Proposed Revision of Annual Information Return/Reports

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Employee Benefits Security
Administration
29 CFR Part 2520
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Internal Revenue Service
26 CFR Part 301
PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY
CORPORATION
29 CFR Part 4065
RIN 1210–AB97

Proposed Revision of Annual
Information Return/Reports
Employee Benefits Security
Administration, Labor; Internal Revenue
Service, Treasury; Pension Benefit
Guaranty Corporation.
ACTION: Notice of proposed forms
revisions.
AGENCY:

This document contains
proposed changes to the Form 5500
Annual Return/Report forms filed for
employee pension and welfare benefit
plans under the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)
and the Internal Revenue Code (Code).
The proposed form revisions primarily
relate to statutory amendments to ERISA
and the Code enacted as part of the
Setting Every Community Up for
Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019
(SECURE Act). The Department of Labor
(DOL), the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation (PBGC) (collectively
‘‘Agencies’’) are also proposing certain
additional changes intended to improve
reporting on multiemployer defined
benefit pension plan funding, update
Form 5500 financial reporting to make
the financial information collected on
the Form 5500 more useful and usable,
enhance the reporting of certain tax
qualification and other compliance
information by retirement plans, and,
transfer to the DOL Form M–1 (Report
for Multiple Employer Welfare
Arrangements (MEWAs) and Certain
Entities Claiming Exception (ECEs))
(Form M–1) participating employer
information for multiple employer
welfare arrangements that are required
to file the Form M–1. The proposed
revisions would affect employee
pension and welfare benefit plans, plan
sponsors, administrators, and service
providers to plans subject to annual
reporting requirements under ERISA
and the Code.

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SUMMARY:

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Written comments must be
received by the Department of Labor on
or before November 1, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written
comments, identified by RIN 1210–
AB97, by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
To facilitate receipt and processing of
comments, the Agencies encourage
interested parties to submit their
comments electronically.
Mail: Office of Regulations and
Interpretations, Employee Benefits
Security Administration, Room N–5655,
U.S. Department of Labor, 200
Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC
20210, Attention: Proposed Form 5500
Revisions RIN 1210–AB97.
Instructions: All submissions must
include the agency name and Regulatory
Identifier Number (RIN) for this
rulemaking. The Agencies will share
any comment submitted to one of the
Agencies individually with the other
Agencies. To avoid unnecessary
duplication of effort, the DOL also will
treat public comments submitted in
response to this Notice of Proposed
Forms Revisions as public comments on
the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to
the extent they include information
relevant to the proposed regulatory
amendments. If you submit comments
electronically, do not submit paper
copies. Comments will be available to
the public, without charge, online at:
http://www.regulations.gov and http://
www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa and at the
Public Disclosure Room, Employee
Benefits Security Administration, Suite
N–1513, 200 Constitution Ave. NW,
Washington, DC 20210.
Warning: Do not include any
personally identifiable or confidential
business information that you do not
want publicly disclosed. Comments are
public records posted on the internet as
received and can be retrieved by most
internet search engines.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Janet Song or Colleen Brisport Sequeda,
Office of Regulations and
Interpretations, Employee Benefits
Security Administration, U.S.
Department of Labor, (202) 693–8500 for
questions related to reporting
requirements under Title I of ERISA. For
information related to the IRS changes
and questions under the Internal
Revenue Code, contact Cathy
Greenwood, Employee Plans Program
Management Office, Tax Exempt and
Government Entities, (470) 639–2503.
For information related to PBGC
changes, including proposed changes to
the actuarial schedules, contact Karen B.
DATES:

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

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Levin, Regulatory Affairs Division,
Office of the General Counsel, Pension
Benefit Guaranty Corporation, (202)
229–3559.
Customer service information:
Individuals interested in obtaining
general information from the DOL
concerning Title I of ERISA may call the
EBSA Toll-Free Hotline at 1–866–444–
EBSA (3272) or visit the DOL’s website
(www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Overview of the Proposal
A. Background of Form 5500 Annual
Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan
Sections 101 and 104 of Title I and
section 4065 of Title IV of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
(ERISA) and sections 6057(b), 6058(a),
and 6059(a) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 (Code), and related
regulations, impose annual reporting
and filing obligations on pension and
welfare benefit plans, as well as on
certain other entities. Plan
administrators, employers, and others
generally satisfy these annual reporting
obligations by filing the Form 5500,
Annual Return/Report of Employee
Benefit Plan (Form 5500), or Form
5500–SF, Short Form Annual Return/
Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan
(Form 5500–SF) (together ‘‘Form 5500
Annual Return/Report’’).1 Specifically,
filing of the Form 5500 or the Form
5500–SF, as applicable, with any
required schedules and attachments in
accordance with the instructions and
related regulations, constitutes
compliance with the applicable annual
reporting requirements under Title I of
ERISA and the Department’s
implementing regulations.2 Filing of a
1 Certain one-participant plans and foreign plans
that are not subject to the requirements of section
104(a) of ERISA are required to file Form 5500–EZ,
Annual Return of One Participant (Owners/Partners
and Their Spouses) Retirement Plan or a Foreign
Plan. Beginning with 2020 forms filed on or after
January 1, 2021, the Form 5500–EZ is required to
be filed electronically through the same system as
the Form 5500—the Form 5500 Electronic Filing
Acceptance System (EFAST2). From 2009 to 2019,
such plans had been permitted to file the Form
5500–SF electronically in lieu of filing the Form
5500–EZ on paper with the IRS. See instructions for
2020 Form 5500–EZ and Form 5500–SF.
2 ERISA section 103 broadly sets out annual
reporting requirements for employee benefit plans.
The Form 5500 Annual Return/Report and the
DOL’s implementing regulations generally are
promulgated under the ERISA provisions
authorizing limited exemptions to these
requirements and simplified reporting and
disclosure for welfare plans under ERISA section
104(a)(3), simplified annual reports under ERISA
section 104(a)(2)(A) for pension plans that cover
fewer than 100 participants, and alternative
methods of compliance for all pension plans under
ERISA section 110. The forms, instructions, and
related regulations are also promulgated under the

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Form 5500 or Form 5500–SF, together
with the required attachments and
schedules in accordance with the
instructions, by plan administrators,
employers, and certain other entities
also satisfies the annual filing and
reporting requirements under Code
sections 6057(b), 6058(a), and 6059(a).
Filing the Form 5500 Annual Return/
Report will also satisfy an applicable
plan administrator’s annual reporting
obligation under section 4065 of Title IV
of ERISA.
The Form 5500 Annual Return/Report
serves as the principal source of
information and data available to the
Agencies concerning the operations,
funding, and investments of
approximately 843,000 pension and
welfare benefit plans that file.3 ERISA
plans cover roughly 154 million
workers, retirees, and dependents of
private sector pension and welfare
plans 4 with estimated assets of $12.2
trillion.5 Accordingly, the Form 5500
Annual Return/Report is essential to
each Agency’s enforcement, research,
and policy formulation programs, as
well for the regulated community,
which makes increasing use of the
information as more capabilities
develop to interact with the data
electronically. The data is also an
important source of information and
data for use by other federal agencies,
Congress, and the private sector in
assessing employee benefit, tax, and
economic trends and policies. The Form
5500 Annual Return/Report also serves
as a primary means by which the
operations of plans can be monitored by
participating employers in multiple
employer plans and other group
arrangements, plan participants and
beneficiaries, and by the general public.
The last time the Agencies
implemented significant changes to the
forms and schedules was for the 2009
form year, in conjunction with the move
to mandatory electronic filing and a
DOL’s general regulatory authority in ERISA
sections 109 and 505.
3 Estimates are based on 2019 Form 5500 filings.
DOL notes that single employer welfare plans with
under 100 participants that are unfunded or insured
(generally don’t hold assets in trust) are exempt
from filing a Form 5500 under 29 CFR 2520.104–
29. Therefore while DOL estimates there are 2.5
million health plans and 885,000 non-health
welfare plans, respectively, only 69,000 and 91,000
of these plans filed a 2019 Form 5500.
4 Source: U.S. Department of Labor, EBSA
calculations using the Auxiliary Data for the March
2019 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to
the Current Population Survey.
5 EBSA based these estimates on the 2018 Form
5500 filings with the U.S. Department of Labor
(DOL), reported SIMPLE assets from the Investment
Company Institute (ICI) Report: The U.S. Retirement
Market, First Quarter 2021, and the Federal Reserve
Board’s Financial Accounts of the United States Z1
June 10, 2021.

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related update to the ERISA Filing
Acceptance System (EFAST2).6 Those
changes were proposed in 2006, 71 FR
41615 (Jul. 21, 2006), and finalized in
2007, effective for the 2009 form series.
72 FR 64731 (Nov. 16, 2007). Other
discrete changes that have been made to
the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report
over those years were generally set forth
annually in the ‘‘Changes to Note’’
section in the instructions, some of
which have involved targeted
rulemaking activity to implement
reporting changes required by law.7 The
Agencies most recent significant
initiative with respect to the Form 5500
was the publication of a proposal to
modernize the forms and instructions in
July 2016. 81 FR 47534 (July 16, 2016)
(Tri-Agency Notice of Proposed Forms
Revisions) and 81 FR 47496 (July 16,
2016) (DOL Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking) (together the 2016
Modernization Proposal). The 2016
Modernization Proposal ultimately was
not adopted as final changes to the
forms, instructions, and regulations,
although a small number of changes that
were included in the 2016 proposal
have been finalized, as set forth in the
‘‘Changes to Note’’ Section in the
instructions to the Form 5500 Annual
Return/Report for the years in which the
changes were made.
B. Recent Legislative Changes
Supporting Proposed Annual Reporting
Improvements
The SECURE Act,8 which overall was
designed to expand and preserve
workers’ retirement savings, is the most
significant legislation impacting ERISA
and Code provisions pertaining to
retirement plans since the Pension
Protection Act of 2006. Among other
things, the SECURE Act directed the
Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of
6 EFAST2 is an all-electronic system that receives
and displays Forms 5500 Series Annual Returns/
Reports and Form PR Pooled Plan Provider
Registrations. EFAST2 is operated by a privatesector government contractor on behalf of DOL, IRS,
and PBGC.
7 See, e.g., Revisions to Annual Return/ReportMultiple-Employer Plans, Interim Final Rule, 79 FR
66617 (Nov. 10, 2014) (updating the Form 5500
instructions to require all multiple employer plans,
including MEWAs, to provide a list of participating
employers and certain financial information, as
required by ERISA section 103(g)); Filings Required
of Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements and
Certain Other Related Entities, Final Rule, 78 FR
13781 (Mar. 1, 2013) (among other things, added
new questions to Form 5500 for MEWAs that are
required to complete the Form 5500 to provide
information on their most recent Form M–1 (Report
for Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements
(MEWAs) and Certain Entities Claiming Exception
(ECEs) filing) (Form M–1).
8 The SECURE Act was enacted December 20,
2019, as Division O of the Further Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2020 (Pub. L. 116–94).

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Treasury (together ‘‘Secretaries’’) to
develop a new aggregate annual
reporting option for certain groups of
retirement plans and included other
statutory amendments that directly
impact annual reporting requirements
for multiple-employer pension plans
(MEPs). In relevant part, the SECURE
Act’s expansion of MEPs and direction
for the Secretaries to establish a
consolidated reporting option for
defined contribution pension plans that
share certain key characteristics should
help expand retirement coverage by
making it easier for record keepers and
other financial services providers to
offer attractive retirement plan
alternatives and for employers,
especially small ones, to pick from
among a broader array of alternatives
what works best for them and their
employees.
Section 202 of the SECURE Act
provides that the Secretaries, shall, in
cooperation, modify the Form 5500
Annual Return/Report so that all
members of a group of defined
contribution individual account plans
described in section 202 may file a
single aggregated annual return/report
satisfying the requirements of both
section 6058 of the Code and section
104 of ERISA. The SECURE Act further
provides that, in developing the
consolidated return/report, the
Secretaries may require any information
regarding each plan in the group as such
Secretaries determine is necessary or
appropriate for the enforcement and
administration of the Code and ERISA.
The SECURE Act also mandates that the
consolidated reporting by such a group
must include such information as will
enable participants in each of the plans
to identify any aggregated return/report
filed with respect to their plan. Section
202 provides that to constitute an
eligible group of plans, all of the plans
in the group must be either individual
account plans or defined contribution
plans as defined in section 3(34) of
ERISA or in section 414(i) of the Code;
must have the same trustee as described
in section 403(a) of ERISA; the same one
or more named fiduciaries as described
in section 402(a) of ERISA; the same
administrator as defined in section
3(16)(A) of ERISA and plan
administrator as defined in section
414(g) of the Code; must have plan years
beginning on the same date; and must
provide the same investments or
investment options to participants and
beneficiaries. Section 202 further
provides that a plan not subject to Title
I of ERISA shall be treated as meeting
these requirements for being eligible to
be part of a consolidated reporting

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group of plans, if the same person that
performs each of the functions
described in the above requirements, as
applicable, for all other plans in such
group performs each of such functions
for such plan.9
Section 101 of the SECURE Act
amended ERISA section 3(2) and added
ERISA sections 3(43) and 3(44) to allow
for a new type of ERISA-covered MEP—
a defined contribution pension plan
called a ‘‘pooled employer plan’’
operated by a ‘‘pooled plan provider.’’
Pooled employer plans allow multiple
unrelated employers to participate
without the need for any common
interest among the participating
employers (other than having adopted
the plan).10 Under section 3(2) of
ERISA, a pooled employer plan is
treated for purposes of ERISA as a single
plan that is a multiple employer plan.
A pooled employer plan is defined in
section 3(43) as a plan that is an
individual account plan established or
maintained for the purpose of providing
benefits to the employees of two or more
employers; that is a qualified retirement
plan or a plan funded entirely with
individual retirement accounts (IRA
plan); and the terms of which must meet
certain requirements set forth in the
statute.11 The term pooled employer
plan does not include a multiemployer
plan as defined in ERISA section 3(37)
or a plan maintained by employers that
have a common interest other than
having adopted the plan.12 The term
9 SECURE

Act Section 202(c).
sought comments through a Request for
Information published on July 31, 2019, on ‘‘open’’
MEP structures (those without the need for any
commonality among the participating employers or
other genuine organization relationship unrelated to
participation in the plan) being treated as one
multiple employer plan for purposes of compliance
with ERISA. The DOL does not have any current
plan to take further action regarding defined
contribution open MEPs due to the SECURE Act
provisions permitting pooled employer plans as a
type of open MEP.
11 29 U.S.C 1002(43).
12 In establishing a pooled employer plan as a
new type of multiple employer plan, the SECURE
Act in section 101(c) specifically referred to plans
maintained by employers that have a common
interest other than having adopted the plan. For
example, the DOL’s recent final association
retirement plan regulation, at 29 CFR 2510.3–55,
published July 31, 2019, clarified and expanded the
types of arrangements that could be treated as MEPs
under Title I of ERISA to include plans established
and maintained by a bona fide group or association
of employers or by a professional employer
organization (PEO). The SECURE Act provision
excluding a ‘‘plan maintained by employers that
have a common interest’’ from the definition of a
pooled employer plan does not preclude employers
with a common interest other than participating in
the plan from establishing or participating in a
pooled employer plan. Rather, it means that if a
group of employers with a common interest other
than participating in the plan establish a MEP, e.g.,
an association retirement plan under the DOL’s

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also does not include a plan established
before the date the SECURE Act was
enacted unless the plan administrator
elects to have the plan treated as a
pooled employer plan and the plan
meets the ERISA requirements
applicable to a pooled employer plan
established on or after such date. The
existence of this new type of multiple
employer plan requires some
adjustments to the Form 5500 to provide
for annual reporting by such plans.13
Section 101 of the SECURE Act also
amended ERISA section 103(g) for
MEPs. Section 103(g) of ERISA requires
that the annual return/report of a MEP
generally must include a list of
participating employers and a good faith
estimate of the percentage of total
contributions made by each
participating employer during the plan
year. The SECURE Act amended section
103(g) to expand the participating
employer information that must be
reported on the Form 5500 Annual
Return/Report 14 also to require the
aggregate account balances attributable
to each employer in the plan
(determined as the sum of the account
balances of the employees of each
employer and the beneficiaries of such
employees), and applied section 103(g)
to retirement plans that currently meet
the definition of a MEP under ERISA
section 210(a), including any pooled
employer plans, for plan years
beginning on or after January 1, 2021.15
With respect to a pooled employer plan,
section 103(g) further requires that the
annual return/report must include the
identifying information for the person
regulation, the association retirement plan will not
be subject to the SECURE Act requirements for a
plan to be a pooled employer plan.
13 New section 3(44) of ERISA establishes
requirements for pooled plan providers, including
a requirement to register with the DOL before
beginning operations as a pooled plan provider. A
parallel requirement to file a registration statement
with the Secretary of Treasury is in section
413(e)(3)(A)(ii) of the Code. On November 16, 2020,
the DOL published a notice of final rulemaking
establishing the registration requirement for pooled
plan providers. 85 FR 72934 (Nov. 16, 2020). The
Treasury Department and the IRS have advised that
filing the Form PR with the DOL will satisfy the
requirement to register with the Secretary of the
Treasury. The instructions to the Form PR (Pooled
Plan Provider Registration) (Form PR) advised
registrants to use the same identifying information
on the Forms 5500 Annual Return/Report filed by
the pooled employer plans, particularly name; EIN
for the pooled plan provider; any identified
affiliates providing services; trustees; and plan
name and number for each pooled employer plan.
The Form PR and its instructions, as well as any
Form PR that have been filed with the DOL by
pooled plan providers, are available on the DOL
website at www.efast.dol.gov.
14 SECURE Act Section 101(d).
15 SECURE Act Section 101(e)(1).

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designated under the terms of the plan
as the pooled plan provider.
In addition to various changes to the
forms and instructions to address these
statutory changes and reflect the
existence of pooled employer plans and
defined contribution plan reporting
arrangements, some of the annual
reporting changes being proposed are
intended to ensure appropriate
transparency and financial
accountability for pooled employer
plans, other MEPs, and defined
contribution plan reporting
arrangements. The rationales for some of
those changes apply more broadly to
retirement plans as a class (for example,
improvements to the content and format
for the financial schedules that
retirement plans use to report
information regarding their assets,
investments, income, and expenses),
and, accordingly, some of the changes
are being proposed for retirement plans
in general.
C. Overview of Proposed Changes to
Forms, Schedules, and Instructions
1. General Proposed Changes
The proposed revisions involve the
following major categories of changes,
along with other technical revisions and
updates, to the current structure and
content of the Form 5500 Annual
Return/Report.
• Update the Form 5500 and its
instructions to establish requirements
pursuant to section 202 of the SECURE
Act for consolidated returns/reports for
eligible defined contribution group
(DCG) reporting arrangements as an
alternative method of compliance for
certain individual account or defined
contribution retirement plans relying on
the consolidated report to satisfy the
generally applicable requirement that
employee benefit plans file a Form
5500. This would include adding a new
Schedule DCG (Individual Plan
Information) to provide individual planlevel information for defined
contribution pension plans covered by a
DCG consolidated Form 5500 filing. It
would also include adding a new
checkbox on the Form 5500 (Part II, line
10a(4)) to indicate that Schedule DCG is
attached to the Form 5500, with a space
for the filer to enter the number of
Schedules DCG (one per plan) attached
to the Form 5500 filing.
• Update the Form 5500 and its
instructions to add a new Schedule MEP
(Multiple Employer Pension Plan).
MEPs would report information specific
to MEPs, including the ERISA section
103(g) participating employer
information, updated to add the new
aggregate account information that is

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relevant only for pension plans, on the
Schedule MEP. Questions intended to
satisfy the SECURE Act’s reporting
requirements for pooled employer plans
and questions to link the Form PR
(Pooled Employer Registration) and the
Form 5500 for each plan operated by a
pooled plan provider would also be on
the Schedule MEP. A new checkbox
would be added to the Form 5500 (Part
II, line 10a(5) to indicate that Schedule
MEP is attached to the Form 5500.
• Transfer the participating employer
information from the Form 5500 Annual
Return/Report to the Form M–1 for all
multiple employer welfare arrangements
(MEWAs)) (plan and non-plan MEWAs))
that offer or provide coverage for
medical benefits, and continue to
require reporting of participating
employer information on the Form 5500
Annual Return/Report for plan MEWAs
that provide other benefits.16
• Update Schedule H and
instructions to standardize the
schedules of investment assets required
to be included in the annual return/
report (Schedule H, line 4i Schedules),
so that the information can be entered
or imported for improved electronic use
and transparency.
• Update the Form 5500 and 5500–SF
and their instructions on counting
participants to change the current
threshold for determining when a
defined contribution plan may file as a
small plan, including eligibility for the
waiver of the requirement for small
plans to have an audit and include the
report of an independent qualified
public accountant (IQPA) with their
annual report. Specifically, instead of
using all those eligible to participate,
filers generally would look at the
number of participants/beneficiaries
with account balances as of the
beginning of the plan year (the first plan
year would use an end of year measure).
This proposed change would be
reflected in a new line item on the Form
5500 and Form 5500–SF.17
16 The Agencies may choose as part of a final rule
to have those plan MEWAs that are not required to
file the Form M–1 complete the relevant
participating employer information on the Schedule
MEP rather than continuing to complete as an
attachment to the Form 5500. The agencies invite
comment on any preference from a disclosure,
forms preparation, or data usage perspective as to
how the information is collected.
17 This change was proposed partly in light of
section 112 of the SECURE Act, which provides that
long-term, part-time workers that have reached
specified minimum age requirements and worked at
least 500 hours in each of three consecutive 12month periods must be permitted to make elective
contributions to a Code section 401(k) qualified
cash or deferred arrangement for plan years
beginning on or after January 1, 2024. This could
add to the number of participants who are eligible
to, but who elect not to participate in a plan, which

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• Add trust questions to the Form
5500, the Form 5500–SF, and the IRS
Form 5500–EZ, regarding the name of
the plan’s trust, the trust’s EIN, the
name of the trustee or custodian, and
the trustee’s or custodian’s telephone
number. This information will enable
the Agencies to more efficiently focus
on compliance concerns for retirement
plan trusts, including those for pooled
employer plans and DCG reporting
arrangements.
• Revise the 2021 5500 Annual
Return/Report instructions to provide
an interim method of reporting
participating employer information for
MEPs and pooled plan provider
identification information for pooled
employer plans pending the Schedule
MEP implementation for 2022 plan year
filings.
Section 101 of the SECURE Act also
amended ERISA section 104(a)(2)(A) to
permit the Secretary of Labor to
prescribe by regulation simplified
reporting for MEPs subject to ERISA
section 210(a) with fewer than 1,000
participants in total, as long as each
participating employer has fewer than
100 participants. The DOL is not,
however, currently proposing to amend
the current reporting rules to establish
a ‘‘simplified report’’ for such plans.
The DOL is interested in stakeholder
comments on why MEPs subject to
ERISA section 210(a) should be subject
to different reporting requirements than
single employer plans that cover fewer
than 1,000 participants, and on
appropriate conditions and limitations
for such a simplified report that would
ensure transparency and financial
accountability comparable to that for
other large retirement plans.
2. Internal Revenue Code-Based
Questions for the 2022 Form 5500s
To better identify non-compliant
plans, the IRS is proposing the
following changes to the 2022 forms,
schedules, and instructions, including
adding the proposed Schedule DCG, so
that certain questions are answered at
the individual plan level (not the DCG
level) in order for a plan’s annual
reporting obligation to be satisfied by a
DCG Form 5500 filing:
• Add a nondiscrimination and
coverage test question to Form 5500,
Form 5500–SF, and proposed Schedule
could impact whether a plan needs to file as a large
plan. The DOL expects that excluding from the
participant count those participants who are
eligible to participate but did not have an account
balance will reduce expenses for small employers
to establish and maintain a small retirement plan,
and as a consequence, encourage more employers
to offer workplace-based retirement savings plans to
their employees.

