the Form 5558 and instructions will be revised to reflect this change for the Form 8955-SSA.
As discussed in the background section of this preamble, section 6057(a) requires the plan administrator (within the meaning of section 414(g)) of a plan that is subject to the vesting standards of section 203 of ERISA to file, within the time prescribed by regulations, a registration statement that sets forth certain information on deferred vested participants. Under existing § 301.6057-1(c)(1) of the Procedure and Administration regulations, the plan administrator of an employee benefit plan described in § 301.6057-1(a)(3), or any other employee retirement benefit plan (including a governmental or church plan), may at its option file on the Schedule SSA information relating to the deferred vested retirement benefit of any plan participant who separates at any time from service covered under the plan. These proposed regulations would retain the ability of such plans to report deferred vested information on a voluntary basis but require that the information be submitted to the IRS on Form 8955-SSA. The proposed regulations would also delegate authority to the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service to provide special rules under section 6057 (including designating the form used to comply with section 6057) in revenue rulings, notices, or other guidance published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin (see § 601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b) of this chapter). Finally, the proposed regulations would delete certain obsolete transition rules and update cross-references in §§ 1.6057-1 and 1.6057-2.
Before these proposed regulations are adopted as final regulations, consideration will be given to any comments that are submitted timely to the IRS as prescribed in this preamble under the Addresses heading. The IRS and Treasury Department request comments on all aspects of the proposed rules. All comments are available at www.regulations.gov or upon request. A public hearing will be scheduled if requested in writing by any person who timely submits written comments. If a public hearing is scheduled, notice of the date, time, and place of the public hearing will be published in the Federal Register.
Paragraph 1. The authority citation for part 1 continues to read in part as
§ 301.6057-1
(iii) Delegation of authority to Commissioner. The Commissioner may provide special rules under section 6057 (including designating the form used to comply with section 6057) in revenue rulings, notices, or other guidance published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin (see § 601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b) of this chapter) that the Commissioner determines to be necessary or appropriate with respect to the filing requirements under section 6057.
(iii) Exception. Notwithstanding paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section, no information relating to a participant's deferred vested retirement benefit is required to be filed on Form 8955-SSA if, before the date such Form 8955-SSA is required to be filed (including any extension of time for filing granted pursuant to section 6081), the participant—
(ii) Inability to determine correct amount of participant's deferred vested retirement benefit. The plan administrator must indicate on Form 8955-SSA that the amount of a participant's deferred vested retirement benefit showed therein may be other than that to which the participant is actually entitled if such amount is computed on the basis of plan records that the plan administrator maintains and such records—
(A) Are incomplete with respect to the participant's service covered by the plan (as described in paragraph (b)(3)(i) of this section); or
(B) Fail to account for the participant's service not covered by the plan which is relevant to a determination of the participant's deferred vested retirement benefit under the plan (as described in paragraph (b)(3)(i) of this section).
(iii) Inability to determine whether participant vested in deferred retirement benefit. Where, as described in paragraph (b)(3)(i) of this section, information to be reported on Form 8955-SSA is to be based upon records which are incomplete with respect to a participant's service covered by the plan or which fail to take into account relevant service not covered by the plan, the plan administrator may be unable to determine whether or not the participant is vested in any deferred retirement benefit. If, in view of information provided either by the incomplete records or the plan participant, there is a significant likelihood that the plan participant is vested in a deferred retirement benefit under the plan, information relating to the participant must be filed on Form 8955-SSA with the notation that the participant may be entitled to a deferred vested benefit under the plan, but information relating to the amount of the benefit may be omitted. This paragraph (b)(3)(iii) does not apply in a case in which it can be determined from plan records maintained by the plan administrator that the participant is vested in a deferred retirement benefit. Paragraph (b)(3)(ii) of this section, however, may apply in such a case.
(2) Deleting previously filed information. If, after information relating to the deferred vested retirement benefit of a plan participant is filed on Form 8955-SSA (or a predecessor to Form 8955-SSA), the plan participant is paid some or all of the deferred vested retirement benefit under the plan or forfeits all of the deferred vested retirement benefit under the plan, the plan administrator may, at its option, file on Form 8955-SSA (or such other form as may be provided for this purpose) the name and Social Security number of the plan participant with the notation that information previously filed relating to the participant's deferred vested retirement benefit should be deleted.
(d) Filing incident to cessation of payment of benefits—(1) In general. No information relating to the deferred vested retirement benefit of a plan participant is required to be filed on Form 8955-SSA if before the date such Form 8955-SSA is required to be filed, some of the deferred vested retirement benefit is paid to the participant, and information relating to a participant's deferred vested retirement benefit which was previously filed on Form 8955-SSA (or a predecessor to Form 8955-SSA) may be deleted if the participant is paid some of the deferred vested retirement benefit. If payment of the deferred vested retirement benefit ceases before all of the benefit to which the participant is entitled is paid to the participant, information relating to the deferred vested retirement benefit to which the participant remains entitled shall be filed on the Form 8955-SSA filed for the plan year following the last plan year within which a portion of the benefit is paid to the participant.
Par. 6. Section 301.6057-2 is amended by revising paragraph (c) as follows:
§ 301.6057-2
[FR Doc. 2012-15068 Filed 6-20-12; 8:45 am]