Retirement Updates

IRS Provides Form 5500 Filing Relief after Hurricane Helene

October 09, 2024

On October 1, 2024, the IRS announced disaster tax relief for all individuals and businesses affected by Hurricane Helene, including the entire states of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina and parts of Florida, Tennessee, and Virginia.

The relief includes the postponement of filing until May 1, 2025, for any Form 5500 series returns that were or are required to be filed by “affected taxpayers” on or after September 24, 2024, and before May 1, 2025, and applies to both retirement and health and welfare plan filings. By regulation, permitted postponements by the IRS under these circumstances are also deemed permitted by the DOL and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation for similarly situated plan administrators and direct filing entities.

For these purposes, “affected taxpayers” are generally plan sponsors located in covered disaster areas as well as plan sponsors unable to obtain information necessary for completing the forms from a bank, insurance company, or any other service provider on a timely basis because such service provider’s operations are in a covered disaster area.

Per Form 5500 instructions, plan sponsors relying on this special extension should check the appropriate box on Form 5500, Part I, line D, and enter a description of the announced authority for the extension. For these purposes, one or more of the below IRS announcements should be referenced as applicable:

PPI Benefit Solutions does not provide legal or tax advice. Compliance, regulatory and related content is for general informational purposes and is not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. You should consult an attorney or tax professional regarding the application or potential implications of laws, regulations or policies to your specific circumstances.

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