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DCG that was on the Schedule T before
it was eliminated. The question asks if
the employer aggregated plans in testing
whether the plan satisfied the
nondiscrimination and coverage tests of
Code sections 401(a)(4) and 410(b).
• Add a question to Form 5500, Form
5500–SF, and proposed Schedule DCG,
for section 401(k) plans, asking whether,
if applicable, the plan sponsor used the
design-based safe harbor rules or the
‘‘prior year’’ or ‘‘current year’’ ADP test.
• Add a question to Form 5500, Form
5500–SF,18 and proposed Schedule DCG
asking whether the employer is an
adopter of a pre-approved plan that
received a favorable IRS Opinion Letter,
the date of the favorable Opinion Letter,
and the Opinion Letter serial number.
3. Defined Benefit Plan/Title IV
Questions for the 2022 Form 5500s
The proposal includes certain changes
designed to improve reporting by
defined benefit plans subject to Title IV
of ERISA. The proposed changes would:
• Modify Schedule MB, line 3
instructions to require an attachment
that breaks down the total withdrawal
liability amounts by date, separately
specifying the periodic withdrawal
liability amounts and lump sum
withdrawal liability amounts.
• Modify Schedule MB by adding a
new requirement for plans that assess
withdrawal liability to an employer
during the plan year, to report the
interest rate used to determine the
present value of vested benefits for
withdrawal liability determinations.
This information would be reported in
a renumbered new line, 6f.
• Modify Schedule MB for the
questions related to the line 6 ‘‘expense
load’’ to better align with the various
ways multiemployer plans incorporate
expense loads into their calculations.
• Modify Schedule MB, line 8 by
requiring additional information about
demographics, benefits and
contributions for plans with 500 or more
total participants on the valuation date.
Certain PBGC-insured single-employer
plans would be required to report the
some additional information as well.
• Modify Schedule MB by changing
the ‘‘age/service’’ scatter attachment
which is currently required for PBGCinsured multiemployer plans with
active participants, regardless of the
number of participants.
• Modify Schedule MB by clarifying
the line 4f instructions and Schedule
language concerning when or if plans in
critical status or critical and declining
18 IRS will separately make a parallel update to
the Form 5500–EZ, which is solely in the
jurisdiction of the IRS.

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status are projected to emerge or become
insolvent.
• Make the Schedule SB, line 26
reporting requirements about
demographics and benefits similar to
the requirements for PBGC-insured
multiemployer plans.
• Modify Schedule SB’s Part IX, line
41 because the previously required
information related to elective funding
relief under the Pension Relief Act of
2010 is no longer relevant, and in its
place, require information about the
elective funding relief under the
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
• Modify Schedule R’s Part V, line 13
requirement that multiemployer defined
benefit pension plans subject to
minimum funding standards report
identifying information about any
participating employer whose
contributions to the plan account for
more than five (5) percent of the total
contributions for the year to require that
the ten employers who contributed the
largest amounts be reported, even if that
employer’s contribution accounted for
less than five (5) percent of the total.
• Modify the instructions to permit
(but not require) certain attachments to
Schedule MB and SB to be provided in
a tabular format (spreadsheet) rather
than PDF or TXT formats.

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D. Appendices
The Agencies have included the
following appendices to provide more
detailed illustrations and explanations
of the proposed changes: (1) Appendix
A—a facsimile of proposed Schedule
MEP (Multiple Employer Pension Plan)
and its instructions; (2) Appendix B—a
facsimile of proposed Schedule DCG
(Individual Plan Information) and its
instructions; (3) Appendix C—a detailed
description of proposed changes to the
2021 Form 5500, the Form 5500–SF,
and their instructions; (4) Appendix D—
a detailed description of proposed
changes to the 2022 Form M–1 and its
instructions; (5) Appendix E—a detailed
description of proposed changes to the
2022 Form 5500, Form 5500–SF,
applicable schedules, and their
instructions.19
Certain amendments to the annual
reporting regulations are necessary to
19 The appendices include mock-ups of certain
forms or parts of forms that are intended to be
illustrative and facilitate stakeholders’ ability to
comment on the proposed changes. This approach
of showing proposed changes will reduce costs
associated with publication of the proposed form
changes in the Federal Register and provide greater
flexibility for the related EFAST2 development
processes. The Agencies intend to publish mockups of the forms on the DOL’s website as part of
the EFAST third party software developer
certification process and in furtherance of public
education efforts about the changes to be
implemented.

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accommodate some of the proposed
revisions to the forms. The DOL is
publishing separately today in the
Federal Register proposed amendments
to the DOL’s annual reporting
regulations. That document includes a
discussion of the findings required
under sections 104 and 110 of ERISA
that are necessary for the DOL to adopt
the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report,
including the Form 5500–SF, if revised
as proposed herein, as an alternative
method of compliance, limited
exemption, and/or simplified report
under the reporting and disclosure
requirements of Part 1 of Subtitle B of
Title I of ERISA.
II. Request for Comments
The Agencies invite comments from
interested persons on all facets of the
proposed forms and instruction
changes. Comments should be
submitted in accordance with the
instructions at the beginning of this
document. Commenters are asked to
take into account the costs and burdens
to plans, participants and beneficiaries,
plan fiduciaries, plan service providers,
and other affected parties, in
commenting on the proposed annual
reporting changes, including any
suggested alternatives.
As noted above, the DOL also is
publishing elsewhere in today’s Federal
Register a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking with proposed amendments
to the reporting and disclosure
regulations at Part 2520 of Chapter XXV
of Title 29 of the Code of Federal
Regulations to implement certain
proposed Form 5500 Annual Return/
Report changes under Title I of ERISA.
To avoid unnecessary duplication of
effort, public comments submitted in
response to this Notice of Proposed
Forms Revisions will be treated as
public comments on the Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking to the extent they
include information relevant to the
proposed regulatory amendments.
The DOL components of this proposal
are generally focused on implementing
annual reporting changes related to the
SECURE Act and MEPs and a limited
number of other supporting proposed
changes intended to ensure the Form
5500 serves as an appropriate
transparency and financial
accountability tool for retirement plans,
including pooled employer plans and
MEPs. The DOL has added a separate
project to its semi-annual regulatory
agenda that would focus on a broader
range of improvements to the Form 5500
annual reporting requirements. The
regulatory action is part of a strategic
project with the IRS and PBGC to
improve the Form 5500 Annual Return/

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Report. Modernizing the financial and
other annual reporting requirements on
the Form 5500, continuing to make the
investment and other information on the
Form 5500 more data mineable, and
potential changes to group health plan
annual reporting requirements are part
of that evaluation. The project is also
focused on enhancing the agencies’
ability to collect employee benefit plan
data that best meets the needs of
changing compliance projects,
programs, and activities. See
www.reginfo.gov for more information.
Public comments on such broader
improvements to the Title I components
of the Form 5500 are beyond the
intended scope of this rulemaking.
III. Discussion of Proposed Changes
A. SECURE Act Section 202 Defined
Contribution Group (DCG) Reporting
Arrangements
Section 202 of the SECURE Act
directs the Secretaries to modify the
Form 5500 to allow certain groups of
defined contribution pension plans to
file a single consolidated annual return/
report. For a group of plans to be able
to file a consolidated return/report, the
SECURE Act provides that all of the
plans must be either individual account
plans or defined contribution pension
plans that have the same trustee; the
same one or more named fiduciaries; the
same plan administrator under ERISA
and the Code; the same plan year; and
provide the same investments or
investment options for participants and
beneficiaries.
The SECURE Act also provides that in
developing the consolidated return or
report for such arrangements, the
Secretaries shall require such
information as will enable a participant
in a plan to identify any consolidated
return or report filed with respect to the
plan, and may require such return or
report to include any information
regarding each plan in the group as each
Secretary determines is necessary or
appropriate for the enforcement and
administration of the provisions of
ERISA and the Code.
Pursuant to Section 202 of the
SECURE Act directing the Secretaries to
modify the Form 5500 to allow certain
groups of defined contribution pension
plans to file a single consolidated
annual return/report, the DOL and the
IRS (the ‘‘Departments’’) have
determined that an efficient and
effective approach to establishing such
a consolidated return/report option
would be to amend the Form 5500 and
its related instructions to provide that
the filing requirements for large pension
plans and direct filing entities (DFEs)

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would generally apply to this new type
of DFE—a defined contribution group
(DCG) reporting arrangement, except
that an additional schedule to report
individual plan level information—the
proposed Schedule DCG, would have to
be attached for each plan included in
the DCG filing.20 Consistent with
section 202(b) of the SECURE Act, as
discussed in more detail below, the
Departments are proposing to obtain for
each plan in the DCG the additional
information requested on a new
proposed Schedule DCG, and are
proposing certain other key conditions
for DCG reporting arrangements that are
intended to ensure appropriate
transparency and financial
accountability. Specifically, under the
proposal: (1) The DCG would file a
Form 5500 under rules and conditions
that apply generally to large defined
contribution pension plans; (2) each of
the plans participating in the DCG
would need to meet certain conditions
as discussed in more detail below,
including that the participating plan
must not hold any employer securities,
be 100% invested in certain secure, easy
to value assets that meet the definition
of ‘‘eligible plan assets’’ and be audited
by an IQPA or be eligible for the waiver
of the annual examination and report of
an IQPA under 29 CFR 2520.104–46, but
not by reason of enhanced bonding; (3)
the DCG’s Form 5500 would have to
provide the plan level information
reported on the proposed Schedule DCG
regarding the covered plans, including
an IQPA audit report for each
20 The proposed new regulation that would be at
29 CFR 2520.104a–9 published in the parallel
NPRM provides that, as would be the case for all
of the participating plans in the DCG reporting
arrangement if they were filing individually, the
aggregated Form 5500 for the DCG is due no later
than the end of the 7th month after the end of the
common plan year that all the plans must have in
order to participate in a DCG reporting arrangement
pursuant to the requirement in section 202 of the
SECURE Act and the proposed regulation that
would be at 29 CFR 2520.104–51. Because the DCG
filing is an alternative to each participating plan
filing its own Form 5500, that would mean that
each plan would have to submit its own IRS Form
5558 to extend the plan’s due date, and, as a
consequence, extend the due date for the DCG
filing. A plan that did not submit a timely Form
5558 and that participated in a DCG filing that was
submitted after the 7th month normal due date
would be treated as having filed late. Public
comments are specifically solicited on how the
filing extension process should be structured for
DCGs, including whether DCG reporting
arrangements should be able to file a single Form
5558 to obtain an extension for filing the DCG
consolidated report on behalf of the participating
plans as an alternative to having each individual
plan file a Form 5558 for there to be an extension
for the reporting group as a whole. The Departments
note that under the somewhat similar consolidated
reporting provisions applicable to GIAs, the GIA is
permitted to use the Form 5558 to apply for an
extension of time the GIA consolidated report on
behalf of the plans participating in the GIA.

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participating large plan; and (4) the
investment assets of the plans
participating in the DCG would have to
be held in a single trust of the DCG
reporting arrangement and the
consolidated Form 5500 filed by the
DCG would include an audit of the
DCG’s trust financial statements.
An important aspect of the audit of
the DCG trust would be that, in the
DOL’s view, the versions of the separate
schedules referenced in ERISA section
103(a)(3)(A) and 29 CFR 2520.103–10(b)
and proposed 2520.103–14(b) that
would be filed as part of the DCG
consolidated Form 5500 would be
treated as ERISA section 103(b)(3)
supplemental schedules for purposes of
the required IQPA’s opinion on whether
those schedules are presented in
conformity with DOL rules and
regulations, including the delinquent
participant contributions schedule filed
by the DCG in connection with line 4a
of its Form 5500, Schedule H. The DOL
views these conditions as providing
important financial accountability and
oversight protections while also
allowing DCGs to offer annual reporting
cost-efficiencies, particularly for the
small plans that we believe SECURE Act
section 202 was intended to benefit, that
are comparable to those that can be
offered by MEPs, including pooled
employer plans.
The DOL is also publishing a separate
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that
includes a proposal to add new
regulations at 29 CFR 2520.103–14 and
2520.104–51 pursuant to section 110 of
ERISA that would set forth this DCG
option as an alternative method of
compliance for eligible plans with the
generally applicable requirement to file
their own separate Form 5500.
1. General Section 202 Conditions
Applicable to Covered Plans
The Departments’ review of the
conditions in section 202 of the
SECURE Act suggests that it was
primarily aimed at plans of unrelated
small businesses that adopt a plan that
has received approval from the IRS as to
its form through the IRS Pre-Approved
Program (pre-approved plan) offered by
the same provider, and that section 202
was intended to provide this type of
business structure with annual reporting
cost efficiencies similar to those that
MEPs and pooled employer plans can
offer to their participating employers.
Accordingly the conditions and
reporting requirements in this proposal
focus on such arrangements. The
Departments solicit public comments on
whether the final rule should include
other or different conditions for DCG
reporting arrangements.

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Under the proposed Form 5500 form
changes and the DOL’s related proposed
regulation, and pursuant to the terms of
section 202 of the SECURE Act, all of
the plans relying on the DCG
consolidated return/report must be
individual account plans or defined
contribution pension plans that have the
same trustee and trust(s); the same one
or more named fiduciaries; the same
plan administrator under ERISA and the
Code; the same plan year; and provide
the same investments or investment
options for participants and
beneficiaries. The Departments are
providing the following explanations of
some aspects of and limitations related
to those conditions that are part of the
proposal.
With respect to the same trustee
requirement, section 403(a) of ERISA
provides that, except as provided in
ERISA section 403(b), all assets of an
employee benefit plan shall be held in
trust by one or more trustees. The
criteria set forth in ERISA section 403(b)
apply to the DCG trustee under the
proposal, except, pursuant to the
SECURE Act provision there must be
only one trustee for all the plans
participating in a DCG reporting
arrangement. The common trustee must
be either named in the trust instrument
or in the plan instrument or appointed
by a person who is a named fiduciary
of the participating plan, and upon
acceptance of being named or
appointed, the trustee shall have
exclusive authority and discretion to
manage and control the assets of the
plan, except to the extent that the plan
expressly provides that the trustee is
subject to the direction of a named
fiduciary who is not a trustee (in which
case the trustees shall be subject to
proper directions of such fiduciary
which are made in accordance with the
terms of the plan and which are not
contrary to ERISA), or authority to
manage, acquire, or dispose of assets of
the plan is delegated to one or more
investment managers pursuant to
section 402(c)(3) of ERISA.
The Departments note that,
historically, the IRS conditions
applicable to many pre-approved plans
required that employers who used what
was known as a ‘‘master’’ plan were
required to use the same trust or
custodial account, whereas each
employer had a separate trust or
custodial account in a ‘‘prototype
plan.’’ 21 Under the proposal, the ‘‘same
trust’’ requirement for the consolidated
report would be satisfied by the same
trust structure historically used by
21 See www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/types-of-preapproved-retirement-plans.

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employers using ‘‘master’’ plans. Use of
sub-trusts of the DCG trust would be
permitted, but the proposal would not
cover arrangements that allow separate
plans to have a separate trust for
investments. As discussed in more
detail below, part of the reason for this
provision stems from considerations
related to the establishment of audit
requirements for DCG reporting
arrangements and the otherwise
generally applicable requirement under
Title I of ERISA for plans that cover 100
or more participants file with their Form
5500 an audit report of an independent
qualified public accountant (IQPA) and
the application of Generally Accepted
Auditing Standards or GAAS (which
ERISA section 103 applies to employee
benefit plan audits).
Although, as described above, section
202 of the SECURE Act includes a
requirement that the eligible plans must
have the same ‘‘trustee’’ as described in
section 403(a) of ERISA, the
Departments note that it is
commonplace for ERISA covered plans
to use insurance (e.g., individual
account plans using variable annuity
structures and Code section 403(b)(1)
plans) and custodial accounts (e.g.,
Code section 403(b)(7) plans) as funding
vehicles. ERISA section 403(b) includes
explicit exceptions to the trust
requirement for such plan designs.
There is no legislative history for
SECURE Act section 202 discussing
why the provision was limited to plans
with ‘‘trustees,’’ and the Departments do
not believe that the SECURE Act section
202 requirement for a ‘‘trustee’’ can be
read to include plans without trustees
funded by insurance or custodial
accounts pursuant to the trust
exceptions in ERISA section 403(b).
Nonetheless, the Departments
specifically solicit comments on
whether they should, pursuant to their
general regulatory authority, provide a
consolidated reporting option for plans
that use the same custodial account or
insurance policy as the funding vehicle
for their plans, and if so, whether
special conditions should apply in light
of the absence of a trustee or trustees.
With respect to the ‘‘same one or more
named fiduciaries requirement,’’ ERISA
section 402 provides that every
employee benefit plan shall be
established and maintained pursuant to
a written instrument. Such instrument
shall provide for one or more named
fiduciaries who jointly or severally have
authority to control and manage the
operation and administration of the
plan. Section 402 of ERISA further
provides that the term ‘‘named
fiduciary’’ means a fiduciary who is
named in the plan instrument, or who,

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pursuant to a procedure specified in the
plan, is identified as a fiduciary (A) by
a person who is an employer or
employee organization with respect to
the plan or (B) by such an employer and
such an employee organization acting
jointly. The Departments understand
that it is customary for the employer/
plan sponsor to be a named fiduciary of
the employer’s plan. The Departments
do not believe the SECURE Act
intended that each employer in a group
of plans be a named fiduciary of every
plan in the group. Accordingly, the
proposal would allow for the employer/
plan sponsor to be a named fiduciary of
each employer’s own plan, provided
that the other named fiduciaries under
the plans are the same and common to
all plans.
The SECURE Act further requires that
all the plans have the same
administrator as defined in section
3(16)(A) of ERISA and plan
administrator as defined in section
414(g) of the Code. Under the proposal,
the plans must designate the same
person (which could be an entity or
organization) as the administrator. In
general, under ERISA and the Code the
‘‘plan administrator’’ or ‘‘administrator’’
is the person specifically so designated
by the terms of the instrument under
which the plan is operated. If an
administrator is not so designated, the
plan administrator is the plan sponsor,
as defined in section 3(16)(B) of ERISA.
The Departments do not believe that the
default ‘‘plan sponsor’’ provision is
workable in this context, and,
accordingly, the proposal requires that
there be a designated common plan
administrator and that the administrator
be the same for all the plans relying on
the DCG consolidated Form 5500.
The proposal also requires that all the
plans provide the same investments or
investment options to participants and
beneficiaries to be able to rely on the
DCG consolidated Form 5500 as
satisfying their annual reporting
obligation. In the Departments’ view,
this requirement in part was intended to
allow for appropriate transparency in
the consolidated financial information
that would be filed by the DCG. To the
extent the covered plans had different
investments or investment options,
much more detailed financial reporting
would be needed to provide appropriate
oversight and accountability. The
Departments also believe that, even
absent the proposed ‘‘eligible plan
assets condition for DCGs,’’ the SECURE
Act’s ‘‘same investments or investment
options’’ requirement effectively
precludes plans that hold employer
securities from participating in a DCG
reporting arrangement as well as

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precluding treatment of brokerage
windows as an ‘‘investment option’’
because such investments and
investment alternatives would conflict
with the investment uniformity
objectives of the SECURE Act
requirement. The Departments,
however, specifically solicit comments
on whether the final rule should allow
employer securities as an exception to
the ‘‘same investments or investment
options’’ requirement. The Departments
also solicit comments on whether the
final rule should allow brokerage
windows, self-directed brokerage
accounts, and similar features in plans
participating in DCG arrangements, and,
if so, what reporting requirements
should be applied, e.g., what
information should be collected
regarding the brokerage windows/
accounts, the participants using the
brokerage windows/accounts, and the
individual assets held by the plans as a
result of investments made through
brokerage windows/accounts.
Section 202 further provides that a
plan not subject to Title I of ERISA can
be part of a DCG reporting arrangement
if the non-Title I plan and all other
plans in the reporting group have the
same persons acting as the trustee as
defined in ERISA section 403(a), the
named fiduciaries as described in
ERISA section 402(a), the administrator
as defined in ERISA section 3(16)(A),
and the plan administrator as defined in
Code section 414(g), as applicable. In
the Departments’ view, this provision
was directed at so-called ‘‘oneparticipant’’ plans required to file the
IRS Form 5500–EZ. IRS views the
current Form 5500–EZ as providing
plan sponsors with a simple and
streamlined means to satisfy the annual
reporting requirement under section
6058 of the Code. The information being
requested on the Schedule DCG for a
DCG is almost identical to the
information already provided on the
Form 5500–EZ, so that the group filing
arrangement would not effectively
reduce the information a Form 5500–EZ
filer would need to provide to IRS in a
separate filing. Additionally, the plan
administrator will need to file a
consolidated Form 5500 (with any
required schedules) for the DCG that
provides aggregate information for all
Form 5500–EZ filers. Presumably, the
DCG will require a Form 5500–EZ filer
to provide at least as much information
as would be required to file an
individual Form 5500–EZ. Finally, IRS
might incur significant costs and use
significant resources if it were to
develop a separate group filing
arrangement for Form 5500–EZ filers.

