Employee Benefits Security Administration announces outreach and compliance assistance for 403(b) plans

Washington – The U. S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) announced new outreach and compliance assistance efforts for 403(b) pension plans subject to Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The initiatives are part of the agency's ongoing compliance assistance program to help employers, plan officials and service providers.

The department is sending a letter to administrators of the approximately 16,000 403(b) plans subject to ERISA to remind them that their 2009 Form 5500 annual reporting requirements have changed and to direct them to various EBSA resources for help in understanding and complying with the new requirements.

Like administrators of 401(k) plans, 403(b) plan administrators now must file basic financial and other compliance information annually with the government on a Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF (a simplified report that many small 403(b) plans can use). Large plans (generally those with 100 or more participants) must include a report of an independent qualified public accountant with their Form 5500. All Form 5500s beginning with the 2009 plan year must be filed electronically using the department's new EFAST2 system.

The department's outreach letter points out that EBSA has also issued specific legal guidance and has several publications that are designed to explain the new annual reporting and electronic filing rules. For example, a new Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2010-01 released today was developed to answer many frequently asked questions from the 403(b) community on the new Form 5500 reporting requirements. The department also published a brochure entitled Getting Ready for Changes in Filing Your Plan's Annual Return/Report Form 5500. All of these materials are available on a newly created EBSA Web site at www.dol.gov/ebsa-copy/403b.html that focuses on Code 403(b) plan issues. The letter also directs administrators to a toll-free Form 5500 help desk that is available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (ET) at 866.463.3278.