DOL News: Informational Copies of 2007 IRS Form 5500/DFVCP Interactive Calculator/ERISA Fiduciary Advisor

The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has released some useful information and tools on their website:

1. Informational Copies of the 2007 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan and related instructions – The news release describes the following significant changes:
   

   "A new simplified reporting option for eligible plans with fewer than 25 participants required by the Pension Protection Act (PPA).
   

   Revised Schedule B instructions to reflect the updated mortality tables and the list of codes used for valuation purposes, as well as for calculating current liability for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2007.
   

   Instructions that caution certain filers that, due to form changes required by the PPA that will appear in the 2008 Form 5500, they will have to wait for the 2008 forms rather than using the 2007 forms if they must file a 2008 short plan year report.
   

   This package represents the ordinary annual release of information copies of the forms and instructions for 2007. Revisions of the Form 5500 package for 2009 along with electronic filing and EFAST2 changes are expected to be released soon."
   

2. Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program (DFVCP) Interactive Calculator – The DOL website launched an interactive calculator to determine the penalties owed under the DFVCP. "The DFVCP calculator, available at askebsa.dol.gov/dfvc, makes it possible to accurately and simply determine the amount of civil penalties owed under the program by plugging in the type of plan, size of plan and number of filings." Here is a link to the news release. For more information, see the related blog posts:
   
   Behind in your IRS Forms 5500 filings?
   Extending the IRS Form 5500
   
   
3. The ERISA Fiduciary Advisor Interactive Web Tool – The news release announces the release of an interactive web tool:
   
   "The ERISA Fiduciary Advisor is designed to help employers and others who provide services to private sector retirement plans understand their responsibilities. The advisor provides an overview of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), including the most common mistakes EBSA finds in its investigations, and provides links to additional information as well as tools to assist plan officials. Strong fiduciary oversight and compliance assistance are both high priorities for EBSA.
   
   The ERISA Fiduciary Advisor, at www.dol.gov/elaws/ERISAFiduciary.htm, provides:
   
   An overview of basic fiduciary responsibilities.
   Interactive questions and answers.
   Resource material.
   
   The new Web portal guides users through easy-to-use windows to navigate valuable tools and facts about retirement laws. The e-tool is part of EBSA's continuing efforts to expand the nationwide campaign launched by Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao in 2004 to improve workers' health and retirement security by educating employers and service providers about their fiduciary responsibilities under ERISA."
   

The items discussed in this post can also be found in the Rules and Regulations section of our website by selecting DOL Proposed Regulations/DOL News.