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Before incurring these costs and using
these resources, IRS requests comments
from interested parties on whether Form
5500–EZ filers are expected to be
interested in participating in a DCG
structure, including a separate DCG
structure only for Form 5500–EZ filers,
in light of the lack of burden reduction
that a Form 5500–EZ filer would
experience by participating in a DCG
structure. With respect to the latter, the
Departments request comments on the
feasibility of including both ERISA and
non-ERISA filers in a single DCG filing,
including with respect to the
application of the audit requirements
under Title I.
2. Conditions for Plans To Participate in
a DCG Reporting Arrangement
To be eligible to rely on the proposed
alternative method of compliance, the
employee benefit plan (1) must have all
of its investment assets held in a single
trust of the DCG reporting arrangement;
(2) the plan must not hold any employer
securities at any time during the plan
year; (3) at all times during the plan
year, the plan must be 100% invested in
certain secure, easy to value assets that
meet the definition of ‘‘eligible plan
assets’’ (see the instructions for line 6a
of the Form 5500–SF), such as mutual
fund shares, investment contracts with
insurance companies and banks valued
at least annually, publicly traded
securities held by a registered broker
dealer, cash and cash equivalents, and
plan loans to participants; (4) the plan
must be audited by an IQPA or be
eligible for the waiver of the annual
examination and report of an IQPA
under 29 CFR 2520.104–46, but not by
reason of enhanced bonding (see
instructions for line 6b of the Form
5500–SF); and (5) multiemployer plans
and MEPs (including pooled employer
plans and professional employer
organizations (PEOs)) cannot participate
in DCG reporting arrangements.
An important aspect of the audit of
the DCG trust would be that, in the
DOL’s view, the versions of the separate
schedules referenced in ERISA section
103(a)(3)(A) and 29 CFR 2520.103–10(b)
and 2520.103–2(b) that would be filed
as part of the DCG consolidated Form
5500 would be treated as ERISA section
103(b)(3) supplemental schedules for
purposes of the required IQPA’s opinion
on whether those schedules are
presented in conformity with DOL rules
and regulations, including the
delinquent participant contributions
schedule filed by the DCG in connection
with line 4a of its Form 5500, Schedule
H. The DOL views these conditions as
providing important financial
accountability and oversight protections

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while also allowing DCGs to offer
annual reporting cost-efficiencies,
particularly for the small plans that we
believe SECURE Act section 202 was
intended to benefit, that are comparable
to those that can be offered by MEPs,
including pooled employer plans.
With respect to the audit requirement
for large plans participating in a DCG,
the DOL understands that under GAAS,
it would not be possible to have a
consolidated audit of all the
participating plans in the DCG reporting
arrangement. Rather, under GAAS, each
large plan in the DCG reporting
arrangement would have to be subject to
its own separate audit. By comparison it
would be possible, under GAAS, for a
DCG reporting arrangement to be
subjected to a single audit if it used a
single trust for all of the plans covered
by the DCG report. Such a ‘‘single trust’’
audit, however, would cover only the
trust’s financial statements and would
not cover aspects of plan operations and
finances that would be covered by a
GAAS audit at the plan level. The DOL
views an IQPA audit as an important
financial transparency and
accountability condition for DCG
reporting arrangements. Generally,
pension plans and funded welfare plans
with 100 or more participants are
required to have an audit of the plan’s
financial statements performed by an
IQPA. Under Statement on Auditing
Standards No. 136 (SAS 136), Forming
an Opinion and Reporting on Financial
Statements of Employee Benefit Plans
Subject to ERISA, independent qualified
public accountants are required to
consider relevant plan provisions that
affect the risk of material misstatement
for various transactions, account
balances, and related disclosures. Areas
such as participant eligibility, plan
contributions, benefit payments and
participant loans are all covered as part
of a plan level audit. Additionally,
auditors are required to communicate
reportable findings to the plan that are
identified during the audit of the plan.
For example, it has been the DOL’s
experience that plan audits lead to
increased reporting of prohibited
transactions, such as identifying and
disclosing delinquent participant
contributions.
An audit of a trust, such as a DCG
trust, does not have similar
requirements. In a trust audit, the line
items on the trust’s financial statement
are audited, but because the underlying
participating plans themselves are not
audited, compliance with the provisions
of the plans that are invested in and
funded by the trust are not audited.
Therefore, in a trust audit, the amount
of contributions received by the trust

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might be tested against the contributions
remitted by participating plans, but,
whether those contributions amounts
remitted are in accordance with the
individual plan provisions would not be
tested, as they would be tested in an
audit of the plan. There could be
undisclosed, material errors in the
amount of contributions remitted to the
trust versus what should have been
remitted. Similarly, in a trust audit, the
benefit payments to participants might
be tested in terms of amounts paid and
whether they were authorized, but
whether those were in compliance with
plan provisions, such as vesting
provisions, would not be tested as they
would be tested in a plan’s audit. In a
plan audit, participant data is tested.
Participant data testing involves
determining whether employees are
properly included or excluded from
participating and whether the census
data upon which eligibility for certain
contributions and distributions are
made is accurate. The audit of a trust
would not test this at all. Finally, the
materiality threshold for a trust audit
could be significantly higher than that
which would apply in the case of an
individual participating plan because
the trust threshold would be based on
total assets in the trust rather than assets
in each individual plan. After carefully
considering these issues, the
Departments decided to propose that a
large plan that elects to participate in a
DCG must continue to be subject to an
IQPA audit and that the audit report for
the plan would have to be filed with the
consolidated Form 5500 of the DCG
reporting arrangement.
The DOL acknowledges that at least
some of these considerations could be
applied to small plans participating in
the DGC arrangement. While the DOL
did not believe it would be appropriate
to relieve from the IQPA audit
requirement those large plans currently
subject to the audit, it also did not
believe that it would be appropriate to
require small plans that are not
currently required to have an IQPA
audit to have such an audit as a
condition of participating in a DCG
reporting arrangement. Rather, in light
of the fact that DCG reporting
arrangements would be consolidating
the assets of many unaffiliated small
plans under the control of a single
trustee in a single trust, and the DOL’s
understanding that such a trust could be
subject to a single GAAS audit, the DOL
is proposing that the DCG trust be
audited by an IQPA as a way of adding
protections for funds aggregated in the
DCG trust. The DOL notes that this
structure has some parallels to the

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current reporting alternative for group
insurance arrangements (GIAs) under 29
CFR 2520.103–2, another type of DFE
that files the Form 5500 Annual Return/
Report on behalf of participating welfare
benefit plans. The need for more
information for DCGs than for GIAs is
due to the difference between retirement
and welfare plans, including the
respective requirements under the Code,
and also due to the fact that GIAs must
provide welfare benefits fully through
insurance.
DOL further acknowledges that, under
the proposal, for plans to be able to
satisfy their annual reporting obligation
by relying on the Form 5500 filing by a
DCG reporting arrangement, the plans
would have to be 100% invested in
eligible plan assets as defined in the
Form 5500–SF instructions.
Accordingly, plan assets in the DCG
trust would, by definition, be held by
regulated financial institutions,
including banks or similar financial
institutions and insurance companies,
and may qualify for limited scope audit
treatment in accordance with ERISA
section 103(a)(3)(C). Thus, even for large
plans, the investment assets certified by
those financial institutions/insurance
companies would not be audited, and
the auditor would not be performing
valuation work on the assets covered by
the bank or insurance company
certifications. Although that may
diminish some aspects of the IQPA
requirement for large plans in DCG
reporting arrangements, the DOL did not
believe that it would be appropriate to
propose that large plans be precluded
from participating in a DCG unless the
plan disclaimed reliance on the limited
scope audit provisions in ERISA section
103(a)(3)(C) and had a full scope audit
performed.
The DOL further expects that, because
all of the investments held in the DCG’s
single trust would be the subject of the
DCG audit, it is likely that to reduce
expenses the DCG reporting
arrangement and the participating large
plans would engage the same auditor to
perform the audits of the DCG trust and
any individual large plans participating
in the DCG reporting arrangement.
Alternatively, to the extent the
individual plans engage different
auditors, the DOL expects that the use
of reports issued under Statement on
Standards for Attestation Engagements
No. 16 (SSAE 16) may permit the
individual plan auditors to use those
reports for the DCG trust to reduce their
own audit work on the trust as part of
the individual plan audit. The same
rules for determining whether an
individual plan is required to file as a
large plan would apply to the plans

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within a DCG, including the ‘‘80 to 120’’
transition rule at 29 CFR 2520.103–1(d).
Similarly, if finalized, the proposed
change on using participants with
account balances, rather than all eligible
participants, to determine small plan
status for general annual reporting
purposes also would apply.
With respect to the condition
prohibiting multiemployer plans and
MEPs from being part of DCG reporting
arrangements, the Departments do not
believe that section 202 of the SECURE
Act was focused on allowing groups of
multiemployer plans or MEPs, which
already file a single Form 5500 that
covers all of the employers that
participate in the plan, to file a single
consolidated Form 5500 covering the
group of multiemployer plans or MEPs.
The Departments are also concerned
that allowing a single consolidated
Form 5500 in the case of such plans, for
example, a group of multiemployer
section 401(k) plans, could result in an
undesirable reduction in transparency
and financial accountability. Further,
creating a consolidated report for such
groups of plans would likely be much
more complicated and costly than what
is being proposed in this document.
Nonetheless, the Departments
acknowledge that such a limitation is
not expressly set forth in section 202 of
the SECURE Act, and, accordingly,
solicits public comments on whether
the final rule should include
multiemployer plans and MEPs, and if
so, what conditions should apply to
DCG reporting arrangements that would
include such plans.
3. Content Requirements for DCG Form
5500
The proposal also sets forth the
content requirements for the
consolidated Form 5500 return/report
filed by the DCG reporting arrangement.
Under the proposal, DCGs would not be
permitted to file a Form 5500–SF.
Rather, DCG reporting arrangements
would be required to file a Form 5500
Annual Return/Report that includes
largely the same information that large
pension plans and other DFEs are
generally required to file, except that a
DCG reporting arrangement would also
be required to include in its annual
report a proposed Schedule DCG
(described below) to report individual
participating plan information for each
plan that is a part of the DCG reporting
arrangement. Specifically, the content of
the DCG annual return/report would
include a Form 5500 Annual Return/
Report of Employee Benefit Plan and
any statements or schedules required to
be attached to the form for such entity,
completed in accordance with the

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instructions for the form, including
Schedule A (Insurance Information),
Schedule C (Service Provider
Information), Schedule D (DFE/
Participating Plan Information),
Schedule G (Financial Transaction
Schedules), Schedule H (Financial
Information), Schedule R (Retirement
Plan Information), Schedule DCG
(Individual Plan Information), schedules
described in § 2520.103–10(b)(1) and
(b)(2), an IQPA audit report and the
related financial statements covering the
DCG trust, and, for DCG consolidated
Form 5500 filings that are intended to
cover large plans (generally those with
100 or more participants), an IQPA
audit report and the related financial
statements attached to the Schedule
DCG for each such individual large
plan. Financial statements include the
financial statements of the trust, the
notes to the financial statements and the
schedules described in paragraph (b)(1)
of § 2520.103–10.
Information reported on the various
schedules to the Form 5500, other than
the proposed Schedule DCG, would be
reported in the aggregate. Thus, a
Schedule A would be required for all
insurance contracts that constitute one
of the investments or investment
alternatives available to all of the
participants in a plan, regardless of
whether certificates were to be issued to
individual plans or participants upon
selection of that option by a participant.
The fees and commissions paid with
respect to any insurance contracts
available for investment by any of the
plans/participants would be reported on
the Schedule A. Similarly, a service
provider to the trust and to each of the
plans would be reported on Schedule C,
even if the service provider did not
actually provide services or charge fees
to a particular plan because, for
example, the service provider provided
investment management services with
respect to a particular investment option
that was not selected by any of the
participants in a particular plan. The
$5,000 threshold would be based on the
total amount received by the service
provider. Reporting on Schedule C
would still be required if the total
amount was $5,000 or more, even if the
amount paid by or charged against the
assets of each the participating plans
was less than $5,000 per plan.
Reportable transactions on Schedule G
would include any involving the assets
of the trust and any parties in interest
with respect to the trust. For reporting
delinquent participant contributions on
Schedule H, Line 4a, the Agencies
would expect the DCG filing the annual
report to identify the delinquent

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participating employer in the
attachment already required in the
instructions.
The Departments expect that cost
savings for plans relying on a DCG filing
compared to plans filing separately
would generally only begin to emerge
when the DCG collectively exceeds an
aggregate participant count of 100
participants. In other words, the
Departments do not expect a DCG filing
to provide meaningful cost savings for
plans, as compared to filing their own
annual report, in the case of DCG
arrangements with an aggregate
participant count of under 100
participants. Rather, the Departments
expect in such cases that the individual
plans would likely qualify for filing the
Form 5500–SF and that they would
likely find it more cost effective to file
their own separate Form 5500–SF.22
Accordingly, this proposal does not
include an option under which such a
‘‘small’’ DCG could file as a small plan
filer. The Departments solicit comments
on whether stakeholders expect there to
be ‘‘small’’ DGCs, whether a ‘‘small’’
DCG alternative should be made
available, and what the content
requirements for such an alternative
should be, e.g., whether the content of
the ‘‘small’’ DCG annual return/report
should include Schedule I instead of
Schedule H, whether it should include
the IQPA audit report and/or the
schedules of assets, and whether it
should include the Schedule C.23

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4. Proposed Schedule DCG (Individual
Plan Information)
Section 202(b) of the SECURE Act
specifically provides that IRS and DOL
may require the consolidated Form 5500
return/report filed by the DCG reporting
arrangement to include any information
regarding each plan in the group as IRS
and DOL may determine necessary or
appropriate for the enforcement and
administration of the Code and ERISA.
The proposed Schedule DCG would
contain the plan level information
needed by the IRS for administrating
and enforcing tax laws passed by
Congress and by the DOL for important
Title I oversight functions, particularly
with respect to large plans. A separate
Schedule DCG would be required to be
completed for each individual plan,
22 Section III.A.1 of this preamble discusses the
Departments’ view that creating a consolidated
group filing for employers required to file a Form
5500–EZ is similarly unlikely to generate
administrative efficiencies for those employers, as
compared to continuing to file separately.
23 Since the aggregate participant count of the
entire DCG would be less than 100, there could be
no ‘‘large plans’’ participating in such a ‘‘small’’
DCG so the issue of an individual audit for a
participating large plan would not arise.

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similar to the requirement to complete
a separate Schedule A for each
insurance contract held by a plan or
DFE filing the Form 5500. IRS examines
individual plans, not groups of plans, to
ensure that plan sponsors and/or
employers comply with the tax laws
governing retirement plans, and to help
protect the retirement benefits of
participants and beneficiaries. Thus, IRS
requires information with respect to a
plan’s qualification, financial condition,
and operation on a separate basis for
each plan filing as part of a DCG.
Individual plan financial information
already reported on the Form 5500–SF
is important for the DOL to continue to
ensure that participants and
beneficiaries of the individual plans
participating in a DCG receive their
promised benefits. The proposed
Schedule DCG includes:
• Part I—DCG name and EIN/PN
modeled on the similar plan-level
information on other schedules to the
Form 5500. Information in Part I must
match the DCG information reported on
Part II of the consolidated Form 5500.
• Part II—confirmation that the plan
for which the Schedule DCG is being
filed is a single employer plan (as noted
above, MEPs and multiemployer plans
may not participate in a DCG under the
proposal) and, if applicable,
identification of the plan as a
collectively bargained plan.
• Part III—basic individual plan
information, including the plan name,
plan number, plan effective date, plan
sponsor’s name and address, plan
sponsor’s EIN, plan sponsor’s telephone
number, plan sponsor’s business code,
total number of participants, total
number of active participants, number
of participants with account balances,
and number of participants who
terminated employment during the plan
year with accrued benefits that were less
than 100% vested.
• Part IV—plan financial information,
including total plan assets (including
participant loans), total plan liabilities,
net plan assets, contributions received
or receivable in cash from the employer,
participants, and others; noncash
contributions and, total contributions;
benefit payments, corrective
distributions, and certain deemed
distributions of participant loans, direct
expense information, net income, and
assets transferred to (from) plans.
• Part V—two-digit boxes for entry of
all applicable codes in the List of Plan
Characteristics Codes in the instructions
to the Form 5500.
• Part VI—compliance questions
relating to delinquent participant
contributions, plan assets/liabilities
transferred from the plan, indication of

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whether the plan is a defined
contribution plan subject to section 412
of the Code, plan coverage and
nondiscrimination information, and
whether a plan is a pre-approved plan
that received a favorable IRS Opinion
Letter.
• Part VII—questions for large plans
(generally plans covering 100 or more
participants as of the beginning of the
plan year) regarding the required
individual IQPA report and financial
statements that must be filed with the
Schedule DCG filed for the participating
large plan.
B. SECURE Act Section 101 Amendment
to ERISA Section 103(g) Participating
Employer Information
1. Participating Employer Reporting
Under ERISA Section 103(g)
As discussed above, section 103(g) of
ERISA, which was added to ERISA by
the Cooperative and Small Employer
Charity Pension Flexibility Act (CSEC
Act) in 2014,24 requires multiple
employer plans to include with their
annual reports ‘‘a list of participating
employers’’ and, with respect to each
participating employer, ‘‘a good faith
estimate of the percentage of total
contributions made by such
participating employers during the plan
year.’’ The DOL issued an interim final
rule on November 10, 2014, which
implemented the section 103(g)
reporting requirements by requiring
filers that check the ‘‘multiple employer
plan’’ box on the face of the Form 5500
or the Form 5500–SF, and to attach a list
of participating employers and a good
faith estimate of the percentage of total
contributions made by each
participating employer during the plan
year. 25 The 2014 interim final rule and
the corresponding instructions further
provided that unfunded or insured
multiple employer welfare plans that
are exempt under 29 CFR 2520.104–44
from filing financial statements with
their annual report must attach a list of
participating employers, but do not have
to include an estimated amount of
contributions from each employer.26
Pursuant to the interim final rule, the
section 103(g) reporting change became
effective with the 2014 Form 5500
Annual Return/Report forms. The 2016
proposal on modernization of the Form
5500 included a proposal to finalize
these changes.27
The DOL received four comments on
the interim final rule and six additional
24 Public

Law 113–97 (Apr. 7, 2014).
FR 66617 (Nov. 10, 2014).
26 See, e.g., 2020 Form 5500 instructions at 14; see
also 2020 Form 5500–SF instructions at 8–9.
27 81 FR 47534, 47564–47565.
25 79

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comments in connection with the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) notice
associated with the publication of the
interim final rule.28 In addition, two
comments on the 2016 proposal related
to the proposal to finalize the 2014
interim final rule.29 The central
concerns of most of the commenters was
that filing the participating employer
list imposes material costs and burdens
on multiple employer plans and that
making the employer list public was not
in the best interests of plan participants
and beneficiaries. One commenter
suggested that the DOL should not
apply the section 103(g) reporting
changes to defined contribution or
welfare plans because ERISA section
103(g) was added as part of the CSEC
Act, which generally focused on ERISA
minimum funding requirements that are
not applicable for the majority of
defined contribution pension plans or to
any group health and welfare plans. In
the 2016 proposed rule as well as in the
Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2019–
01,30 DOL stated its position that it
believes the section 103(g) reporting
requirements adopted by the 2014
interim final rule, which apply the new
requirements to all multiple employer
plans (defined benefit pension plans,
defined contribution plans, and welfare
plans), are a reasonable and appropriate
way to implement Congress’ directive in
the CSEC Act. The information has
proven useful to the DOL for its
oversight functions for both MEPs and
those MEWAs that file the Form 5500,
regardless of the types of benefits
provided by the MEWA. Before the DOL
finalized the section 103(g) reporting
requirements, the SECURE Act was
enacted, which amended the original
language in ERISA section 103(g),
reaffirming that MEPs, including
association retirement plans, PEOs, and
the newly created pooled employer
plans would have to report not just the
existing identifying information, but
also new financial information.
Specifically, section 101 of the
SECURE Act amended ERISA section
103(g) by providing that annual reports
for ‘‘any plan to which [ERISA] section
210(a) applies (including a pooled
employer plan)’’ must include (1) a list
of participating employers in the plan,
a good faith estimate of the percentage
28 See Proposed Extension of Information
Collection Request Submitted for Public Comment;
Revisions to Annual Return/Report—Multiple
Employer Plans, 79 FR 66741 (Nov. 10, 2014).
29 Comments are available on the DOL’s website.
30 In 2019, the DOL issued Field Assistance
Bulletin No. 2019–01, which provided transition
relief for MEPs that failed to file a complete and
accurate participating employer information with
their Form 5500 Annual Return/Report for the 2017
and prior plan years.

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of total contributions made by such
participating employers during the plan
year, and the aggregate account balances
attributable to each employer in the
plan (determined as the sum of the
account balances of the employees of
such employer (and the beneficiaries of
such employees)); and (2) with respect
to a pooled employer plan, identifying
information for the person designated
under the terms of the plan as the
pooled plan provider. Although the
SECURE Act added a specific reference
to ERISA section 210(a), DOL believes
that this reference was meant to
emphasize that defined contribution
multiple employer pension plans and
different types of MEPs that became
more accessible in recent years, such as
association retirement plans,
professional employer organization
plans (PEOs), and the newly created
pooled employer plan are required to
comply with the participating
employers reporting requirements, and
not just defined benefit pension plans.
The SECURE Act reporting changes
are effective for plan years beginning on
or after January 1, 2021. In order to
implement the SECURE Act reporting
requirements on a timely basis, the
Agencies are proposing that, for the
2021 plan year, MEPs (including pooled
employer plans, association retirement
plans, and PEOs) would be required to
provide the participating employer
information as a nonstandard
attachment to the 2021 Form 5500
Annual Return/Report in a similar
manner as currently required, and the
content of the attachment would be
updated to add the aggregate account
balances attributable to each
participating employer in the plan to the
current requirement to provide
identifying information and the percent
of contributions by each participating
employer. In addition, a MEP that is a
pooled employer plan would be
required to indicate on the nonstandard
attachment for 2021 that it is a pooled
employer plan and provide information
similar to information required to be
reported on a proposed Schedule MEP,
as discussed below, for the 2022 and
following plan years, including
confirming that the entity identified as
the plan sponsor and administrator in
Part I of the Form 5500 is the pooled
plan provider, and providing the ACK
ID for the pooled plan provider’s most
recent Form PR. For the 2022 and
following plan years, MEPs would be
required to report the participating
employer information in a standard
format on a proposed new Schedule
MEP, as discussed below.

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2. Participating Employer Reporting for
MEWAs
As discussed above, the SECURE Act
amended ERISA section 103(g) by
directing the reporting requirements
specifically to multiple employer plans
subject to ERISA section 210(a). The
DOL continues to believe that receiving
participating employer information from
multiple employer welfare plans is
important for oversight of such
arrangements and should be continued.
Even though the DOL originally relied
on ERISA section 103(g) when it added
the requirement for all multiple
employer plans to provide the
participating employer information,
there are other rulemaking and reporting
authorities that support continuing the
reporting requirement for multiple
employer welfare plans and extending it
to non-plan MEWAs that file the Form
M–1 (Report for Multiple Employer
Welfare Arrangements (MEWAs) and
Certain Other Entities Claiming
Exception (ECEs) (Form M–1).
Based on the authority in ERISA
sections 101(g), 505, and 734, the DOL
in 2003 promulgated a regulation at 29
CFR 2520.101–2 that required the
administrators of both multiple
employer welfare plans and non-plan
MEWAs that offer or provide coverage
for medical benefits to file the Form
M–1 on an annual basis (Form M–1
annual report) as well as upon
occurrence of certain registration events
(Form M–1 registration filing). Effective
for plan years beginning on or after
January 1, 2022, DOL is proposing to
require MEWAs (plan and non-plan
MEWAs) that offer or provide coverage
for medical benefits to provide the
participating employer information on
the Form M–1 and not as an attachment
to the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report.
Specifically, new questions would be
added to Form M–1 requiring MEWAs
(plan and non-plan MEWAs) that offer
or provide coverage for medical benefits
to identify each participating employer
in the MEWA by name and EIN and
provide a good faith estimate of each
participating employer’s percentage of
the total contributions made by all
participating employer during the plan
year. However, similar to the 2014
interim final rule issued under ERISA
section 103(g), the Form M–1 proposal
does not require contribution
information from unfunded or insured
MEWAs. Furthermore, the Form M–1
proposal would require contribution
information on the Form M–1 annual
report filing but not the Form M–1
registration filing. The DOL specifically
solicits comments on whether the final
rule should require participating

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employer information on only the
annual Form M–1 filing, and not on
other M–1 required filings, in light of
the fact that only annual information is
required for plans reporting
participating employer information on
the Form 5500.
With respect to multiple employer
welfare plans that do not offer or
provide coverage for medical benefits,
and thus are not required to file a Form
M–1 (for example, life or disability
benefits), section 103 of ERISA provides
the DOL with the authority to require
the plan administrator to furnish, as part
of the Form 5500 annual report, the
‘‘name and address of each fiduciary.’’
See ERISA section 103(c)(2). In the
DOL’s view, the employer is acting as a
fiduciary with respect to its decision to
provide ERISA-covered benefits through
a MEWA rather than through a single
employer plan and also is a fiduciary for
purposes of continuing to monitor the
plan that it adopted.31 Accordingly, the
DOL is relying on ERISA section
103(c)(2) as its authority for requiring
multiple employer welfare plans (other
than those that file the Form M–1) to
continue reporting the participating
employer identifying information, and
unless unfunded or insured, a good faith
estimate of each participating
employer’s percentage of the total
contributions made by all participating
employer during the plan year.32 As is
currently required for such plans, the
information would continue to be filed
as an attachment to the Form 5500

Annual Return/Report. MEWAs,
however, whether those reporting on the
Form 5500/Form 5500–SF or the Form
M–1, would not be required to provide
the new aggregate account balances
information that was added by the
SECURE Act to section 103(g).
For the 2021 plan year, pending the
implementation of the Form M–1
changes, all plan MEWAs would
continue to provide participating
employer information as a nonstandard
attachment to the 2021 Form 5500
Annual Return/Report in a similar
manner as currently required.
The proposal, by transferring the
participating employer information from
the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report to
the Form M–1 for MEWAs that offer or
provide coverage for medical benefits
and continuing to require reporting of
participating employer information on
the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report
for plan MEWAs that provide other
benefits, would enable the DOL to
receive such information from both plan
and non-plan MEWAs, regardless of
how they are funded or structured. The
DOL and other users of the Form M–1
data (e.g., state insurance regulators)
would have access to updated and
current lists of participating employers
because the Form M–1 must be filed
annually as well as upon the occurrence
of certain registration events (30 days
prior to MEWAs operating in any state
or expanding their operations into an
additional state; and within 30 days of
a merger, material change, or a
participant increase of 50% or more).

