"Proper filing is perhaps even more important than ever ... [E]arlier this year, [EBSA] issued a lengthy report ... [which] criticizes the quality of many employee benefit plan audit reports ... [and] calls for changes in the process, and the laws, regarding audit report preparation.... [This] will undoubtedly bring increased focus and attention to the audit reports that plan sponsors file with their Form 5500s ... [and] lead to scrutiny of overall plan matters for plan sponsors who file sloppy audit reports. Second, the IRS recently announced that it is teaming up with DOL to identify employers who are required to file Form 5500s, but failed to do so.... The nonfiling issue raises an interesting question, which is whether a Form 5500 that is filed might be incomplete to such an extent that the IRS or DOL considers it to be delinquent, and thus subject to nonfiler penalties."

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