PSA--Florida extended to 2/15/23

In case anyone not aware--all parts of Florida are extended until 2/15/23.

Thank you for sharing the news.

While I won’t suggest a filer claim relief it does not need, perhaps BenefitsLink mavens can help resolve an ambiguity in the news about filing relief.

If a Form 5500 report claims Hurricane Ian relief but neither the plan sponsor’s mailing address in line 2a nor the plan administrator’s mailing address in line 3a shows Florida (or another disaster-designated place), will the Employee Benefits Security Administrator or the Internal Revenue Service question whether the filer gets the disaster-extended due date? Or do EBSA and IRS accept the filer’s statement (made under penalties of perjury) that the filing gets the disaster relief?

If the filing relief is not on the honor system:

What if none of the plan sponsor’s or plan administrator’s offices is in or anywhere near Florida, but the employee responsible for the Form 5500 report ordinarily works from her work-from-home office in Florida?

What if the recordkeeper or third-party administrator that assembles a Form 5500 report (but does not electronically submit it) ordinarily works from its office in Florida? How would EBSA or the IRS check whether the filer gets the disaster-extended due date?

If the filer’s reason for Hurricane Ian relief is that the independent qualified public accountant ordinarily works from its office in Florida, how would EBSA or the IRS check whether the filer gets the disaster-extended due date?

My recollection from looking into it with regard to last year's hurricane Ida relief is that the relief is available if a plan's service provider is located in the declared disaster area, however, the plan administrator should be prepared to receive correspondence from the government agencies and to provide evidence (or at least a statement) that the disaster actually prevented them from filing timely. In other words, the extension is not automatic; if the plan administrator could have filed timely, then the extension would not be automatically granted merely because the service provider was located in the disaster area.

Presumably the relief for hurricane Ian is granted under similar principles.

It's interesting to note that the relief granted for Form 5500 filers is actually retroactive - it extends to returns due on or after September 15, even though the disaster did not occur until September 23.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-announces-tax-relief-for-victims-of-hurricane-ian-in-florida

4 hours ago, C. B. Zeller said:

In other words, the extension is not automatic; if the plan administrator could have filed timely, then the extension would not be automatically granted merely because the service provider was located in the disaster area.

You are probably referring to the "Taxpayers not in the covered disaster area, but whose records necessary to meet a deadline"  part of the relief.  The IRS will (or is supposed to) cross reference the location of the taxpayer and automatically apply the relief based on zip code. Relief based on a service provider in the disaster area is not automatically applied by the IRS since they don't have the information to cross reference.  Expect correspondence, but relief is still granted based on the location of the service provider.  Relief based on service provider location is not determined on a case by case basis, they are not going to apply a facts and circumstances test to determine whether the PA could have filed timely.  They will simply verify that the zip code of the provider is in the disaster area.

What can you do as a service provider?  You can submit a bulk request from practitioners for disaster relief, which lists clients impacted due to practitioners location in a disaster area.    This alerts the IRS that taxpayer is entitled to relief due to the location of the preparer.  While the IRS will not tell you this up front, you should also attach the explanation to your filing.  I had several IRS employees tell me this a few years ago when a hurricane knocked out the office power for 10 days in September-October.  If you have a POA you can also call the IRS to identify the client.