31 See Advisory Opinion Letter 2007–06A (Aug.
16, 2007) (‘‘decisions regarding the method through
which benefits are to be paid under an employee
welfare benefit plan, including the selection of an
insurer and the negotiation of the terms of any
contractual arrangement obligating the plan, are
matters that generally are subject to the fiduciary
responsibility provisions of Title I of ERISA’’.);
Information Letter to Diana Ceresi (Feb. 2, 1998)
(‘‘when the selection of a health care provider
involves the disposition of employee benefit plan
assets, such selection is an exercise of authority or
control with respect to the management and
disposition of the plan’s assets within the meaning
of section 3(21) of ERISA, and thus constitutes a
fiduciary act . . .’’); See also Advisory Opinion
Letter 2018–01A (Nov. 5, 2018) (In the context of
a pension plan rollover service provider, not
covered by Title 1 of ERISA, ‘‘When plan sponsors
or other responsible fiduciaries choose to have a
plan participate in the RCH Program, they are acting
in a fiduciary capacity, and would be subject to the
general fiduciary standards and prohibited
transaction provisions of ERISA in selecting and
monitoring the RCH Program.’’)
32 Similar to the 2014 interim final rule issued
under ERISA section 103(g), such multiple
employer welfare plans that are unfunded or
insured and exempt under 29 CFR 2520.104–44
from filing financial statements with their annual
report will continue to be required to attach a list
of participating employers, but do not have to
include the contribution information. See, e.g., 2020
Form 5500 instructions at 14; see also 2020 Form
5500–SF instructions at 8–9.

C. Proposed Form 5500-Schedule MEP
(Multiple Employer Pension Plan
Information) and Requirement That
MEPs (Including Pooled Employer
Plans) File the Form 5500 and not the
Form 5500–SF
The proposal would add a new
Schedule MEP (Multiple Employer
Pension Plan Information) to the Form
5500 Annual Return/Report that would
be completed by MEPs. The proposal
also would add a limited number of
additional data items elsewhere on the
Form 5500 relevant to MEPs. The
proposed Schedule MEP would provide
a unified vehicle to report information
related to new SECURE Act provisions,
including information unique to MEPs.
The first section, Part I, like the other
schedules to the Form 5500, would
require filers to enter identifying
information (which must match the
information entered on the Form 5500)
and to indicate the plan type by
checkbox. The instructions would
provide general definitions for purposes
of annual reporting for the various
categories of pension plans that must

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complete the Schedule MEP. This
would include different types of MEPs
(group or association retirement plans
within the meaning of 29 CFR 2510.3–
55(b) (association retirement plans),
professional employer organization
plans within the meaning of 29 CFR
2510.3–55(c) (PEO plans), pooled
employer plans within the meaning of
ERISA section 3(43), and other MEPs
covering the employees of two or more
employers that are not single or
multiemployer plans for annual
reporting purposes). Multiemployer
plans, as defined under section 3(37) of
ERISA, would not be required to
complete the Schedule MEP.33
Part II of the proposed Schedule MEP
would be a repeating line item on which
all MEPs would report information
under ERISA section 103(g) regarding
participating employers, including
employer/plan sponsor name, EIN, and
the percentage of total contributions to
the plan or arrangement by each
participating employer, and the
aggregate account balances information
the SECURE Act added to ERISA section
103(g).34 That information is currently
collected for MEPs as a non-standard
attachment to the Form 5500 and Form
5500–SF.35 Pursuant to the SECURE
Act, a new data element would be
added to require reporting of the
aggregate account balances for each
participating employer in the MEP.
Part III would be completed by pooled
employer plans. A pooled employer
plan would be required to indicate
whether the pooled plan provider
operating the plan (identified on the
Form 5500 for each of the pooled
employer plans it operates as both the
plan sponsor and the plan
administrator) has complied with the
registration requirements for pooled
plan providers under section 3(43) and
3(44) of ERISA by filing a Form PR, in
accordance with that form’s
instructions.36 The pooled employer
plan would be required to provide the
‘‘ACK ID’’—the acknowledgement code
generated by the system in response to
a completed filing—for the most recent
33 Multiemployer defined pension benefit plans
are required to provide, on Form 5500, Schedule R
(Retirement Plan Information), identifying
information and the percentage of contributions for
those plans that are five percent or more
contributors for the plan year being reported.
34 As discussed above, MEWAs would report the
participating employer information either as an
attachment to the Form 5500 or on the Form
M–1.
35 The total contributions are the amount reported
on Form 5500, Schedule H, line 2(a)(3) or the total
of lines 8a(1), 8a(2), and 8a(3) on the Form 5500–
SF.
36 See Form PR and its instructions, available at
www.efast.dol.gov.

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Form PR submitted.37 Pooled employer
plans would also be required to indicate
whether certain services were provided
by an affiliate, and, if relying on a
prohibited transaction exemption for the
use of an affiliate, to identify the
prohibited transaction (whether a class
or individual) exemption.
The DOL, through rules and other
initiatives, has pursued and required
improvements in fee transparency to
ensure that ERISA plan fiduciaries and
plan participants are effectively
informed about service provider fees
and expenses, including cost and
performance information of designated
investment alternatives under the plan.
These considerations are particularly
important in the case of pooled
employer plans and MEPs given their
structure and the roles that traditional
service providers end up playing as plan
sponsors and plan administrators.
Accordingly, comments are specifically
solicited on whether more specifically
tailored questions should be added, in
addition to those already on the
Schedules C and H, to report fee and
expense information on pooled
employer plans and other MEPs,
including information on how fees and
expenses are allocated among
participating employers and among
covered participants and beneficiaries.
Further, the proposal would require
all MEPs, similar to the current rule for
multiemployer plans and the proposed
rule for DCGs, to file the Form 5500
regardless of whether they would
otherwise be eligible to file the Form
5500–SF. Making the filings across plan
types more uniform would enable more
consistent and informed oversight of
collective retirement arrangements.
Small MEPs would have the same
simplified Form 5500 reporting as small
pension plans, including MEPs, that
currently file the Form 5500. They
would be able to file the Schedule I
instead of the Schedule H and its
financial attachments, would not be
required to complete the Schedule C or
Schedule G, and would be able to file
without having an IQPA audit and
attaching an IQPA report.
D. Improving Usability of Data
Collection for Schedule H, Line 4i
Schedules of Assets
By their nature, MEPs have the
potential to build up a substantial
amount of assets quickly and the effect
of any abusive schemes on future
retirement distributions may be hidden
37 The instructions to the Form PR advise the
pooled plan provider that it must keep, under
section 107, the electronic receipt for the Form PR
filing as part of the records of the pooled employer
plans operated by the pooled plan provider.

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or difficult to detect for a long period.
The DOL is aware that MEPs could be
the target of fraud or abuse for this
reason. Although DOL is not aware of
direct information indicating that the
risk for fraud and abuse is greater for
MEPs than for other defined
contribution pension plans, a key
component of the proposal is to make
the financial information reported on
the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report
more data mineable and accessible for
enforcement and analysis purposes. The
DOL does not believe it would be
sensible to limit this aspect of the
proposal to just pooled employer plans
and other MEPs because, although an
important data improvement for MEPs,
the need for more relevant and
comparable financial information
extends to defined contribution and
defined benefit pension plans generally.
Reports from GAO, the DOL—Office of
Inspector General, the ERISA Advisory
Council, and the Treasury Inspector
General for Tax Administration
(‘‘TIGTA’’) have focused on the need for
increased transparency and
accountability generally in connection
with employee benefit plan investments
in hard-to-value and alternative assets
and those held through pooled
investment vehicles. It also would be
confusing and inefficient to try to adopt
these kinds of financial reporting
improvement just for MEPs or for
certain types of MEPs.
Mandatory e-filing, which was
implemented for the 2009 form filing
year, changed both the regulated
community’s and the government’s
ability to use the Form 5500 Annual
Return/Report data. The data sets
developed from e-filing information
have been helping researchers,
businesses, and other plan
professionals.38 The Form 5500 Annual
Return/Report data sets can be one of
the major building blocks for a private
organization to use in developing
information for employees and
employers on plan administration.
38 EBSA is responsible for collecting the Form
5500 Annual Return/Report, in part, to fulfill the
statutory requirements under Sections 104 and 106
of ERISA, which require that DOL make annual
reports filed under Title I of ERISA available to the
public. EBSA also makes the Form 5500 filings and
data available to the public under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552. EBSA fulfills
its responsibilities by making the Form 5500
Annual Return/Report data available for
downloading in bulk. See http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/
foia/foia.html. These bulk data files, which EBSA
updates at the end of each month with the Form
5500 Annual Return/Report data collected during
that month, are downloaded by private-sector
organizations that, in some cases, also make the
data available on the internet. Thus, most returns/
reports are currently open to public inspection, and
the contents are public information subject to
publication on the internet.

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Currently, however, the line 4i
attachments to Schedule H (Schedule of
Assets Held at End of Year, Schedule of
Assets Acquired and Disposed of Within
Year and the Schedule of Reportable
Transactions) are difficult to search,
filter, aggregate, and analyze because
they are not filed in a standardized
electronic format. As a result, the
Agencies, policymakers, employers,
labor organizations, participants and
beneficiaries, and the public have
difficulty accessing key information
about plan investments. This proposal
to establish a standardized electronic
filing format for the Schedule H, line 4i
Schedules of Investments is also
intended to be responsive to the OIG’s
recommendation that the Agencies
create a searchable reporting format for
the Schedule H, line 4i Schedules of
Assets and otherwise increase the
accessibility of Form 5500 Annual
Return/Report information, particularly
information on hard-to-value assets and
multiple-employer plans. See DOL–OIG
EBSA Needs to Provide Additional
Guidance and Oversight to ERISA Plans
Holding Hard-To-Value Alternative
Investments, at 17. See also Private
Pensions: Targeted Revisions Could
Improve Usefulness of Form 5500
Information, at 37; see also U.S. Gov’t
Accountability Office, GAO–12–665,
Federal Agencies Should Collect Data
and Coordinate Oversight of Multiple
Employer Plans (2012), at 30.
Schedule H, line 4i would be
separated into two elements—line 4i(1)
would ask whether the plan held assets
for investment at the end of the year;
line 4i(2) would ask about assets
acquired and disposed of during the
plan year. The information to be
collected as part of the schedules would
be largely unchanged, but some
adjustments are being proposed to
improve the consistency and quality of
the data. The proposal clarifies
conventions for identifying filers by
name and identifying number(s).39 The
proposal would require plans to use
legal entity and other industry and
regulatory identifiers for investment
assets whenever possible. Check boxes
are also being added for participant
directed individual account plans to
identify investments that are designated
investment alternatives and qualified
default investment alternatives and to
require entry of the total annual
39 These changes are also intended to address
concerns raised by the GAO in recommending that
‘‘the Agencies develop a central repository for EIN
and Plan Numbers (PNs) for filers and service
providers to improve the comparability of form data
across filings.’’ GAO Private Pensions: Targeted
Revisions Could Improve Usefulness of Form 5500
Information, at 37.

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operating expenses for the investments
expressed as a percentage of assets that
was furnished to participants and
beneficiaries in their most recent ‘‘404a–
5 statement.’’ 40 With the expected
increase in employers choosing to offer
retirement benefits through MEPs and
DCGs, instead of stand-alone plans that
file their own annual return/report, and
the requirement for DCGs to provide the
same investments and investment
alternatives, these changes are intended
to help the Agencies, employers, and
other interested stakeholders compare
plan participation, investment options,
and investment performance from yearto-year.

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E. Schedules MB, SB and R—Proposed
Modifications and Additions to
Information Reported
As described more fully below, the
Agencies propose adding new questions
to the Form 5500 Schedule MB
(Multiemployer Defined Benefit Plan
and Certain Money Purchase Plan
Actuarial Information), Schedule SB
(Single-Employer Defined Benefit Plan
Actuarial Information), and Schedule R
(Retirement Plan Information), and
modifying the demographic and benefit
attachment requirements to enable the
Agencies to project more precisely
defined benefit pension plans’ and
insurance programs’ liabilities. Also for
multiemployer defined benefit pension
plans, among other changes, the
Agencies propose identifying a larger
number of contributing employers. For
both single-employer and
multiemployer defined benefit pension
plans, the Agencies propose the option
to provide certain required attachments
in a spreadsheet file to make it easier for
the Agencies to access the information.
40 See 29 CFR 2550.404a–5. The DOL published
a final rule in 2012 that was designed to help
America’s workers manage and invest the money
they contribute to their 401(k)-type pension plans.
The rule requires that workers in this type of plan
are given, or have access to, the information they
need to make informed decisions, including
information about fees and expenses; the delivery
of investment-related information in a format that
enables workers to meaningfully compare the
investment options under their pension plans; that
plan fiduciaries use standard methodologies when
calculating and disclosing expense and return
information so as to achieve uniformity across the
spectrum of investments that exist among and
within plans, thus facilitating ‘‘apples-to-apples’’
comparisons among their plan’s investment
options; and a new level of fee and expense
transparency. Requiring the total annual operating
expenses from those statements to be included on
the plan’s Form 5500 is intended to help further
that objective by allowing third-party data
aggregators to build tools that will help employers,
participants and beneficiaries, the Agencies, and
other interested members of the public evaluate and
monitor investment alternatives being made
available for America’s workers to save to their
retirement.

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1. Schedule MB Modifications
Currently, Schedule MB requires that
if any of the employer contributions
reported in line 3 include amounts
owed for withdrawal liability, an
attachment must be provided listing the
total withdrawal liability amounts and
the dates such amounts were
contributed. The Agencies propose
modifying the line 3 instructions to
require an attachment that breaks down
the total withdrawal liability amounts
by date, separately specifying the
periodic withdrawal liability amounts
and lump sum withdrawal liability
amounts.
Currently, line 6 of Schedule MB
requires filers to provide information
about the actuarial assumptions used to
determine plan liabilities. The Agencies
propose adding a new requirement for
plans that assess withdrawal liability to
an employer during the plan year to
report the interest rate used to
determine the present value of vested
benefits for withdrawal liability
determinations. This information would
be reported in a new line, which would
become line 6f. In addition, the
Agencies propose modifying the
questions related to the line 6 ‘‘expense
load’’ to better align with the various
ways multiemployer plans incorporate
expense loads into their calculations.
Filers would be required to indicate if
an expense load is included in normal
cost and, if so, whether it is determined
as a percentage of normal cost, a dollar
amount that varies from year to year, or
something else. As part of the
modification, the Agencies propose
moving the expense load from line 6e to
a new line 6i and to revise the
instructions accordingly.
In addition, the Agencies propose
modifying line 8 of Schedule MB by
requiring additional information about
demographics, benefits, and
contributions as described below. As is
the case currently with respect to line 8,
these requirements would apply only to
PBGC-insured multiemployer plans
with 500 or more total participants as of
the beginning of the plan year.
• Benefit Projections—Currently,
such plans are required to attach a
projection of benefits expected to be
paid in each of the next ten years (see
line 8b(1)).41 The Agencies propose
41 The current instructions provide that the line
8b(1) attachment is required for plans with 500 or
more participants as of the valuation date, not as
of the beginning of the plan year. The Agencies are
proposing to change that to ‘‘the beginning of the
plan year’’ because the only participant count
reported on Schedule MB is the count at the
beginning of the plan year (i.e., line 2b(3)(c),
column 1) and because doing so is consistent with
another Schedule MB requirement, See instructions
for line 8b(2).

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modifying the format of the attachment
to show the benefit projection broken
down into three categories based on the
participant’s or beneficiary’s status on
the valuation date (i.e., active,
terminated vested, in pay status). In
addition, the projection period would be
extended from 10 to 50 years. It is the
Agencies’ understanding that almost all
valuation software automatically
generates these numbers and that it
takes the same amount of effort to
project 50 years as it does to project 10
years.
• Contribution Projections—The
Agencies propose adding a new
requirement that such plans provide, as
an attachment, a 10-year projection of
employer contributions and withdrawal
liability payments. A new line, line
8b(3), would be added to Schedule MB
where the filer would report whether
the projection is required. As is the case
with the benefit projection attachments,
the instructions would provide the
required format for the attachment.
• Average age/benefit—The Agencies
propose requiring such plans to report
the average age and average monthly
benefit separately for terminated vested
participants and retired participants and
beneficiaries receiving payments. This
information would be provided directly
on Schedule MB, in new line 8b(4).
The Agencies also propose a change
to the ‘‘age/service’’ scatter attachment
which is currently required for PBGCinsured multiemployer plans with
active participants, regardless of the
number of participants. Currently, the
scatter shows, for each ‘‘attained age’’
and ‘‘years of credited service’’ grouping
of active participants, the number of
active participants, and if the total
number of active participants at the
beginning of the plan year is 1,000 or
more, (1) for plans that use
compensation to determine benefits, the
average compensation, and (2) for cash
balance plans, the average cash balance
account (see line 8b(2)). The Agencies
propose modifying the age/service
scatter by deleting the required
information related to cash balance
plans and adding a requirement to
report average accrued monthly benefits
as of the valuation date for each
grouping (for plans with 1,000 or more
active participants at the beginning of
the year). As is the case with respect to
average compensation, the accrued
benefit information would not be
required for any age/service
combination that contains fewer than 20
participants.
The Agencies also propose clarifying
the line 4f instructions and Schedule
language concerning when (or if) plans
in critical status or critical and

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declining status are projected to emerge
or become insolvent, as filers’ previous
responses indicate they may have been
confused as to how to fill out line 4f
correctly.
2. Modifications to Schedule SB
The Agencies propose making the
Schedule SB (actuarial schedule), line
26 reporting requirements about
demographics and benefits similar to
the requirements for PBGC-insured
multiemployer plans. Consistent with
the requirements for PBGC-insured
multiemployer plans, the new singleemployer plan requirements would
apply only to plans with 500 or more
total participants. However, because the
only participant count information
reported on Schedule SB is as of the
valuation date, for single-employer
plans, participants are counted as of the
valuation date for this purpose instead
of as of the beginning of the plan year.
Such plans would be required to attach
a projection of benefits expected to be
paid in each of the next 50 years broken
down into three categories based on the
participant’s or beneficiary’s status on
the valuation date (i.e., active,
terminated vested, in pay status). The
instructions would provide the
requirements for the attachment’s
format. The Agencies are also proposing
that these plans report the average age
and average monthly benefit separately
for terminated vested participants and
retired participants and beneficiaries
receiving payments. As discussed
above, the Agencies do not believe the
benefit projection requirement would be
burdensome for such single-employer
plans, as almost all valuation software
automatically generates these numbers.

To facilitate these changes, the
Agencies propose rearranging Schedule
SB line 26. Currently, line 26 relates
only to the ‘‘age/service’’ scatter of
active participant data required to be
attached to Schedule SB for PBGCinsured single-employer plans with
active participants. The Agencies
propose changing line 26 into a threepart question (26a, 26b, and 26c). Line
26a would be the current line 26. New
line 26b would require PBGC-insured
single-employer plans with 500 or more
total participants as of the valuation
date to attach a projection of expected
benefit payments. New line 26c would
be the line for plans to report average
age and average monthly benefit
information.
The Agencies propose modifying Part
IX of the Schedule SB, and its
instructions, so that it relates to elective
funding relief provided under the
American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of
2021 instead of elective funding relief
provided under the Pension Relief Act
of 2010 (PRA 2010). The PRA 2010
information is no longer needed because
the ARP Act reduces to zero all shortfall
amortization bases, including
amortization bases established pursuant
to the PRA 2010 elective funding relief.
As modified, plan sponsors of singleemployer defined benefit plans that
elect to have the ARP Act extended
amortization rule apply before the 2022
plan year would be required to report
the first plan year to which the extended
amortization rule applies.
3. Modification to Schedule R Reporting
Requirement
The Agencies propose modifying
Schedule R’s Part V, line 13 requirement

Attachment

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F. Internal Revenue Code-Based
Questions for the 2022 Form 5500s
Prior to 2009, Schedule E, ESOP
Annual Information, Schedule P,
Annual Return of Fiduciary of
Employee Benefit Trust, and Schedule
T, Qualified Pension Plan Coverage
Information, were required as part of the
annual return under section 6058(a) of
the Code and associated regulations, but

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4. Change in Format for Certain
Schedule MB and SB Attachments
EFAST filers currently file Form 5500
attachments as PDF and plain text (TXT)
files. A PDF file is required only if the
attachment is supposed to be signed.
TXT attachments are rarely provided.
Many attachments include a lot of
numbers (e.g., benefit projections, age/
service scatters) that are reported in
tables. These numbers have to be
extracted out of PDF tables and entered
into databases or spreadsheets before
the Agencies can use the information for
various projects, studies, etc. This is
costly and inefficient. It would be more
efficient for the Agencies if this
information was instead provided by
filers in a tabular format (spreadsheet).
Therefore, the Agencies propose
modifying the instructions to allow and
suggest (but not require) that certain
attachments be provided in a tabular
format (spreadsheet) such as CSV or
XLS rather than PDF or TXT formats.
The attachments affected by this change
are:

Schedule MB

Schedule of Projection of Expected Benefit Payments .........................................
Schedule of Active Participant Data (i.e., Age/service scatter) .............................
Withdrawal Liability Amounts .................................................................................
Schedule of Projection of Employer Contributions and Withdrawal Liability .........

