Form 5500 Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan and Form 5500-SF Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan may be receiving some changes effective January 1, 2019 should the Department of Labor’s proposed revisions be passed. These changes are aimed to better the filing process, as well enhance data mining and improve information reporting, especially with 401k and benefit plans.
Proposed changes are highlighted under the following categories: Modernize Financial and Investment Reporting by Pension Plans, Support Oversight of Group Health Plans and Ongoing Implementation of PPACA, Reporting to Satisfy Public Health Service Act Sections 2715A and 2717. Focuses within these categories also include a heightened disclosure of financial information from providers, which includes a mandatory filing of Form 5500 every year.
There is also a proposed “Schedule J”—being Group Health Plan Information—that would be included as a proposed required reporting for all plans that are covered by Title I of the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). ERISA would begin processing the 2019 tax year forms beginning on January 1, 2020.
This move from the DOL comes after years of Form 5500 coming into question, as annual reporting with the existing 5500 led to misinformation and inaccuracies when it came to health providers’ annual reporting.