Plan Term - Due Date ?

Calendar year DB plan. Plan termination date = 9/30/17.

The final due date for the 2017 MRC changes to 8.5 months from 9/30/17.

The 2017 5500 filing due date does not change, correct?  

Not correct. The due date is 4/30/2018 unless extended until 7/15/2018

Calavera, I take Cloudy's question to mean the Plan was formally terminated 9/30 but assets haven't been distributed yet since they still need to fund the MRC for the 2017 year.

So yes I believe recent IRS guidance (i forget which) makes the MRC due 8.5 months after the formal termination of 9/30. So June 15, 2018 if I did the math correctly.

Since you have a calendar year plan that had assets at 12/31/2017 the Form 5500 would be due 7/31/2018 without extension.

Unless they shortened the Plan Year to 9/30.

The assets have not been distributed. I should have included that fact in my original post. Thank you!

55 minutes ago, Cloudy said:

The assets have not been distributed. I should have included that fact in my original post. Thank you!

If assets have not been distributed and you didn't change plan year, then in this case I agree that the filing due date does not change.

23 hours ago, Lou S. said:

So yes I believe recent IRS guidance (i forget which) makes the MRC due 8.5 months after the formal termination of 9/30.

I am not aware of this guidance. Can anybody provide a reference to this guidance?

The preamble from the 2009 Final 430 regs reads in part:

"These regulations clarify that the rules for short plan years apply for the year of termination by specifying that if a plan terminates before the last day of a plan year, then, for purposes of section 430, the plan is treated as having a short plan year that ends on the termination date.  As a result, the minimum required contribution for such a plan is determined based on that short plan year.  If a plan terminates before the date that would otherwise have been the valuation date for a plan year, then the valuation date for the plan year must be changed so that it falls within the short plan year. "

The actual language of the regs essentially repeats the above, as you would expect:

1.430(a)-1(b)(5) Terminated plans (i) Short plan year.  If a plan’s termination date occurs during a plan year but before the last day of a plan year, then, for purposes of section 430, the plan is treated as having a short plan year that ends on the termination date.

I didn't think a plan term necessarily created a short plan year for 5500 purposes...

Form EOB.  It's the paying out of assets that triggers SPY for 5500 purposes.

Final distribution of assets creates short reporting period. ERISA §101(c) prescribes the filing of a terminal report for a terminated plan. The Form 5500 series is used to satisfy this requirement. There is a box to check on the form to indicate it is the final return. The final return is filed for the plan year in which the final distribution of assets occurs, which is not necessarily the year in which the plan termination date falls. The 5500 instructions state that the date on which final distribution of assets occurs ends the plan year for reporting purposes, creating a short plan year. The return is due on the last day of the 7th calendar month following that date, unless an extension is granted. If the current year 5500 series is not available yet, use the latest form available and indicate the reporting period. For example, suppose a calendar year plan terminated in June of 2011, but final distribution of assets is not completed until March 20, 2012. The final return is for the short plan year from January 1 through March 20, 2012. The return would be due October 31, 2012, because October is 7th calendar month following the month in which the short period ends (March). The 2012 Form 5500 series would not be available yet, so the final return may be submitted on the 2011 form.

24 minutes ago, BG5150 said:

I didn't think a plan term necessarily created a short plan year for 5500 purposes...

It doesn't. The above is only talking about 430.

It has always been my understanding that a plan is not terminated until all plan assets have been distributed.  Since a MRC is being awaited and the balance of the plan assets remain in the plan, the plan has not terminated for 5500 purposes even though the PBGC has approved a termination date.  

The plan year will continue to be the plan year until all plan assets are distributed and then the date of the final distribution becomes the last day of the last plan year.

Round and round we go......

Thanks Mike. I guess "recent" is a subjective term for me.

23 hours ago, Mike Preston said:

1.430(a)-1(b)(5) Terminated plans (i) Short plan year.  If a plan’s termination date occurs during a plan year but before the last day of a plan year, then, for purposes of section 430, the plan is treated as having a short plan year that ends on the termination date.

Thanks Mike. Looks like another absolutely stupid idea but what do I know.

Interesting enough, the proposed 1.430(a)-1 did not have this -1(b)(5) section.