Because much of this information is
automatically generated by valuation
software, the Agencies expect that this
option may simplify the process for
preparing attachments as well.

that multiemployer defined benefit
pension plans subject to minimum
funding standards report identifying
information about any participating
employer whose contributions to the
plan account for more than five (5)
percent of the total contributions for the
year. The proposed change would
require that plans report identifying
information about any participating
employer who either (1) contributed
more than five percent of the plan’s total
contributions or (2) was one of the top
ten highest contributors. This will
ensure that reported data represents a
reasonable sampling of contributors.

Line
Line
Line
Line

8b(1) ..............................................
8b(2) ..............................................
3 ....................................................
8b(3) ..............................................

they were not information collections of
the DOL or the PBGC. Beginning in
2009, DOL mandated electronic filing of
Form 5500, Annual Return/Report of
Employee Benefit Plan, and Form 5500–
SF, Short Form Annual Return/Report
of Small Employee Benefit Plan.
Limitations on the IRS’ authority to
require electronic filing of annual
returns resulted in the removal of the
‘‘IRS-only’’ schedules from the Form
5500 filing requirements. See Code
section 6011(e).
The 2011 report from the TIGTA
entitled ‘‘The Employee Plans Function

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Schedule SB
Line 26b.
Line 26a.
N/A.
N/A.

Should Continue Its Efforts to Obtain
Needed Retirement Plan Information’’
notes that the lack of information
contained on Schedules E, P, and T can
negatively impact the IRS’s ability to
effectively focus on specific factors of
noncompliance when selecting
retirement plans for examination. This
lack of information may result in the
IRS selecting relatively compliant plans,
which increases the burden on these
plans and affects the IRS’s ability to
identify and focus on potentially
noncompliant plans. Additionally, the
Employee Plans (EP) function has

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules
focused its examination strategy on
identifying plans with non-compliance
by using compliance strategies and data
analysis. Compliance strategies use
agents’ experience to identify certain
types of plans where EP sees numerous
qualification failures. EP uses data
analysis by identifying certain responses
to questions on the Form 5500 that
indicate that a plan may be noncompliant.
Rather than reinstating the Schedules
E, P, and T, the IRS is proposing to add
new questions to the 2022 Form 5500
that are designed to assist the IRS in
identifying plans that are non-compliant
relating to Code section 410(b) coverage,
Code section 401(a)(4) nondiscrimination, and Code section 401(k)
non-discrimination testing.
Additionally, the IRS is proposing to
add a question that will help it identify
whether adopters of pre-approved plans
have been updated timely for changes in
the law. DCGs would report this
information at the plan level as part of
the Schedule DCG.
Specifically, the proposal would add
a nondiscrimination and coverage test
question to Form 5500 and Form 5500–
SF that was on the Schedule T before it
was eliminated. The question asks if the
employer aggregated plans in testing
whether the plan satisfied the
nondiscrimination and coverage tests of
Code sections 401(a)(4) and 410(b). A
plan that is aggregated with another
plan to pass either nondiscrimination or
coverage testing generally has more
issues that are technically complicated
and raise the possibility of noncompliance. Adding this question will
allow EP to identify these plans for
examination over plans that are likely
more compliant with the law. This
question is also helpful when
performing pre-examination analysis
and allows the IRS to narrow any
inquiries for information that is
requested from the plan sponsor. The
restoration of this question also reflects
the elimination of optional coverage and
nondiscrimination demonstrations in
the IRS determination letter process. See
Rev. Proc. 2012–6, 2012–1 I.R.B. 235,
and Announcement 2011–82, 2011–52
I.R.B. 1052.
The proposal would add a question to
Form 5500 and Form 5500–SF, for
section 401(k) plans, asking whether the
plan sponsor used the design-based safe
harbor rules or, if applicable, the ‘‘prior
year’’ or ‘‘current year’’ ADP test. ADP
testing and nondiscrimination are
significant compliance issues for section
401(k) plans. For example, a plan that
performs prior year or current year ADP
testing is more likely to have
compliance issues than a plan with a

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51503

G. Change to Participant-Count
Methodology for Determining
Independent Qualified Public
Accountant Audit Requirement for
Individual Account Plans
The Agencies are proposing to change
the rules for determining when a
defined contribution pension plan is
exempt from the requirement to include
an IQPA report with its annual return/
report filing. Currently, the plan size
measure for the IQPA audit requirement
is based on the total number of
participants at the beginning of the plan

year, including those eligible to elect to
have contributions made under a
section 401(k) qualified cash or deferred
arrangement even if they have not
elected to participate and do not have
an account balance in a section 401(k)
or 403(b) plan. Some stakeholders have
pointed out that the use of this
definition for the audit threshold may
result in two plans with the same
number of active participants, e.g., 85
account holders, with one subject to an
audit and the other not based on the
number of non-participating but eligible
employees of the plan sponsor. They
questioned the policy basis for such a
difference in application of the audit
requirement. Further, under this
definition, some stakeholders have
suggested that section 112 of the
SECURE Act could make it even more
likely that a plan with a small number
of active participants may be required to
bear the cost of an audit based on
eligible but not participating employees
being counted toward the audit
threshold. Specifically, because section
112 provides that long-term, part time
workers that have reached the plan’s
minimum age requirement and worked
at least 500 hours in each of three
consecutive 12-months period must be
permitted to make elective contributions
to a section 401(k) qualified cash or
deferred arrangement for plan years
beginning on or after January 1, 2024,
there could be more employees eligible
to participate that elect not to do so.
These eligible employees who are not
active participants would still be
impacting the threshold for determining
whether the plan would have to file as
a large plan.43
To address these issues, the Agencies
are proposing to add to the Form 5500
and Form 5500–SF a new question for
defined contribution pension plans
only, asking for the number of
participants with account balances at
the ‘‘beginning of the year,’’ in addition
to the current end-of-year count for
defined contribution pension plan
participants with account balances.
Defined contribution pension plans
would determine whether they have to
file as a large plan and whether they
have to attach an IQPA report and
audited financial statements based on
the number of participants with account
balances as of the beginning of the plan
year, as reported on the face of the Form
5500 or Form 5500–SF. To avoid
circumstances in which a beginning-ofyear count would result in an
inappropriate exclusion of large plans

42 IRS will separately make a parallel update to
the Form 5500–EZ, which is solely in the
jurisdiction of the IRS.

43 The Agencies proposed a similar change in
2016 and received few comments on that aspect of
the proposal. 81 FR 47534 (Jul. 16, 2016).

designed-based safe harbor. Adding this
question will allow EP to identify for
examination section 401(k) plans that
use ADP testing over plans that have
designed-based safe harbors. This
question will also help the IRS perform
pre-examination analysis and, for
design-based safe harbor plans, verify
whether (1) allocations of required safe
harbor contributions comply with the
terms of the plan, and (2) proper notice
requirements are satisfied on an annual
basis.
The proposal would add a question to
Form 5500 and Form 5500–SF,42 asking
whether the employer is an adopter of
a pre-approved plan that received a
favorable IRS Opinion Letter, the date of
the favorable Opinion Letter, and the
Opinion Letter serial number. This
question will help the IRS identify
whether a plan sponsor has adopted a
pre-approved plan and to determine
whether the plan was adopted timely in
accordance with the Code section 401(b)
remedial amendment period. This
question will also assist the IRS in
determining whether to select a plan for
examination as a late amender for
changes in the law.
Finally, the proposal would add a
new checkbox F to Form 5500–EZ, Part
I, asking whether a filer is required to
file Form 5500–EZ electronically
pursuant to Treas. Reg § 301.6058–2. A
filer who has to file at least the
applicable number of returns with the
IRS during a calendar year generally
must file Form 5500–EZ electronically
under EFAST2. The applicable number
is 10 for returns required to be filed
during calendar years after 2022. If a
filer is required to file Form 5500–EZ
electronically, but fails to do so, the filer
is deemed to have failed to file Form
5500–EZ. This question will assist IRS
in determining if a filer is in compliance
with IRS mandatory electronic filing
rules, in the event a paper Form 5500–
EZ is filed.

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from the audit requirement, for first
plan year filings, the participant count
for this purpose would exclude only
plans that have fewer than 100
participants with account balances both
at the beginning of the first plan year
and the end of the first plan year.44
Thus, under the proposal, the
determination would be based on the
number of participants with account
balances as of the beginning of the plan
year (as reported on proposed line 6g(1)
of the Form 5500 or line 5c(1) of the
Form 5500–SF), except that the
determination for first plan year filings
would be based on the number of
participants with account balances both
at the beginning of the plan year and at
the end of the plan year (as reported on
proposed line 6g(2) of the Form 5500
and line 5c(2) of the Form 5500–SF).
H. Miscellaneous and Conforming
Changes for Forms and Instructions
Various other technical, formatting,
and conforming changes to the forms,
schedules, and instructions are being
proposed as part of the substantial
restructuring of the Form 5500 Annual
Return/Report described in this notice.
For example, to implement the
proposed Schedule MEP and Schedule
DCG, the proposal includes conforming
changes to other parts of the forms,
schedules, and instructions. The
instructions for what constitutes a
multiple employer plan for purposes of
the Form 5500 would generally be left
unchanged, but conforming changes
would be made throughout the
instructions as necessary to reference
the Schedule MEP and pooled employer
plans for pension plans. The
instructions would also be amended to
reflect the transferring of the
participating employer information from
the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report to
the Form M–1 for MEWAs that offer or
provide coverage for medical benefits,
and continued reporting of participating
employer information on the Form 5500
Annual Return/Report as an attachment
for plan MEWAs that provide other
benefits. The instructions for Part I, DFE
box, would be updated to add a code for
DCGs, which would be instructed to
check the DFE box, enter the correct
code, and attach the proposed Schedule
DCG. The proposed Schedule MEP and
Schedule DCG would be added to the
list of pension schedules. DCG filers
would have to check that they are
adding the Schedule DCG and enter the
number of Schedules DCG attached.
Other conforming changes would also
44 This would not otherwise change how
participants are counted for Form 5500 reporting
purposes.

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be made throughout the instructions as
necessary to reference DCGs and
Schedule DCG. The DOL’s reporting
regulation at 29 CFR 2520.103–1(c)(2)(ii)
and the Form 5500–SF instructions
would be amended to add MEPs and
DCGs to those types of filers that are not
permitted to file a Form 5500–SF, but
must instead file the Form 5500, with
all required schedules and attachments.
The instructions would be revised to
state that pooled employer plans and
DCGs would not report investment
assets aggregated into master trust
investment accounts (MTIAs) because
the purpose of the MTIA reporting
structure is to provide a financial
reporting structure for groups of
affiliated plans (e.g., separate plans of
controlled group members) that utilize
master trusts for the collective
investment of the assets of the affiliated
plans. The Departments do not believe
that separate pooled employer plans and
DCGs are ‘‘affiliated’’ in the way that
was envisioned for master trust
reporting by plans and may in fact
create an overly complex and
undesirable lack of transparency if used
in the case of pooled employer plans
and DCGs.
The proposal would also add new
breakout categories to the
‘‘Administrative Expenses’’ category of
the Income and Expenses section of the
Schedule H balance sheet. The Agencies
have determined that to get a better
picture of plan expenses, particularly
those related to service providers, more
detail in this category is warranted.
Accordingly, data elements would be
added for ‘‘Salaries and allowances,’’
‘‘Independent Qualified Public
Accountant (IQPA) Audit fees,’’
‘‘Recordkeeping and Other Accounting
Fees,’’ ‘‘Bank or Trust Company
Trustee/Custodial Fees,’’ ‘‘Actuarial
fees,’’ ‘‘Legal fees,’’ ‘‘Valuation/
appraisal fees,’’ and ‘‘Trustee fees/
expenses (including travel, seminars,
meetings.’’ Other than IQPA Audit Fees
and Bank or Trust Company Trustee/
Custodial Fees, these questions were on
the Form 5500 prior to 1999.45 As noted
above in connection with pooled
employer plans and MEPs, transparency
and improved reporting of fees and
expenses is an ongoing objective for the
DOL and an important goal for
continuing to improve the Form 5500 as
a tool for financial transparency and
accountability among employee benefit
plans. Accordingly, the agencies
specifically request comments on
whether the final rule should require
more detailed reporting regarding fee
and expense information on the Form
45 See

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5500. Useful comments would include,
for example, suggestions on how to
improve reporting of direct and indirect
service provider compensation,
generally and in particular with respect
to pooled employer plans, other MEPs,
and DCG reporting arrangements
(including information about how the
fees and expenses are allocated among
participating plans, employers, and plan
participants and beneficiaries, as
applicable). Another example of an area
of interest on fee information is whether
the Form 5500 would be an appropriate
vehicle for collecting information on
fees charged to participants or alternate
payees by a retirement plan—including
plan service provider fees the plan
passes on to participants—for review
and qualification of domestic relations
orders.46
The proposal would also amend the
Form 5500 instructions to make explicit
that the pooled plan provider operating
the pooled employer plan must report
the same identifying information—i.e.,
name and EIN for itself, identified
affiliates and other service providers,
and trustees—on the Form PR for the
pooled plan provider and on the Forms
5500 for every pooled employer plan the
pooled plan provider operates. The
instructions to the new Form PR have
parallel instructions. The proposal
would also amend the Form 5500 and
Form 5500–SF instructions and make
conforming changes to the other parts of
the forms, schedules, and instructions to
implement the proposed changes
described above to the participant count
methodology for individual account
plans for determining whether such
plans have to file as a large plan and
whether they have to attach an IQPA
report.
IV. Paperwork Reduction Act
Statement
As part of continuing efforts to reduce
paperwork and respondent burden, the
general public and Federal agencies are
invited to comment on proposed and/or
continuing collections of information in
accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(2)(A)). This helps to ensure that
requested data will be provided in the
46 See Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Report GAO 20–541, ‘‘Retirement Security: DOL
Could Better Inform Divorcing Parties About
Dividing Savings,’’ which recommended that
‘‘EBSA should explore ways to collect information
on fees charged to participants or alternate payees
by a retirement plan—including plan service
provider fees the plan passes on to participants—
for review and qualification of domestic relations
orders and evaluate the burden of doing so. For
example, DOL could consider collecting fee
information as part of existing reporting
requirements in the Form 5500.’’

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules
desired format, reporting burden (time
and financial resources) will be
minimized, collection instruments will
be clearly understood, and the impact of
collection requirements on respondents
is properly assessed. Currently, the DOL
is soliciting comments concerning the
proposed revisions of the Form 5500
Annual Return/Report, Form M–1 and
Summary Annual Report, which are
information collection requests subject
to the PRA. A copy of the ICRs may be
obtained by contacting the person listed
in the PRA Addressee section below.
The DOL has submitted a copy of the
proposed revisions to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) in
accordance with 44 U.S.C. 3507(d) for
its review of the DOL’s information
collection. The IRS and the PBGC
intend to submit separate requests for
OMB review and approval based upon
the final forms revisions. The DOL and
OMB are particularly interested in
comments that:
• Evaluate whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the Agencies, including
whether the information will have
practical utility;
• Evaluate the accuracy of the
estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and
assumptions used;
• Enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and
• Minimize the burden of the
collection of information on those who
are to respond, including through the
use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology,
e.g., permitting electronic submission of
responses.
Comments should be sent to the
Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Office of Management and
Budget, Room 10235, New Executive
Office Building, Washington, DC 20503
and marked ‘‘Attention: Desk Officer for
the Employee Benefits Security
Administration.’’ Comments can also be
submitted by Fax: 202–395–5806 (this is
not a toll-free number), or by email:
[email protected]. OMB
requests that comments be received by
October 15, 2021, which is 30 days from
publication of the proposed rule to
ensure their consideration.
PRA Addressee: Address requests for
copies of the ICR to James Butikofer,
Office of Regulations and
Interpretations, U.S. Department of
Labor, Employee Benefits Security
Administration, 200 Constitution

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Avenue NW, Room N–5655,
Washington, DC 20210. Email:
[email protected]. ICRs submitted to
OMB also are available at http://
www.RegInfo.gov.
Form 5500 ICR: As described below,
DOL is requesting a new OMB Control
Number for this collection. The request
for a new control number is for
administrative reasons only. The DOL is
currently in the process of requesting an
extension for OMB Control Number
1210–0110, Annual Information Return/
Report of Employee Benefit Plan. Once
all of the outstanding actions are
complete, the DOL intends to submit a
nonmaterial change request to transfer
the burden from the new ICR to the
existing OMB control number for the
Annual Information Return/Report of
Employee Benefit Plan (1210–0110) and
proceed to discontinue the use of the
new control number.
The Agencies’ burden estimation
methodology excludes certain activities
from the calculation of ‘‘burden.’’ If the
activity is performed for any reason
other than compliance with the
applicable federal tax administration
system or the Title I annual reporting
requirements, it was not counted as part
of the paperwork burden. For example,
most businesses or financial entities
maintain, in the ordinary course of
business, detailed accounts of assets and
liabilities, and income and expenses for
the purposes of operating the business
or entity. These recordkeeping activities
were not included in the calculation of
burden because prudent business or
financial entities normally have that
information available for reasons other
than federal tax or Title I annual
reporting. Only time for gathering and
processing information associated with
the tax return/annual reporting systems,
and learning about the law, was
included. In addition, an activity is
counted as a burden only once if
performed for both tax and Title I
purposes. The Agencies also have
designed the instruction package for the
Form 5500 Annual Return/Report so
that filers generally will be able to
complete the Form 5500 Annual Return/
Report by reading the instructions
without needing to refer to the statutes
or regulations. The Agencies, therefore,
have included in their PRA calculations
a burden for reading the instructions
and find there is no recordkeeping
burden attributable to the Form 5500
Annual Return/Report. The DOL solicits
comments regarding whether or not any
recordkeeping beyond that which is
usual and customary is necessary to
complete the Form 5500 Annual Return/
Report. Comments are also solicited on
whether the Form 5500 Annual Return/

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51505

Report instructions are generally
sufficient to enable filers to complete
the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report
without needing to refer to the statutes
or regulations.
Summary Annual Report ICR: Section
2520.104b–10 sets forth the
requirements for the Summary Annual
Report (SAR) appendix and prescribes
formats for such reports. The DOL is
proposing to revise the currently
approved information collection (1210–
0040) to include required additions to
the SAR formats that reflect the addition
of the new Schedule MEP and Schedule
DCG to the 5500 Annual Report/Return.
Form M–1 ICR: Effective for plan
years beginning on or after January 1,
2022, DOL is proposing to amend the
Form M–1 information collection
(1210–0116) by adding new questions
requiring MEWAs (plan and non-plan
MEWAs) that offer or provide coverage
for medical care to identify each
participating employer in the MEWA by
name and EIN. MEWAs that are not
unfunded or insured must also provide
participating employer’s percentage of
the total contributions (employer and
employee) made by all employer
participating in a MEP. This information
is currently reported as a non-standard
attachment as part of the Form 5500
filing. The reporting of this burden is
being moved from OMB control number
1210–0110. For the 2021 plan year,
pending the implementation of the
Form M–1 changes, plan MEWAs that
offer or provide coverage for medical
care would be required provide
participating employer information as a
nonstandard attachment to the 2021
Form 5500 Annual Return/Report in a
similar manner as currently required. A
summary of paperwork burden
estimates follows:
Agency: DOL–EBSA.
Type of Review: New information
collection.
Title: Annual Information Return/
Report of Employee Benefit Plan.
Affected Public: Individuals or
households; Private Sector—Business or
other for-profit; Not-for-profit
institutions.
Forms: Form 5500 and Schedules.
Total Respondents: 804,000.
Total Responses: 804,000.
Frequency of Response: Annually.
Estimated Total Burden Hours:
588,000.
Total Annualized Costs: $275 million.
Agency: Department of Treasury—
IRS.
Type of Revision: Revision of existing
collection.
Title of Collection: Annual Return/
Report of Employee Benefit Plan.

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

OMB Control Number: 1545–1610.
Affected Public: Individuals or
households; Private Sector—Business or
other for-profit; Not-for-profit
institutions.
Forms: Form 5500 and Schedules.
Total Respondents: 804,000.
Total Responses: 804,000.
Frequency of Response: Annually.
Estimated Total Burden Hours:
354,000.
Total Annualized Costs: $142 million.
Agency: PBGC.
Type of Revision: Revision of existing
collection.
Title of Collection: Annual
Information Return/Report.
OMB Control Number: 1212–0057.
Affected Public: Individuals or
households; Private Sector—Business or
other for-profit; Not-for-profit
institutions.
Forms: Form 5500 and Schedules.
Total Respondents: 24,744.
Total Responses: 24,744.
Frequency of Response: Annually.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,242.
Total Annualized Costs: $2 million.
Agency: DOL–EBSA.
Type of Revision: Revision of existing
collection.
Title of Collection: Annual Report for
Multiple Employer Welfare
Arrangements.
OMB Control Number: 1210–0116.
Affected Public: Not-for-profit
institutions, Businesses or other forprofits.
Forms: Form M–1.
Total Respondents: 687.
Total Responses: 687.
Frequency of Response: Annually.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 141.
Total Annualized Costs: $126,556.
Agency: DOL–EBSA.
Type of Revision: Revision of existing
collection.
Title of Collection: Summary Annual
Report Requirement.
OMB Control Number: 1210–0040.
Affected Public: Not-for-profit
institutions, Businesses or other forprofits.

Total Respondents: 761,170.
Total Responses: 177,793,034.
Frequency of Response: Annually.
Estimated Total Burden Hours:
1,110,692.
Total Annualized Costs: $20,320,505.
The DOL solicits comments regarding
whether or not any recordkeeping
beyond that which is usual and
customary is necessary to complete the
Form 5500 Annual Return/Report.
Comments are also solicited on whether
the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report
instructions are generally sufficient to
enable filers to complete the Form 5500
Annual Return/Report without needing
to refer to the statutes or regulations.
Paperwork and Respondent Burden:
Estimated time needed to complete the
forms listed below reflects the combined
requirements of the IRS, the DOL, and
the PBGC. The times will vary
depending on individual circumstances.
The estimated average times are:

Pension plans
Large
Form 5500 .....................................
Sch A .............................................
Sch MB ..........................................
Sch SB ...........................................
Sch C .............................................
Sch D .............................................
Sch G .............................................
Sch H .............................................
Sch I ...............................................
Sch R .............................................
Form 5500–SF ...............................
Sch MEP ........................................

Small, filing Form 5500

1 hr, 51 min ..................................
2 hr, 52 min ..................................
8 hr, 49 min ..................................
6 hr, 38 min ..................................
2 hr, 52 min.
1 hr, 39 min ..................................
14 hr, 22 min.
11 hr, 51 min.
2 hr, 6 min ....................................
1 hr, 45 min ..................................
.......................................................
10 min.

1
2
8
6

hr,
hr,
hr,
hr,

Small, filing 5500–SF

19 min.
52 min.
6 min ....................................
49 min ..................................

8 hr, 6 min.
6 hr, 49 min.

20 min.

2 hr, 6 min.
1 hr, 7 min.
.......................................................

2 hr, 35 min.

Welfare plans that include health benefits
Small, unfunded, combination unfunded/fully insured, or
funded with a trust 5500–SF

Large
Form 5500 ...............................................
Sch A ......................................................
Sch C ......................................................
Sch D ......................................................
Sch G ......................................................
Sch H ......................................................
Sch I ........................................................
Form 5500–SF ........................................

