Employee Benefits Security Administration releases field assistance bulletin on annual reporting by 403(b) plans

Washington - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today released Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2009-02 that provides guidance to field investigators regarding certain Form 5500 requirements dealing with tax-sheltered annuity programs.

In 2007, EBSA made changes to annual reporting rules under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to, among other things, require that not-for-profit employers with Internal Revenue Code 403(b) retirement plans covered by ERISA comply, starting this year, with the same financial reporting rules that apply to 401(k) plans.

The FAB provides transition relief for plan administrators of 403(b) plans who make a good faith effort to comply with applicable annual reporting requirements for the 2009 plan year. FAB 2009-02 allows 403(b) plans to avoid the administrative burden and expense of having to collect and include in their 2009 Form 5500 financial report information on certain individual annuity contracts and mutual fund custodial accounts of current and former employees which were entered into before 2009 and for which the employer has no ongoing contribution obligation.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued separate transition relief for 403(b) plans under new final regulations applicable to these types of plans. This FAB complements the IRS transition relief.

The FAB is part of the department’s ongoing compliance assistance program to help employers, plan officials, service providers and others comply with ERISA. Field Assistance Bulletins are available on the Internet at www.dol.gov/ebsa.

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