Guest Article

(From the September 5, 2006 issue of Deloitte's Washington Bulletin, a periodic update of legal and regulatory developments relating to Employee Benefits.)

Advance Copy of 2006 Form 5500 and Instructions Now Available

The Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) have released advance copies of the 2006 Form 5500 and instructions. The advance copies, which are available at www.dol.gov/ebsa/5500main.html#2006, are for information purposes only and may not be used for filing. Also, the EBSA and PBGC released the advance copies before the Pension Protection Act (PPA) of 2006 (P.L. 109-280) was enacted, so any changes required by the new law are not reflected.

Changes to 2006 Form 5500 and Instructions

According to the advance copy of the instructions, the following are the "changes to note" for 2006:

Effect of PPA on Form 5500 Annual Reports

The PPA does make changes to the Form 5500 annual reporting requirement, although it does not appear the PPA will require significant changes -- and perhaps not any changes -- to the 2006 Form 5500. In fact, the most notable changes will not apply until plan years beginning in 2008 and beyond. These include enhanced reporting requirements for single-employer and multiemployer defined benefit plans, such as adding a statement to the Schedule B explaining the actuarial assumptions and methods used in projecting future retirements and asset distributions under the plan.

The PPA also mandates electronic filing of the Form 5500, again beginning with 2008 plan years, so the DOL can make such filings publicly available over the Internet. (The PPA also requires plan administrators to make the same information available on any Intranet the plan sponsor maintains.) Even before the PPA was enacted, the DOL issued regulations mandating electronic filing of the Form 5500 beginning with 2008 plan years.

The information in this Washington Bulletin is general in nature only and not intended to provide advice or guidance for specific situations. If you have any questions or need additional information about articles appearing in this or previous versions of Washington Bulletin, please contact: Robert Davis 202.879.3094, Elizabeth Drigotas 202.879.4985, Taina Edlund 202.879.4956, Laura Edwards 202.879.4981, Mike Haberman 202.879.4963, Stephen LaGarde 202.879-5608, Bart Massey 202.220.2104, Martha Priddy Patterson 202.879.5634, Tom Pevarnik 202.879.5314, Carlisle Toppin 202.220.2067, Tom Veal 312.946.2595, Deborah Walker 202.879.4955. Copyright 2006, Deloitte.