1 hr, 45 min ...........................................
3 hr, 40 min ...........................................
3 hr, 38 min.
1 hr, 52 min ...........................................
11 hr, 0 min.
12 hr, 46 min.
................................................................
................................................................

1 hr, 14 min.
2 hr, 43 min.
20 min.

1 hr, 56 min.
2 hr, 35 min.

Welfare plans that do not include health benefits

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Large
Form 5500 .....................................
Sch A .............................................
Sch C .............................................
Sch D .............................................
Sch G .............................................
Sch H .............................................
Sch I ...............................................
Form 5500–SF ...............................
Sch M1 ...........................................

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17:43 Sep 14, 2021

Small, filing Form 5500

1 hr, 45 min ..................................
3 hr, 40 min ..................................
3 hr, 38 min.
1 hr, 52 min ..................................
11 hr, 0 min.
12 hr, 46 min.
.......................................................
.......................................................
15 min.

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Small, filing Form 5500–SF

1 hr, 14 min.
2 hr, 43 min.
20 min.
1 hr, 56 min.
.......................................................

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules
Direct filing entities

Form 5500 .............
Sch A .....................
Sch C .....................
Sch D .....................
Sch G .....................
Sch H .....................
Sch DCG ................

Master trusts

CCTs

PSAs

103–12 IEs

GIAs

1 hr, 50 min .........
2 hr, 54 min .........
3 hr, 2 min ...........
1 hr, 30 min .........
12 hr, 34 min .......
12 hr, 19 min .......
.............................

1 hr, 30 min .........
2 hr, 48 min .........
1 hr, 2 min ...........
48 min .................
.............................
11 hr, 47 min .......
.............................

1 hr, 23 min .........
2 hr, 46 min .........
29 min .................
34 min .................
.............................
11 hr, 43 min .......
.............................

1 hr, 38 min .........
2 hr, 51 min .........
1 hr, 56 min .........
1 hr, 1 min ...........
8 hr, 3 min ...........
12 hr, 16 min .......
.............................

1 hr, 26 min .........
3 hr, 1 min ...........
1 hr, 22 min .........
54 min .................
.............................
12 hr, 1 min .........
.............................

The aggregate hour burden for the
Form 5500 Annual Return/Report
(including schedules and short form) is
estimated to be 0.9 million hours
annually. The hour burden reflects
filing activities carried out directly by

filers. The cost burden is estimated to be
$419 million annually. The cost burden
reflects filing services purchased by
filers. Presented below is a chart
showing the total hour and cost burden
of the revised Form 5500 Annual

DCGs
1 hr, 50
2 hr, 52
2 hr, 42
1 hr, 39
11 hr, 6
8 hr, 36
1 hr, 33

Return/Report separately allocated
across the DOL and the IRS. There is no
separate PBGC entry on the chart
because, as explained below, its share of
the paperwork burden is very small
relative to that of the IRS and the DOL.

DOL
Hours
Pension:
Large Plans ....................................................................................................................
Small Plans ....................................................................................................................
Welfare:
Large Plans ....................................................................................................................
Small Plans ....................................................................................................................
Total:
Large Plans ....................................................................................................................
Small Plans ....................................................................................................................
DFEs ..............................................................................................................................
Total Plans ..............................................................................................................

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The paperwork burden allocated to
the PBGC includes a portion of the
general instructions, basic plan
identification information, a portion of

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IRS
Costs

Hours

Costs

261,464
174,999

$62,431,639.11
87,694,622.39

142,897
176,481

$31,568,313.36
103,113,327.32

108,142
6,137

111,593,190.83
5,407,649.86

9,953
2,507

1,811,627.38
1,252,295.71

369,607
181,136
37,642

174,024,829.94
93,102,272.24
8,014,192.20

152,850
178,988
21,908

33,379,940.74
104,365,623.03
4,543,173.65

588,385

275,141,294.38

353,746

142,288,737.43

Schedule MB, a portion of Schedule SB,
a portion of Schedule H, and a portion
of Schedule R. The PBGC’s Estimated
Share of Total Form 5500 Annual

PO 00000

min.
min.
min.
min.
min.
min.
min.

Return/Report Burden is: 1,242 Hours
and $1.6 million per year.
BILLING CODE 4510–29–P

E:\FR\FM\15SEP2.SGM

15SEP2

51508

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

APPENDIX A - PROPOSED SCHEDULE MEP (MULTIPLE-EMPLOYER RETIREMENT
PLAN INFORMATION) AND INSTRUCTIONS
SCHEDULE MEP

(Form 5500)
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Department of Labor
Employee Benefits Security Administration

MULTIPLE-EMPLOYER RETIREMENT
PLAN INFORMATION

0MB Nos. 1210-XXXX

This schedule is required to be filed under section 104 of the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and

2022

1210-XXXX

Section 6058(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code)
This Form is Open to
Public Inspection

File as an attachment to Form 6600.

►
For calendar plan year 202X or fiscal plan year beginning

and ending

A Name of plan

EIN

C Plan administrator's name as shown on line 2a of Form 5500

Type of Multiple-Employer Pension Plan. All multiple-employer pension plans must complete.
Line 1 Check the appropriate box to indicate type of multiple-employer pension plan. (See Instructions)
a[] association retirement plan (See 29 CFR 2510.3-55) (Complete Part II)
b [] professional employer organization (PEO) plan (See 29 CFR 29 CFR 2510.3-55) (Complete Part II)
c [] pooled employer plan (PEP) (See 29 CFR 2510.3-44) (Complete Parts II and Ill)
d [] other multiple-employer pension plan (Describe)._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (Complete Part II)

~~;1.,~fi~ Participating Employer Information.
All multiple-employer pension plans that are subject to section 210(a) of ERISA (see instructions for filing the Form 5500) must
complete Part II, in addition to Part I, in accordance with the instructions, to report the information for each employer
participating in the MEP.
Line 2 Participating Employer Information. Complete as many entries as needed to list the required information for each
participating employer that is not an individual person (See instructions).

2a. Name of Participating

2b. EIN

2c. Percentage of Total
Contributions for the Plan Year

2d. Aggregate Account Balances
Attributable to Participating Employer

2b. EIN

2c. Percentage of Total
Contributions for the Plan Year

2d. Aggregate Account Balances
Attributable to Participating Employer

Employer

2a. Name of Participating
Employer

2e. Does the plan include any individuals not participating through an employer or who are individual working owners?
[] Yes [] No

2f. If you answer "Yes" in line 2e, enter a good faith estimate of percentage of total contributions made by all such
individuals that are not listed on line 2a during the plan year.

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CAUTION Do not individually list information for working owners (see instructions and 29 CFR 2510.3-55( d)(2)) or other
individuals who are participants or beneficiaries in the plan or arrangement that are no longer associated with a particular
participating employer or participating employer plan. (See instructions). Providing identifying information for individuals may
result in rejection of this filing. If there are any such individuals in the plan, answer "Yes" to line 2e and provide the total
information for all such individuals, without providing names or other identifying information.

51509

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules
2g. If you answer "Yes" in Line 2e, enter the aggregate account balances for all such individuals that are not listed on

line 2a.

laifjt,;~] Pooled Employer Plan Information.
Pooled employer plans must answer all of the questions in Part 111, in addition to completing all of Parts I and II.
Line 3. Has the pooled plan provider (identified as the plan sponsor and administrator in Part II of the Form 5500)
acknowledged in writing that it is the named fiduciary and plan administrator? [] Yes [] No
Line 4. Has the pooled plan provider (identified as the plan sponsor and administrator in Part II of the Form 5500)
acknowledged in writing its administrative responsibilities for the plan? [] Yes [] No
Line 5. Is the pooled plan provider currently in compliance with the Form PR (Pooled Plan Provider Registration Statement)
requirements? (See instructions and 29 CFR 2510.3-44)[] Yes [] No
5a If "Yes" is checked, enter the ACK ID for the most recent Form PR that was required to be filed under the Form PR
filing requirements. (Failure to enter a valid ACK ID will subject the Form 5500 filing for any PEP operated by the
pooled plan provider to be rejected as incomplete.)
ACK ID _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Line 6. Have services been provided to the plan through affiliates or other related parties to the pooled plan provider?

[] Yes [] No
6a If "Yes," are you relying on a prohibited transaction exemption? If you answer yes, enter the PTE(s) on which you
are relying. [] Yes (enter PTE _ __,[]No

DRAFT
Schedule MEP
(Form 5500)

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2021 v.

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EP15SE21.009

For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see the Instructions for Form 5500.

51510

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

PROPOSED INSTRUCTIONS FOR SCHEDULE MEP
2022 Instructions for Schedule MEP (Form 5500) (Multiple-Employer Retirement Plan
Information)

General Instructions

The Schedule MEP provides information about multiple-employer pension plans (MEPs). It
consists of three parts. All MEPs must complete Parts I and II to indicate the specific type of plan
or arrangement, to complete a list of participating employers, and to provide certain required
information.

Part III only needs to be completed by pooled employer plans to answer questions specific to
pooled employer plans and the pooled plan provider that sponsors and administers the pooled
employer plan.

Who Must File

Schedule MEP (Form 5500) must be attached to a Form 5500 filed for a pension plan that
checks the "multiple employer plan" box on Part I of Form 5500, to provide information specific to
such plan, including a list of participating employers and related information.

Remember to check the Schedule MEP box on the Form 5500 (Part II, line 10a(5)) to
indicate that Schedule MEP is attached to the Form 5500.

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Welfare plans are not required to file the Schedule MEP.

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51511

Specific Instructions

Part I Type of Multiple-Employer Pension Plan

Line 1. For purposes of completing the Schedule MEP, check the element that best
describes the type of plan.

Element (a) Association Retirement (Defined Contribution) Plan. Check this box if the
Schedule MEP is being filed for a defined contribution MEP that is an Association Retirement Plan
and complete Part II. A defined contribution pension plan sponsored by a bona fide group or
association of employers is a MEP that is an Association Retirement Plan if: (1) the group or
association has at least one substantial business purpose unrelated to offering and providing
employee benefits to its employer members and their employees; (2) each employer member
directly acts as an employer of at least one employee participating in the MEP; (3) group or
association has a formal organizational structure, (4) the group or association is controlled by its
employer members; (5) employer members of the group or association have a commonality of
interest; (6) plan participation is limited to employees and former employees of its employer
members, and their beneficiaries; (7) the group or association must not be a bank or trust company,
insurance issuer, broker-dealer, or other similar financial services firm (including a pension record
keeper or third-party administrator) or owned or controlled by such an entity or any subsidiary or
affiliate of such an entity, other than to the extent such an entity, subsidiary or affiliate participates
in the group or association in its capacity as an employer member; and (8) the group or association

CAUTION. Do not check this box for a defined benefit plan sponsored by a bona fide group or
association of employers. See instructions for element (d) Other Multiple Employer Pension Plan.

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meets any other applicable conditions under 29 CFR 2510.3-SS(b).

51512

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

Element (b) Professional Employer Organization (Defined Contribution) Plan (PEO
Plan). Check this box if the Schedule MEP is being filed for a defined contribution MEP that is a
Professional Employer Organization Plan (PEO Plan) and complete Part II. For this purpose, a
professional employer organization (PEO) is a human-resource company that contractually assumes
certain employer responsibilities of its client employers. A defined contribution pension plan
sponsored by a PEO is a MEP that is a PEO Plan if the PEO (1) performs substantial employment
functions on behalf of its client employers, and maintains adequate records relating to such
functions; (2) have substantial control over the functions and activities of the MEP as the plan
sponsor, the plan administrator, and a named fiduciary and continues to have plan obligations to
MEP participants after the client employer no longer contracts with the organization; (3) ensures
that each client employer that adopts the MEP acts directly as an employer of at least one employee
who is a participant covered under the MEP; (4) ensures that participation in the MEP is available
only to employees and former employees of the PEO and client employers, employees and former
employees of former client employers who became participants during the contract period between
the PEO and former client employers, and their beneficiaries; and (5) meets any other applicable
conditions under 29 CFR 29 CFR 2510.3-55(c).

CAUTION. Do not check this box for a defined benefit plan sponsored by a PEO. See instructions
for element (d) Other Multiple Employer Pension Plan.

Element (c) Pooled Employer Plan (PEP). Check this box if the Schedule MEP is being
filed for a MEP that is a PEP plan and complete Parts II and III. A pooled employer plan operated

maintained for the purpose of providing benefits to the employees of two or more employers; (2)
the plan is a qualified retirement plan or a plan funded entirely with individual retirement accounts

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by a "pooled plan provider" is a MEP if: (1) the plan is an individual account plan established or

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51513

(IRA-based plan); and (3) the terms of the plan meets certain requirements set forth in BRISA
section 3(43).

A "pooled plan provider" with respect to a pooled employer plan is defined in BRISA
section 3(44) and Code section 413(e) to mean a person that:

1. is designated by the terms of the plan as a named fiduciary under BRISA, as the plan
administrator, and as the person responsible to perform all administrative duties that are reasonably
necessary to ensure that the plan meets the Code requirements for tax-favored treatment and the
requirements of BRISA and to ensure that each employer in the plan takes actions as the Secretary
of Labor or the pooled plan provider determines necessary for the plan to meet Code and BRISA
requirements, including providing to the pooled plan provider any disclosures or other information
that the Secretary may require or that the pooled plan provider otherwise determines are necessary
to administer the plan or to allow the plan to meet Code and BRISA requirements;

2. acknowledges in writing its status as a named fiduciary under BRISA and as the plan
administrator;

3. is responsible for ensuring that all persons who handle plan assets or are plan fiduciaries
are bonded in accordance with BRISA requirements; and

4. registers as a pooled plan provider by filing a Form PR in accordance with 29 CPR
2510.3-44.

Note. The term "pooled employer plan" does not include a multiemployer plan or plan maintained

does not include a plan established before January 1, 2021, which is the effective date of the
SECURE Act provisions allowing pooled employer plans to begin operating, unless the plan

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by employers that have a commonality of interest other than having adopted the plan. The term also

51514

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

administrator elects to have the plan treated as a pooled employer plan and the plan meets the Code
and ERISA requirements applicable to a pooled employer plan established on or after such date,
including the requirement that the pooled plan provider file a Form PR with the Department of
Labor before beginning to operate any pooled employer plan(s).

CAUTION. The pooled plan provider must be the same as the person identified as the plan
sponsor and administrator in Part II of the Form 5500. All information for the pooled employer
plan and the pooled plan provider operating the plan reported on the Form 5500, including Schedule
MEP, must match the information reported on the Form PR Failure to use consistent identifying
information could result in correspondence from the Department of Labor or the Internal Revenue
Service.

Element (d) Other Multiple-Employer Pension Plan. Check this box, describe the type of
MEP (e.g., defined benefit multiple-employer pension plan or collectively bargained multipleemployer pension plan that did not elect to be treated as a multiemployer plan) and complete Part II
of the Schedule MEP if the Schedule MEP is being filed for a plan that is maintained by more than
one employer and is not one of the plans already described.

Note. A multiple employer pension plan can be collectively bargained and collectively funded, but
if covered by PBGC termination insurance, must have properly elected before September 27, 1981,
not to be treated as a multiemployer plan under Code section 414(f)(5) or ERISA sections 3(37)(E)
and 4001(a)(3) and have not revoked that election or made an election to be treated as a

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multiemployer plan under Code section 414(f)(6) or ERISA section 3(37)(G).

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51515

Part II Multiple-Employer Plan Participating Employer Information.

All MEPs (including association retirement plans, PEO plans, pooled employer plans
(PEPs), and other multiple-employer pension plans) must complete Part II to report the information
for each participating employer in the MEP filing the Form 5500.

Complete as many entries as needed to list the required information for each participating
employer that is not an individual person.

Note. The amounts listed in line 2c and line 2f must equal 100 percent (with a permitted variance
ofless than 1 percent due to rounding).

Line 2a. Enter the name of each participating employer in line 2a.

Note. If there are any working owners without employees participating in the plan, answer "Yes"
to line 2e and provide the total contribution and account balance information for all such individuals
on lines 2f and 2g, without providing names or other identifying information. For purposes of
completing this schedule, a "working owner'' has the same meaning as in 29 CFR 2510.3-55(d)(2).

Line 2b. Enter the EIN of the participating employer.

CAUTION. Do not enter SSNs in lieu of an EIN. The Schedule MEP is open to public inspection,
and the contents are public information and are subject to publication on the Internet. Because of
privacy concerns, the inclusion of a SSN or any portion thereof on this Schedule MEP may result in

Line 2c. Enter a good faith estimate of the participating employer's percentage of the total
contributions made by all participating employer (including the total contribution amount for

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the rejection of the filing.

51516

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

individuals reported on line 2f) during the plan year. If a participating employer made no
contributions for the plan year (including participant contributions), enter "-0-" on line 2c.

Line 2d. Enter the aggregate account balances for the participating employer, determined as

the sum of the account balances of the employees of such employer (and the beneficiaries of such
employees).

Line 2e. If the plan includes any individuals not participating through an employer or who

are individual working owners, answer "Yes" to line 2e and complete lines 2f and 2g. Do not
identify such individuals on line 2a.

Line 2f. If the answer to line 2e is "Yes," enter a good faith estimate of the percentage of

total contributions made by such individuals that are not listed on line 2a.

Line 2g. If the answer to line 2e is "Yes," enter the aggregate account balances for all

individuals that are not listed on line 2a.

Part III. Pooled Employer Plan Information.

If this filing is for a pooled employer plan (PEP), you must answer lines 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Line 3. You must indicate whether the pooled plan provider (identified as the plan sponsor

and administrator in Part II of the Form 5500) acknowledged in writing to all the participating
employers that it is the named fiduciary and plan administrator.

Note: You must also identify the pooled plan provider as the named fiduciary on Schedule C and

Line 4. You must indicate whether the pooled plan provider (identified as the plan sponsor

and administrator in Part II of the Form 5500) has acknowledged in writing its administrative

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report all required service provider information.

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51517

responsibilities for the plan. These administrative duties include conducting proper testing with
respect to the plan and the employees of each employer in the plan that are necessary to comply
with all applicable qualification and other tax requirements, and ensuring that all plan fiduciaries
and persons who handle plan funds are bonded in accordance with section 412 ofERISA.

Line 5. To be able to operate one or more pooled employer plans, pooled plan providers

must satisfy a number of conditions, including compliance with the Form PR (Pooled Plan Provider
Registration) requirements. See 29 CFR 2510.3-44.

Pooled employer plans must answer whether the pooled plan provider that is the plan
sponsor and administrator for the pooled employer plan has complied with the Form PR registration
requirements. If you check "Yes" in line 5 to indicate that the pooled plan provider has complied
with the registration requirements, enter in line Sa the Receipt Confirmation Code (ACK ID) for the
most recent Form PR that was required to be filed under the Form PR filing requirements.

Failure to enter a valid Receipt Confirmation Code (ACK ID) for the pooled plan provider's
most recent Form PR will subject the Form 5500 filing to rejection as incomplete.

Line 6. If services have been provided to the plan through affiliates or other related parties

to the pooled plan administrator, you must answer "Yes" to line 6 and complete line 6a. If you are
relying on a prohibited transaction exemption (PTE), enter the PTE number. If you answer "No,"
you must complete Schedule G to report nonexempt transactions.

For these purposes, the term affiliate includes all persons who are treated as a single

(o) of the Internal Revenue Code and are expected to provide services to pooled employer plans
sponsored by the pooled plan provider, and any officer, director, partner, employee, or relative (as

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employer with the person intending to be a pooled plan provider under section 414(b ), ( c), (m), or

51518

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

defined in section 3(15) of the Act) of such person; and any corporation or partnership of which

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such person is an officer, director, or partner.

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51519

APPENDIX B-PROPOSED SCHEDULE DCG (INDIVIDUAL PLAN INFORMATION)
AND INSTRUCTIONS

Individual Plan Information

Schedule DCG
Department of Labor
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

0MB Nos. 1210XXXX
1210-XXXX

This schedule is required to be filed under Section 103 of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and
Section 6058(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code)

2022
This Fonn is Open to Public lnsped:ion.

►

FIie as an attachment to Form 5500

A Name of DCG

B
C

Three-di it Ian number for DCG PN
EIN for DCG

►

AA Individual Plan Identification Information

Complete a separate Schedule DCG for each individual plan
whose reporting obligations are intended to be satisfied by the DCG's Form 5500 filing
This Schedule is for

Oa single-employer plan Oa collectively-bargained plan

1a Name of plan

1b

Three-digit plan number
PN ►
1c Effective date of plan

2b

Employer Identification
Number (EIN)
2c Plan sponsor's telephone
number
2d Business code

2a Plan sponsor's name (employer, if for a single-employer plan)
Mailing address (include room, apt., suite no. and street, or P.O. Box)
City or town, state or province, country, and ZIP or foreign postal code
(if foreign, see instructions)

3 If the name and/or EIN of the plan sponsor or the plan name has changed since the last return/report
filed for this plan, enter the plan sponsor's name, EIN, the plan name and the plan number from the last
return/report:
3a Sponsor's name
3c Plan Name
4a Total number of participants at the beginning of the plan year. .............................................. .
b Total number of participants as of the end of the plan year ................................................ .
c(1) Total number of active participants at the beginning of the plan year ................................................. .

3b EIN
3d PN

4a

c(2) Total number of active participants at the end of the plan year .......................................................... .

d Number of participants with account balances as of the beginning of the plan year ................................... .
e Number of participants with account balances as of the end of the plan year. ................................ .
f Number of participants who terminated employment during the plan year with accrued benefits that
were less than 100% vested ............................................................................................................................

4d
4e

4f

(a) Beginning of Year

Sa

Total plan assets .......................................................... .

(1) Participant loans .................................................... .
b Total plan liabilities

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5a
5a(1)
5b

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1:tffiL♦j Financial Information

51520

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

Net assets (subtract line 5b from line 5a)

C

5c

Contributions received or receivable in cash from

6a

Amount
Sa(1)

(1)

Employers.

(2)

Participants
Others (including rollovers)

Sa(2)

(3)

Sa(3)

.....................

b.

Noncash contributions

Sb

c.

Total contributions (add lines 6a(1 )-(3) and line 6(b)) .......

Sc

6d

Benefit payment and payments to provide benefits:

Sd(1)

e

Corrective distributions (see instructions) ......................................................

Se

f

Certain deemed distributions of participant loans (see instructions) ..............

Sf

g Administrative service provider's expense (salaries, fees, commissions) ....................

Sg

h Other expenses ..........................................................................................
i Net income (loss) .....................................................................................................................
j Transfers of assets

Sh

(1)
(2)

Si
Sj(1)

To this plan ...............................................................................................
From this plan ...........................................................................................

Sj(2)

•Rtffl♦j Plan Characteristics
7

Enter the applicable two-character feature codes from the List of Plan Characteristics Codes in the instructions.

[I]

[I] [I]

[I] [I] [I] [I]

[I]

[I] [I]

Sa Was there a failure to transmit to the plan any participant contributions within the time
period described in 29 CFR 2510.3-102? Continue to answer "Yes" for any prior year failures until
fully corrected. (See instructions and DOL's Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program.) ................... Ba
b Were there any nonexempt transactions with any party-in-interest?............................................
Sb
c Has the plan failed to provide any benefit when due under the plan? ... ... ... .. . .. . .. . .. . ... ... ... .. . ..
~B_c_~-~-~------~

9a If, during this plan year, any assets or liabilities were transferred from this plan to another plan(s), identify the plan(s) to which
assets or liabilities were transferred. (See instructions.)

9b(2) EIN(s)

9b(3) PN(s)

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10 Is this a defined contribution plan subject to the minimum funding requirements of section 412 of the Code?

D YesD No

11 a

Does the plan satisfy the coverage and nondiscrimination tests of Code sections 41 0(b) and 401 (a)( 4) by combining this
[]
Yes
[]
No
plan with any other plans under the permissive aggregation rules?

11 b

If this is a Code section 401 (k) plan, check the correct box to indicate how the plan is intended to satisfy the
nondiscrimination requirements for employee deferrals and employer matching contributions (as applicable) under Code
sections 401 (k)(3) and 401 (m)(2)?

D Design-based safe harbor method

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9b(1) Name of plan(s)

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules
12

51521

If the plan sponsor is an adopter of a pre-approved plan that received a favorable IRS Opinion Letter, enter the date of
the Opinion Letter / /
(MM)DYYYYY) and the Opinion Letter serial number_ _ _ __

1:ffija,jjl Accountant Opinion Information for Large Participating Plans
13

Complete lines 13a through 13c if the report of an independent qualified public accountant is attached to this Schedule DCG.

a The opinion reflected in the attached report of an independent qualified public accountant for this plan is (see instructions):
(1)

DUnmodified

(2)

DQualified

(3)

DDisclaimer

(4)

D Adverse

b Check the appropriate box(es) to indicate whether the IQPA performed an ERISA section 103(a)(3)(C) audit. Check boxes (1) and (2) if the
audit was performed pursuant to both 29 CFR 2520.103-8 and 29 CFR 2520.103-12(d). Check box (3) if pursuant to neither.
(1)

DDOL Regulation 2520.103-8 (2)0 DOL Regulation 2520.103-12(d)

(3)0neither DOL Regulation 2520.103-8 nor DOL Regulation

2520.103-12 d.
c Enter the name and EIN of the accountant (or accounting firm) below:

VerDate Sep<11>2014

Name:

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(2) EIN:

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(1)

51522

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PROPOSED INSTRUCTIONS FOR SCHEDULE DCG

2022 Instructions for Schedule DCG (Form 5500) Individual Plan Information
General Instructions
Purpose of Schedule

This schedule is used for a plan administrator to report information regarding each
individual plan participating in a Defined Contribution Group (DCG) Reporting Arrangement, as
permitted by SECURE Act section 202.

Who Must File

Schedule DCG must be attached to a Form 5500 filed for a DCG reporting arrangement.
Each plan participating in the DCG reporting arrangement must individually complete a Schedule
DCG as an attachment to the Form 5500.

Remember to check Schedule DCG box on the Form 5500 (Part II, Line 10(a)(4) to indicate
Schedule DCG is attached to the Form 5500.

Specific Instructions
Part I - DCG Information

Lines A, B, and C. The information must be the same as reported in Part II of the Form
5500 to which this schedule is attached.

Do not use a SSN in line C in lieu of an EIN. The Schedule DCG and its attachments are

the inclusion of a SSN or any portion thereof on this Schedule DCG or any of its attachments may
result in the rejection of the filing.

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open to public inspection, and the contents are public information. Because of privacy concerns,

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51523

You can apply for an EIN from the IRS online, by fax, or by mail depending on how soon
you need to use the EIN. For more information, see Section 3: Electronic Filing Requirement under
General Instructions to Form 5500.

Part II - Individual Plan Identification Information

A separate Schedule DCG must be filed for each individual plan participating in the DC Group
Reporting Arrangement.

Box for Single-Employer Plan. Check this box if the Schedule DCG is filed for a singleemployer plan. A single-employer plan for this reporting purpose is an employee benefit plan
maintained by one employer or one employee organization (determined on a controlled group basis)
in which the funds attributable to each employer are available to pay benefits only for that
employer's employees.

Box for Collectively-Bargained, Single-Employer Plan. Check this box if the
contributions to the plan and/or the benefits paid by the plan are subject to the collective bargaining
process. The contributions and/or benefits do not have to be identical for all employees under the
plan.

Part III - Basic Individual Plan Information

Complete separately for each individual plan that participates in the DCG Reporting Arrangement.

Line la. Enter the formal name of the plan or enough information to identify the plan. Abbreviate
if necessary. If an annual return/report or a schedule has previously been filed on behalf of the plan,

used on the prior filings. Once you use an abbreviation, continue to use it for that plan on all future
annual return/report or schedule filings with the IRS, DOL, and PBGC. Do not use the same name

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regardless of the type of form or schedule that was filed, use the same name or abbreviation as was

51524

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

or abbreviation for any other plan, even if the first plan is terminated. If the plan has changed its
name from the prior year filing(s), complete line 3 to indicate that the plan was previously identified
by a different name.

Line lb. Enter the three-digit plan or entity number (PN) of the employer or plan administrator
assigned to the plan. This three-digit number, in conjunction with the EIN entered on line 2b, is
used by the IRS, DOL, and PBGC as a unique 12-digit number to identify the plan.

Line le. Enter the date the plan first became effective.

Line 2a. Enter the name of the plan sponsor. If the plan covers only the employees of one
employer, enter the employer's name. Enter the current street address, the name of the city, the twocharacter abbreviation of the U.S. state or possession and zip code.

A post office box number may be entered if the Post Office does not deliver mail to the
sponsor's street address.

Note. Use the IRS Form 8822-B, Change ofAddress or Responsible Party-Business, to notify the

IRS if the address provided here is a change in your business mailing address or your business
location.

Line 2b. Enter the nine-digit EIN assigned to the plan sponsor/employer. Do not use a SSN in lieu
of an EIN. Because of privacy concerns, the inclusion of a SSN or any portion thereof on this line
may result in the rejection of the filing.

from the IRS:

•

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Mail or fax Form SS-4, Application for EIN, obtained at www.irs.gov/orderforms.

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Employers without an EIN must apply for one as soon as possible. To apply for an EIN

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

•

51525

See https:/lwww.IRS.gov/Businesses and click on "Employer ID Numbers" for additional

information. The EIN is issued immediately once the application information is validated. (The
online application process is not yet available for corporations with addresses in foreign countries or
Puerto Rico.)

Line 2c. Enter the plan sponsor's telephone number, including the area code.

Line 2d. Enter the six-digit business code from the list of business codes (on pages xx) that best
describes the primary nature of the plan sponsor's business. Do not enter code 525100 (Insurance
& Employee Benefit Funds) or 813930 (Labor Unions and Similar Labor Organizations) unless the
predominant industry in which the active participants are employed is the industry of insurance and
employee benefit funds, or the industry of labor unions and similar labor organizations.

Line 3. If the plan sponsor's name and/or EIN have changed or the plan name has changed since
the last return/report or schedule was filed for this plan, enter the plan sponsor's name, EIN, the
plan name, and the plan number as it appeared on the last return/report or schedule filed.

mThe failure to indicate on line 3 that a plan sponsor was previously identified by a different
name or a different EIN or that the plan name has been changed could result in correspondence
from the DOL and/or the IRS.

Line 4a. Enter the total number of participants at the beginning of the plan year.

Line 4c(l). Enter the total number of active participants at the beginning of the plan year.

Line 4c(2). Enter the total number of active participants at the end of the plan year.

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Line 4b. Enter the total number of participants at the end of the plan year.

51526

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

"Participant" for purpose of lines 4a(l )-4c(2) means any individual who is included in one
of the categories below.

1. Active participants (for example, any individuals who are currently in employment covered by
the plan and who are earning or retaining credited service under the plan) including:

•

Any individuals who are eligible to elect to have the employer make payments under a
section 401(k) qualified cash or deferred arrangement, and

•

Any nonvested individuals who are earning or retaining credited service under the plan.

This category does not include (a) nonvested former employees who have incurred the break
in service period specified in the plan or (b) former employees who have received a "cash-out"
distribution or deemed distribution of their entire nonforfeitable accrued benefit.

2. Retired or separated participants receiving benefits (for example, individuals who are retired
or separated from employment covered by the plan and who are receiving benefits under the plan).
This category does not include any individual to whom an insurance company has made an
irrevocable commitment to pay all the benefits to which the individual is entitled under the plan.
3. Other retired or separated participants entitled to future benefits (for example, any individuals
who are retired or separated from employment covered by the plan and who are entitled to begin
receiving benefits under the plan in the future). This category does not include any individual to
whom an insurance company has made an irrevocable commitment to pay all the benefits to which
the individual is entitled under the plan.
4. Deceased individuals who had one or more beneficiaries who are receiving or are entitled to

insurance company has made an irrevocable commitment to pay all the benefits to which the
beneficiaries of that individual are entitled under the plan.

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receive benefits under the plan. This category does not include any individual to whom an

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51527

Line 4d. Enter the number of participants included on line 4a (total number of participants at the
beginning of the plan year) who have account balances. For example, for a section 40l(k) plan the
number entered on line 4d should be the number of participants counted on line 4a who have made
a contribution, or for whom a contribution has been made, to the plan for this plan year or any prior
plan year.

Line 4e. Enter the number of participants included on line 4b (total number of participants at the

end of the plan year) who have account balances. For example, for a section 40l(k) plan the
number entered on line 4e should be the number of participants counted on line 4b who have made
a contribution, or for whom a contribution has been made, to the plan for this plan year or any prior
plan year.

Line 4f. Include any individual who terminated employment during this plan year, whether or not
he or she (a) incurred a break in service, (b) received an irrevocable commitment from an insurance
company to pay all the benefits to which he or she is entitled under the plan, and/or (c) received a
cash distribution or deemed cash distribution of his or her nonforfeitable accrued benefit.

Part IV - Financial Information

Note. The cash, modified cash, or accrual basis accounting methods may be used for recognition of
transactions in Part IV, as long as you use one method consistently. If Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF
was filed for the previous year, amounts reported on lines 5a, 5b, and 5c for the beginning of the

the return/report for the preceding plan year. However, if Schedule DCG was filed in the previous
year, the amount reported on lines 5a, 5b, and 5c for the beginning of the plan year must be the

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plan year must be the same as reported for the end of the plan year for the corresponding lines on

51528

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same as reported for the end of the plan year on the Schedule DCG filed for the previous year. Use
whole dollars only.

Current value means fair market value where available. Otherwise, it means the fair value
as determined in good faith under the terms of the plan by a trustee or a named fiduciary, assuming
an orderly liquidation at time of the determination. See ERISA section 3(26).

Line 5a. Enter the total amount of plan assets at the beginning of the plan year in column (a).
Do not include contributions designated for the 2022 plan year in column (a). Enter the total
amount of plan assets at the end of the plan year in column (b).

Line 5a(t ). Enter the current value of all loans to participants including residential mortgage loans
that are subject to Code section 72(p). Include the sum of the value of the unpaid principal
balances, plus accrued but unpaid interest, if any, for participant loans made under an individual
account plan with investment experience segregated for each account, which are made in
accordance with 29 CFR 2550.408b-1 and secured solely by a portion of the participant's vested
accrued benefit. When applicable, combine this amount with the current value of any other
participant loans. Do not include in column (b) a participant loan that has been deemed distributed
during the plan year under the provisions of Code section 72(p) and Treasury Regulations section
1.72(p)-1, if both of the following circumstances apply:

1. Under the plan, the participant loan is treated as a directed investment solely of the
participant's individual account; and

If both of these circumstances apply, report the loan as a deemed distribution on line 6f.
However, if either of these circumstances does not apply, the current value of the participant loan

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2. As of the end of the plan year, the participant is not continuing repayment under the loan.

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51529

(including interest accruing thereon after the deemed distribution) must be included in column (b)
without regard to the occurrence of a deemed distribution.

Note. After a participant loan that has been deemed distributed is included in the amount reported

on line 6f, it is no longer to be reported as an asset on line 5a unless, in a later year, the participant
resumes repayment under the loan. However, such a loan (including interest accruing thereon after
the deemed distribution) that has not been repaid is still considered outstanding for purposes of
applying Code section 72(p)(2)(A) to determine the maximum amount of subsequent loans. Also,
the deemed distribution is not treated as an actual distribution for other purposes, such as the
qualification requirements of Code section 401, including, for example, the determination oftopheavy status under Code section 416 and the vesting requirements of Treasury Regulations section
l.41 l(a)-7(d)(5). See Q&As 12 and 19 of Treasury Regulations section 1.72(p)-1.

The entry on line 5a, column (b) (plan assets at end of year) must include the current
value of any participant loan included as a deemed distribution in the amount reported for any
earlier year if, during the plan year, the participant resumes repayment under the loan. In
addition, the amount to be entered on line 6f must be reduced by the amount of the participant
loan reported as a deemed distribution for the earlier year.

Line 5b. Enter the total liabilities at the beginning and end of the plan year. Liabilities to be entered

here do not include the value of future pension payments to participants. The amount to be entered
in line 5b for accrual basis filers includes, among other things:

1. Benefit claims that have been processed and approved for payment by the plan but have

2. Accounts payable obligations owed by the plan that were incurred in the normal
operations of the plan but have not been paid; and

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not been paid (including all incurred but not reported (IBNR) welfare benefit claims);

51530

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

3. Other liabilities such as acquisition indebtedness and any other amount owed by the plan.

Line Sc. Enter the net assets as of the beginning and end of the plan year. (Subtract line Sb from
Sa). Line Sc, column (b), must equal the sum of line Sc, column (a), plus lines 6g (net income
(loss)) and 6h (transfers to (from) the plan).

Lines 6a(l) and (2). Enter the total cash contributions received and/or receivable by the plan from
employers and participants during the plan year. Plans using the accrual basis of accounting must
not include contributions designated for years before the 2022 plan year on line 6a(l).

Line 6a(3). Enter the amount of all other contributions including transfers or rollovers received
from other plans valued on the date of contribution.

Line 6b. Enter the current value, at date contributed, of securities or other noncash property.

Line 6c. Enter the total cash, noncash, and other contributions received and/or receivable by the
plan from employers and participants during the plan year.

Line 6d. Enter the total amount of benefits paid directly to participants or beneficiaries,
including payments made (and for accrual basis filers payments due) to or on behalf of
participants or beneficiaries in cash, securities, or other property (including rollovers of an
individual's accrued benefit or account balance); all eligible rollover distributions as defined
in Code section 401(a)(3 l)(D) paid at the participant's election to an eligible retirement plan
(including an IRA within the meaning of Code section 401(a)(3 l)(E)).

Line 6e. Enter total amount of corrective distributions, including all distributions paid during

section 401(k)(8), excess aggregate contributions under Code section 401(m)(6), and allocable
income distributed. Also include on this line any elective deferrals and employee

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the plan year of excess deferrals under section 402(g)(2)(A)(ii), excess contributions under

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51531

contributions distributed or returned to employees during the plan year as well as any
attributable income that was also distributed.

Line 6f. Enter the total amount of certain deemed distributions of participant loans, including a
participant loan that has been deemed distributed during the plan year under the provisions of Code
section 72(p) and Treasury Regulations section 1.72(p)-l only if both of the following
circumstances apply:

1. Under the plan, the participant loan is treated as a directed investment solely of the
participant's individual account; and

2. As of the end of the plan year, the participant is not continuing repayment under the loan.

If either of these circumstances does not apply, a deemed distribution of a participant loan
should not be reported on line 6d. Instead, the current value of the participant loan (including
interest accruing thereon after the deemed distribution) must be included on line Sa(l )), column (b)
(participant loans - end of year), without regard to the occurrence of a deemed distribution.

Line 6g. The amount to be reported for expenses involving administrative service providers
(salaries, fees, and commissions) during the plan year includes the total fees paid (or in the case of
accrual basis plans, costs incurred during the plan year but not paid as of the end of the plan year)
by the plan for, among others:

1. Salaries to employees of the plan;

advice, and securities brokerage services;

3. Contract administrator fees; and

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2. Fees and expenses for accounting, actuarial, legal, investment management, investment

51532

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

4. Fees and expenses for individual plan trustees, including reimbursement for travel, seminars,
and meeting expenses.

Line 6h. Other expenses (paid and/or payable) include other administrative and miscellaneous
expenses paid by or charged to the plan during the plan year, including among others office supplies
and equipment, telephone, and postage.

Part V - Plan Characteristics

Line 7. Enter all applicable plan characteristics codes that applied during the reporting year from the
List of Plan Characteristics Codes shown in the instructions for Form 5500.

Part VI - Compliance Questions

Line 8a. Plans that check "Yes," must enter the aggregate amount of all late contributions for
the year. The total amount of the delinquent contributions must be included on line 8a for the
year in which the contributions were delinquent and must be carried over and reported again on
line 8a for each subsequent year ( or on line 4a of Schedule H or I of the Form 5 500 if not
eligible to file the Form 5500-SF or not eligible or choosing not to rely on a DCG Form 5500
filing to satisfy the plan's reporting requirement in the subsequent year) until the year after the
violation has been fully corrected by payment of the late contributions and reimbursement of the
plan for lost earnings or profits. If no participant contributions were received or withheld by the
employer during the plan year, answer "No."

An employer holding participant contributions commingled with its general assets after

general assets will have engaged in a prohibited use of plan assets (see ERISA section 406). If
such a nonexempt prohibited transaction occurred with respect to a disqualified person (see

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the earliest date on which such contributions can reasonably be segregated from the employer's

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51533

Code section 4975(e)(2)), file IRS Form 5330, Return of Excise Taxes Related to Employee
Benefit Plans, with the IRS to pay any applicable excise tax on the transaction.

Line Sb. Check "Yes" if any nonexempt transaction with a party-in-interest occurred. Do not

check "Yes" with respect to transactions that are: (1) statutorily exempt under Part 4 of Title I of
ERISA; (2) administratively exempt under ERISA section 408(a); (3) exempt under Code
sections 4975(c) or 4975(d); (4) the holding of participant contributions in the employer's
general assets for a welfare plan that meets the conditions ofERISA Technical Release 92-01;
or (5) delinquent participant contributions or delinquent loan repayments reported on line 8a.
You may indicate that an application for an administrative exemption is pending. If you are
unsure whether a transaction is exempt or not, you should consult either with a qualified public
accountant, legal counsel, or both. If the plan is a qualified pension plan and a nonexempt
prohibited transaction occurred with respect to a disqualified person, an IRS Form 5330 is
required to be filed with the IRS to pay the excise tax on the transaction. Plans that check "Yes"
must enter the amount.

Nonexempt transactions. Nonexempt transactions with a party-in-interest include any direct or

indirect:

A. Sale or exchange, or lease, of any property between the plan and a party-in-interest.

B. Lending of money or other extension of credit between the plan and a party-in-interest.

D. Transfer to, or use by or for the benefit of, a party in-interest, of any income or assets of

the plan.

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C. Furnishing of goods, services, or facilities between the plan and a party-in-interest.

51534

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

E. Acquisition, on behalf of the plan, of any employer security or employer real property in
violation ofERISA section 407(a).

F. Dealing with the assets of the plan for a fiduciary's own interest or own account.

G. Acting in a fiduciary's individual or any other capacity in any transaction involving the
plan on behalf of a party (or represent a party) whose interests are adverse to the interests of the
plan or the interests of its participants or beneficiaries.

H. Receipt of any consideration for his or her own personal account by a party-in-interest
who is a fiduciary from any party dealing with the plan in connection with a transaction
involving the income or assets of the plan.

Party-in-Interest. For purposes of this form, party-in interest is deemed to include a

disqualified person. See Code section 4975(e)(2). The term "party-in-interest" means, as to an
employee benefit plan:

A. Any fiduciary (including, but not limited to, any administrator, officer, trustee, or
custodian), counsel, or employee of the plan;

B. A person providing services to the plan;

C. An employer, any of whose employees are covered by the plan;

D. An employee organization, any of whose members are covered by the plan;

1. the combined voting power of all classes of stock entitled to vote or the total value of
shares of all classes of stock of a corporation;

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E. An owner, direct or indirect, of 50% or more of:

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51535

2. the capital interest or the profits interest of a partnership; or

3. the beneficial interest of a trust or unincorporated enterprise which is an employer or
an employee organization described in C or D;

F. A relative of any individual described in A, B, C, or E;

G. A corporation, partnership, or trust or estate of which (or in which) 50% or more of:

1. the combined voting power of all classes of stock entitled to vote or the total value of
shares of all classes of stock of such corporation,

2. the capital interest or profits interest of such partnership, or

3. the beneficial interest of such trust or estate, is owned directly or indirectly, or held
by persons described in A, B, C, D, or E;

H. An employee, officer, director ( or an individual having powers or responsibilities similar
to those of officers or directors), or a 10% or more shareholder directly or indirectly, of a person
described in B, C, D, E, or G, or of the employee benefit plan; or

I. A 10% or more (directly or indirectly in capital or profits) partner or joint venture of a
person described in B, C, D, E, or G.

Line 8c. You must check "Yes" if any benefits due under the plan were not timely paid or not
paid in full. This would include required minimum distributions to 5% owners who have
attained 72 whether or not retired and/or non-5% owners who have attained 72 and have retired

outstanding amounts that were not paid when due in previous years that have continued to
remain unpaid.

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or separated from service; see Code section 401(a)(9). Include in this amount the total of any

51536

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

Note: In the absence of other guidance, filers do not need to report on this line unpaid required

minimum distribution (RMD) amounts for participants who have retired or separated from service,
or their beneficiaries, who cannot be located after reasonable efforts or where the plan is in the
process of engaging in such reasonable efforts at the end of the plan year reporting period. Plan
administrators and employers should review their plan documents for written procedures on
locating missing participants. Although the Department of Labor's Field Assistance Bulletin 201401 is specifically applicable to terminated defined contribution plans, employers and plan
administrators of ongoing plans may want to consider periodically using one or more of the search
methods described in the Field Assistance Bulletin in connection with making reasonable efforts to
locate RMD-eligible missing participants.

Line 9a. Check "Yes" if all of the plan assets (including insurance/annuity contracts) were

distributed to the participants and beneficiaries, legally transferred to the control of another plan,
or brought under the control of the PBGC.

Line 9b. Enter infonnation concerning assets and/or liabilities transferred from this plan to

another plan(s) (including spinoffs) during the plan year. A transfer of assets or liabilities
occurs when there is a reduction of assets or liabilities with respect to one plan and the receipt of
these assets or the assumption of these liabilities by another plan. Enter the name, plan sponsor
EIN, and PN of the transferee plan(s) involved on lines 9b(l), (2), and (3), respectively.

Do not use a SNN in place of an EIN or include an attachment that contains visible SSN.

Note. A distribution of all or part of an individual participant's account balance that is

IRS Form 5 310-A, Notice of P Ian Merger or Consolidation, Spino.ff, or Transfer ofP Ian
Assets or Liabilities; Notice of Qualified Separate Lines of Business, must be filed at

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reportable on Form 1099-R should not be included on line 9c.

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51537

least 30 days before any plan merger or consolidation or any transfer ofplan assets or
liabilities to another plan. There is a penalty for not filing IRS Form 5310-A on time.
Line 10. Check "Yes" if this is a defined contribution plan subject to the minimum funding

requirements of Code section 412.

Line lla. Check "Yes" if this plan was permissively aggregated with another plan to satisfy the

requirements of Code sections 410(b) and 401(a)(4). Generally, each single plan must separately
satisfy the coverage and nondiscrimination requirements. However, generally, an employer may
designate two or more separate plans as a single plan for purposes of applying the ratio percentage
test of Treasury Regulations section 1.41 0(b )-2(b )(2) or the nondiscriminatory classification test of
Treasury Regulations section 1.410(b)-4. Two or more plans that are permissively aggregated and
treated as a single plan for purposes of the minimum coverage test of Code section 4 IO(b) must also
be treated as a single plan for purpose of the nondiscrimination test under Code section 401(a)(4).

See Treasury Regulations sections 1.410(b)-7(d) and 1.401(a)(4)-(9)(a) for more information.
Line 11 b. Check the applicable method used to satisfy the nondiscrimination requirements of Code

section 401(k). A safe harbor 401(k) plan is similar to a traditional 401(k) plan but, among other
things, it must provide for employer contributions. These contributions may be employer matching
contributions, limited to employees who defer, or employer contributions made on behalf of all
eligible employees, regardless of whether they make elective deferrals. The safe harbor 401(k) plan
is not subject to the complex annual nondiscrimination tests that apply to traditional 401 (k) plans.
Check "Design-based safe harbor method" if this is a safe harbor 401(k) plan, that is, a SIMPLE
401(k) plan under Code section 40l(k)(l 1), a safe harbor 401(k) plan under Code section

plan, by its terms, does not satisfy the safe harbor method, it generally must satisfy the regular
nondiscrimination test, known as the actual deferral percentage (ADP) test. Check the appropriate

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401(k)(12), or a qualified automatic contribution arrangement under Code section 401(k)(13). If the

51538

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

box to indicate if the plan uses the "current year" ADP test or the "prior year" ADP test. Check
"current year" ADP test if the plan uses the current year testing method under which the ADP test is
performed by comparing the current plan year's ADP for highly compensated employees (HCEs)
with the current plan year's (rather than the prior plan year's) ADP for nonhighly compensated
employees (NHCEs). Check all boxes that apply for a plan that tests different groups of employees
on a disaggregated basis. Check "NIA" if the plan is not required to test for nondiscrimination
under Code section 401(k)(3), such as a plan in which no HCE is benefiting.

Line 12. If a plan sponsor or an employer adopted a pre-approved plan that relied on a favorable

Opinion Letter of a pre-approved plan, enter the date of the most recent favorable Opinion Letter
issued by the IRS and the Opinion Letter serial number listed on the letter.

Part VII-Accountant's Opinion for Individual Participating Plan

Line 13. If any plans participating in the arrangement have 100 participants or more, using the

same rules for counting participants as for individual plan filings, including the "80 to 120" rule at
29 CFR 2520.103-l(d), each such plan must be audited and an IQPA report and audited financial
statements for such plan must be attached to the Schedule DCG for that participating plan. The
audit and its report must follow the same rules as required for a plan that is filing its own Form
5500 Annual Return/Report and not having any of its reporting obligations satisfied by the filing of
a Form 5500 by a DCG. See Instructions to Schedule H, Line 3.

Line 13a. These boxes identify the type of opinion offered by the IQP A The plan administrator

should confirm with their IQPA whether the opinion was an unmodified, qualified, disclaimer of, or

issued pursuant to SAS 136. Generally, an unmodified opinion is issued when the IQPA concludes
that the plan's financial statements are presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with

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adverse opinion before answering Line 13a. Line 13a(l ). Check if an unmodified opinion was

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51539

the applicable financial reporting framework (generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) or
another basis such as modified cash or cash basis). This also includes the form of opinion that SAS
136 permits an IQPA to issue when the IQPA has performed an ERISA section 103(a)(3)(C) audit
pursuant to 29 CFR 2520.103-8 or 29 CFR 2520.103-12, or both, and had no modifications. Under
29 CFR 2520.103-8, the examination and report of an IQPA does not need to extend to statements
or infonnation regarding assets held by a bank, similar institution, or insurance carrier that is
regulated and supervised and subject to periodic examination by a state or federal agency provided
that the statements or information are prepared by and certified to by the bank or similar institution
or the insurance carrier. The term ''similar institution'' as used here does not extend to securities
brokerage firms (see DOL Advisory Opinion 93-2 lA). Under 29 CFR 2520.103-12, an audit of an
employee benefit plan does not need extend to the investments in a pooled investment fund that
files a separate audited Form 5500 as a 103-12 IE. For more information on filing requirements for
103-12 TEs, See Section 4: What to File. Neither of these regulations exempt the plan administrator
from engaging an IQPA nor from attaching the IQPA' s report to the Schedule DCG.

Line 13a(2). Check if a qualified opinion was issued. Generally, a qualified opinion is issued by an
IQPA when (a) the IQPA, having obtained sufficient appropriate audit evidence, concludes that
misstatements, individually or in the aggregate, are material but not pervasive to the financial
statements or (b) the lQPA is unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence on which to
base the opinion, but the auditor concludes that the possible effects on the financial statements of
undetected misstatements, if any, could be material but not pervasive.

Line 13a(3). Check if a disclaimer of opinion was issued. A disclaimer of opinion is issued when

the IQP A concludes that the possible effects on the financial statements of undetected
misstatements, if any, could be both material and pervasive.

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the IQP A is unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence on which to base the opinion, and

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

Line 13a(4). Check if the plan received an adverse accountant's opinion. Generally, an adverse
opinion is issued by an IQPA Instructions for Schedule H (Form 5500) -37- when the IQPA having
obtained sufficient appropriate audit evidence, concludes that misstatements, individually or in the
aggregate, are both material and pervasive to the financial statements.

Line 13b. Check "DOL Regulation 2520.103-8" or "DOL Regulation 2520.103-12(d)" (or both
boxes, if applicable) if the IQPA performed an ERISA Section 103(a)(3)(C) audit of the plan's
financial statements pursuant to DOL regulations 29 CFR 2520.103-8, 29 CFR 2520.103-12(d), or
under both. If it was not performed pursuant to 29 CFR 2520.103-8 or 29 CFR 2520 103-12(d),
check box (3). Note. These regulations do not exempt the plan administrator from engaging an
IQPA or from attaching the IQPA's report to the Form 5500. If you check box 103-8 or 103-12(d)
or both, you must also check the appropriate box on line 13a to identify the type of opinion offered
by the IQPA.

Line 13c. Enter the name and EIN of the accountant (or accounting firm) in the space provided on
line 13c. Do not use a SSN or any portion thereof in lieu of an EIN. The Schedule DCG is open to
public inspection, and the contents are public information and are subject to publication on the
Internet. Because of privacy concerns, the inclusion of a SSN or any portion thereof on this

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Schedule DCG may result in the rejection of the filing.

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51541

APPENDIX C-PROPOSED CHANGES TO PARTICIPATING EMPLOYER
INFORMATION UNDER ERISA 103(g) TO 2021 FORM 5500/FORM 5500-SF
INSTRUCTIONS

To implement the SECURE Act's amendment of section 103(g) ofERISA, the instructions
for the multiple-employer plan check box on Part I, line A of the 2021 Form 5500 and Form 5500SF would be modified as follows:

•

The participating employer information updated to add reporting of"aggregated account

balance" information.
•

Pooled employer plans would be required to include in the Section 103(g) attachment

new "Pooled Employer Plan Information," using the format provided in the instructions.
•

The current graphic in the Form 5500 and Form 5500-SF instructions for Part I, Line A

"Box for Multiple Employer Plan" entitled "Multiple-Employer Plan Participating Employer
Information," for the Section 103(g) attachment would be replaced with the following.

Multiple-Employer Plan Participating Employer Information
(Insert Name of Plan and EIN/PN as shown on the Form 5500)

Participating Employer Information
All multiple-employer pension plans must complete elements 1-4. Multiple-employer welfare plans are required
to complete elements 1, 2, and 3 only. Multiple-employer welfare plans that are unfunded, fully insured, or a
combination of unfunded/insured and exempt under 29 CFR 2520.104-44 from the obligation to file financial
statements with their annual report are required to complete elements 1 and 2 only. Complete as many entries
as needed to report the required information for all participating employers in the plan.
1. Name of participating
employer

2. EIN

3. Percent of Total Contributions 4. Aggregate Account Balances Attributable
Participating Employer
for the Plan Year

1. Name of participating
employer

2. EIN

3. Percent of Total Contributions 4. Aggregate Account Balances Attributable
Participating Employer
for the Plan Year

Only pooled employer plans complete this section.
5. Has the pooled plan provider (identified as the plan sponsor and administrator in Part II of the Form 5500)
acknowledged in writing that it is the named fiduciary? [] Yes [] No
6. Has the pooled plan provider (identified as the plan sponsor and administrator in Part II of the Form 5500)
acknowledged in writing that it is the named fiduciary and plan administrator under section 3(16) of ERISA? []
Yes [] No
7. Is the pooled plan provider currently in compliance with the Form PR (Pooled Plan Provider Registration
Statement) reQuirements? (See instructions and 29 CFR 2510.3-44) .. nYes n No

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Pooled Employer Plan Information

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7a If "Yes" is checked, enter the AcklD for the most recent Form PR that was required to be filed under
the Form PR filing requirements. (Failure to enter a valid AcklD will subject the Form 5500 filing for any
PEP operated by the pooled plan provider to rejection as incomplete.)
AcklD _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51543

APPENDIX D -PROPOSED CHANGES TO
2022 FORM M-1 AND INSTRUCTIONS
1. Proposed Changes To 2022 Form M-1-Report for Multiple Employer Welfare
Arrangements (MEW AS) and Certain Entities Claiming Exceptions (ECES)

•
PART IV

A new Part IV would be added to the 2022 Form M-1 to read as follows:
MEWA PARTICIPATING EMPLOYER INFORMATION

Only MEWAs are required to complete Part IV. If this filing is an annual report, complete boxes 22a-22f. If this filing is a registration filing,
complete boxes 22a and 22b only.
Important. MEWAs that are unfunded, fully insured or combination unfunded/insured complete boxes 22a and 22b only.

Complete as many repeating entries as needed to identify all participating employers in the plan.
22a. Name of Participating Employer

22b. EIN

22c. Percentage of Total Contributions for the
Plan Year

CAUTION. Do not individually list information for self-employed individuals or other individuals participating in the MEWA that are not
associated with a particular participating employer. Providing identifying information for individuals may result in rejection of this filing. If
there are any such individuals in the MEWA, answer "yes" to line 22d and provide the total contribution information for all such individuals on
box 22e, without providing names or other identifying information.
22d. Does the MEWA include any self-employed individuals or individuals who are participants or beneficiaries in the MEWA that are not
associated with a particular participating employer?

[] Yes [] No
22e. lf"Yes," enter a good faith estimate of percentage of total contributions made by all such individuals that are not listed on box 22a
during the plan year.

2. Proposed changes to 2022 Form M-1 Instructions

The instructions for Form M-1 would be amended to add the following accompanying
instructions for Part IV. Complete boxes 22c-22f for annual report only.

Part IV- MEWA Participating Employer Information
Important: Only MEW As are required to complete Part IV. If this filing is an annual report,

complete boxes 22a-22f. lf this filing is a registration filing, complete boxes 22a and 22b only.

MEW As that are unfunded, fully insured or combination unfunded/insured as described in 29 CFR

Box 22a and 22b. Enter each participating employer in the MEWA during the plan year,

identified by name and BIN number. Any employer who was obligated to make contributions to the

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2520.104-44 complete boxes 22a and 22b only.

51544

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

MEW A for the plan year, made contributions to the MEWA for the plan year, or whose employees
were participants covered under the MEWA is a "participating employer" for this purpose.

CAUTION. Enter the EIN of the participating employer. Do not enter a SSN in response to

questions asking for an EIN. Because of privacy concerns, the inclusion of a SSN on the Form M-1
or on an attachment that is open to public inspection may result in the rejection of the filing.

Box 22c. Enter a good faith estimate of the participating employer's percentage of the total

contributions made by all participating employer (including the total contribution amount for
individuals reported on box 22d) during the plan year. If a participating employer made no
contributions for the plan year (including participant contributions), enter" -0-" on line 2c.

Box 22d. If the MEWA includes any self-employed individuals or other individuals

participating in the MEWA that are not associated with a particular participating employer, answer
"Yes" to box 22d and complete box 22e. Do not identify such individuals on box 22a.

Box 22e. If the answer to box 22d is "Yes," enter a good faith estimate of percentage of

total contributions made by such individuals that are not listed on box 22a without providing names
or other identifying information.

NOTE. Group insurance arrangements (GIAs) that filed a Schedule D with its Form 5500 for the

current plan year are not required to complete Part IV. See the "Who Must File" paragraph in
Section 1 and 29 CFR 2520.104- 43 for a description of a GIA and when a GIA may file a

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consolidated Form 5500 on behalf of participating plans in the GIA.

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51545

APPENDIX E - OTHER PROPOSED CHANGES TO 2022 FORM 5500, FORM 5500-SF,
FORM 5500-EZ, SCHEDULES and INSTRUCTIONS
1. Proposed Changes to Instructions to 2022 Form 5500 and Form 5500-SF for Part I,

"Multiple Employer Plan Checkbox."

•

Instructions for 2022 Form 5500. The instructions for Part I, Line A - "Box for Multiple-

Employer Plan" would be modified as follows:
•

Second paragraph - Delete the phrase "multiple-employer pension plans" and add the

phrase "and not required to file a Form M-1 (Report for Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements
(MEW As) and Certain Entities Claiming Exception (ECEs)), for example, multiple-employer
welfare plans providing life or disability benefits," after the phrase "multiple-employer welfare
plans required to file a Form 5500."
•

Third paragraph- Delete the phrase "Multiple-Employer Plan Participating Employer

Information" and replace with the phrase "Participating Employer lnfonnation for MultipleEmployer Welfare Plan Not Providing Medical Benefits." 47

Replacing the current graphic in the Form 5500 for Part I, Line A "Box for Multiple-Employer Plan" entitled
"Multiple-Employer Plan Participating Employer Information," with the following:

Participating Employer Information for Multiple-Employer Welfare Plan Not Providing Medical Benefits
(Insert Name of Plan and EIN/PN as shown on the Form 5500)
1. Name of participating employer

2. EIN

1. Name of participating employer

2. EIN

•

3. Percent of Total Contributions for
the Plan Year
3. Percent of Total Contributions for
the Plan Year

Add the following "Note" paragraph after the graphic.

Note. Do not report the participating employer information as an attachment for multiple-

'17 For 2022, it would be expected that this information would be entered as structured repeating line items or in a format
that would be imported into the system, rather than a nonstandard, read-only attachment.

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employer pension plans or multiple-employer welfare plans offering or providing medical benefits.

51546

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

Multiple-employer pension plans report the participating employer information on Schedule MEP.
Multiple-employer welfare plans that offer or provide medical benefits report the participating
employer information on Form M-1 (Report for Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements
(MEWAs) and Certain Entities Claiming Exception (ECEs)).

•

The accompanying instructions for the "Box for Multiple-Employer Plan" on the 2021 Form

5500-SF at Part I, line A, Annual Report Identification Information would be revised to read the
same as the instructions for the 2022 Form 5500 described above, except all references to "Form
5500" would be changed to "Form 5500-SF."

2. Proposed Changes to 2022 Schedule H and Instructions to Standardize Data Collection
For Schedule H, Line 4i Schedules of Assets

•

Instructions for Schedule H. Instructions for Part IV, line 4i of the 2022 Schedule H

would be modified to read as follows:

Line 4i. Schedules of Assets. Check "Yes" in elements (1) and/or (2) and complete, as
appropriate, the "line 4i(l) Schedule of Assets Held for Investment at End of Year" and the "line
4i(2) Schedule of Assets Acquired and Disposed of During the Plan Year." You may not create
your own schedules of assets in the form of an attachment or otherwise. You must complete the
schedule through IFile or using EF AST-approved third-party software. If the plan both disposed of
assets during the plan year and held assets for investment at end of year, you must complete both
the lines 4i(l) and 4i(2) schedules. Generally, plans that are ongoing must answer "Yes" to line

Notes: (1) Participant loans under an individual account plan with investment experience
segregated for each account, that are made in accordance with 29 CFR 2550.408b-1 and that are

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4i(l) and complete the "line 4i(l) Schedule of Assets Held for Investment at End of Year."

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51547

secured solely by a portion of the participant's vested accrued benefit, may be aggregated for
reporting purposes in line 4i. Under identity of borrower enter "Participant loans," under rate of
interest enter the lowest rate and the highest rate charged during the plan year (e.g., 8%-10%),
under the cost and proceeds columns enter zero, and under current value enter the total amount of
these loans. (2) Column (d) cost information for the line 4i(l) Schedule of Assets Held for
Investment at End of Year and the column (c) cost of acquisitions information for the line 4i(2)
Schedule of Assets Disposed of During the Plan Year may be omitted when reporting investments
of an individual account plan that a participant or beneficiary directed with respect to assets
allocated to his or her account (including a negative election authorized under the terms of the plan).
Likewise, cost information for investments in Code sections 403(b)(l) annuity contracts and Code
section 403(b )(7) custodial accounts may also be omitted. (3) Investments in Code section
403(b )(1) annuity contracts and Code section 403(b )(7) custodial accounts generally may also be
treated as one asset held for investment for purposes on the line 4i schedules. For Code section
403(b )(7) accounts, show the corresponding line 1b(S)(A) categories to show the types of
investment accounts.

Line 4i(l ). Schedule of Assets Held for Investment at End of Year. Assets held for
investment purposes for purposes of the line 4i(l) Schedule of Assets Held for Investment at End of
Year include all investment assets held by the plan on the last day of the plan year other than cash
and cash equivalents reported on Schedule H, line la. You must complete the Schedule of Assets
Held for Investment at End of Year if you answered "Yes" to line 4(i)(l).

Complete as many entries in each element as needed to identify all assets held for

purposes, you cannot create your own schedules of assets, but must complete the schedules through
!File or using EF AST-approved third-party software.

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investment at end of year. Although a format is shown in the instructions for informational

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules
Schedule H, Line 4i(l) Schedule of Assets Held for Investment

a Check if issuer, borrower, lessor h Name of issuer,
or similar party is a party-inborrower, lessor, or
interest []
similar party

c Check if asset

f(l) Indicate Sch. H, line lb asset

g Description of

h Current value

categoi:y.

investment, including, as
applicable share class,
maturity date, rate of
interest, par or maturity
value, including whether
asset/investment is
subject to surrender
charge. See instructions
for reporting assets held
through a participantdirected brokerage
account.

(2) [] Check here if entry in f(l) is

held through a CCT or PSA that
did not file a Form 5500.
(3) [] Check here if the asset is a
designated investment alternative
in a defined contribution plan
(4) [] Check here if the asset is a
qualified default investment
alternative in a defined
contribution plan

is hard-to-value
asset []

d CUSIP, CIT<, LEI,
NAIC Company Code,
other registration
number:

eCost

i. If a checkbox for f(3)
or f(4) is checked, enter
the total annual
operating expenses for
the designated
investment alternative
expressed as a
percentage of assets
that was furnished to
participants and
beneficiaries in their
most recent "404a-5
statement.

(5)0 Check here if the asset is

held in a participant-directed
brokerage account that is required
to be broken out and separately
reported (see instructions for
reporting assets held through a
participant-directed brokerage
account)

For each asset held directly by the plan or investing filing entity, complete elements (a)-(i).

Participant-directed brokerage account assets reported in the aggregate on line lc(l5)
generally may be treated as one asset held for investment for purposes here, except investments in
tangible personal property, loans, partnership or joint venture interests, real property, employer
securities, and investments that could result in a loss in excess of the account balance of the
participant or beneficiary who directed the transaction must be reported as separate aggregations of
assets on line 4i(l), with an indication of which of the line le breakouts on which that the asset was

Element (a). Check the box in element a if the issuer of the investment is a person known
to be a party-in-interest to the plan. This includes when the seller, issuer, lender, or similar party is

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reported in the balance sheet.

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51549

the employer, employee organization, a service provider to the plan, or other party interest,
including a subcontractor or affiliate.

Element (b). Enter the name of the seller, issuer, lender, or similar party. If the person is a
plan sponsor, service provider, or DFE also identified on the Form 5500, Schedule C or any other of
the Schedule H line 4 schedules, or is a DFE that files its own Form 5500, use the same name in all
places.

Element (c). Check here if the asset is a "hard-to-value" asset. Assets that are not listed on
any national exchanges or over-the-counter markets, or for which quoted market prices are not
available from sources such as financial publications, the exchanges, or the National Association of
Securities Dealers Automated Quotations System (NASDAQ), are required to be identified as hardto-value assets on the Schedule of Assets Held for Investment at End of Year. Bank collective
investment funds or insurance company pooled separate accounts that are primarily invested in
assets that are listed on national exchanges or over-the-counter markets and are valued at least
annually need not be identified as hard-to-value assets. CCTs or PSAs invested primarily in hardto-value assets must also be identified as a hard-to-value asset. A non-exhaustive list of examples
of assets that would be required to be identified as hard-to-value on the proposed schedules of assets
is: non-publicly traded securities, real estate, private equity funds; hedge funds; and real estate
investment trusts (REITs). Check this box for all assets designated as "level 3" in the
accompanying IQP A report.

Element ( d). If the person is a plan sponsor, service provider, or direct filing entity also

schedules, or is a DFE that files its own Form 5500, use the same identification numbers in all
places. If the person identified in element c, has a CUSIP, CIK number, LEI, NAIC Company

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identified on the Form 5500, Schedule C, or Schedule D, or any other of the Schedule H line 4

51550

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

Code, or other government or market exchange registration or identity number, you must include all
that apply here.

Element (e). Enter the acquisition cost of the asset.

Element (f). Enter in element f(l) which category the asset was part of the total on line lb
and check all applicable boxes.

Element (g). Enter a description of the investment, including, as applicable maturity date,
rate of interest, par, or maturity value, including whether asset/investment is subject to surrender
charge. Include any restriction on transferability of corporate securities. (Include lending of
securities permitted under Prohibited Transactions Exemption 81-6.)

Element (h). Enter current value. For purposes of the Form 5500, "current value" means
fair market value where available. Otherwise, it means the fair value as determined in good faith
under the terms of the plan by a trustee or a named fiduciary, assuming an orderly liquidation at
time of the determination. See ERISA section 3(26).

Element i. If the checkbox for element f(3) or f(4) is checked, enter the total annual
operating expenses for the designated investment alternative expressed as a percentage of assets that
was furnished to participants and beneficiaries in their most recent 404a-5 statement.

Line 4i(2) Assets Acquired and Disposed of During Plan Year. Complete as many
entries in each element as needed to identify all acquired and disposed of during the year.

own schedules of assets, but must complete the schedules through !File or using EF AST-approved
third-party software.

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Although the format is shown in the instructions for informational purposes, you cannot create your

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51551

You must identify on the line 4i(2) Schedule each investment asset sold during the plan year
except:

1. Debt obligations of the U.S. or any U.S. agency.

2. Interests issued by a company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940
(e.g., a mutual fund).

3. Bank certificates of deposit with a maturity of one year or less.

4. Commercial paper with a maturity of 9 months or less if it is valued in the highest rating
category by at least two nationally recognized statistical rating services and is issued by a company
required to file reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission under section 13 of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

5. Participations in a bank common or collective trust.

6. Participations in an insurance company pooled separate account.

7. Securities purchased from a broker-dealer registered under the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934 and either: (1) listed on a national securities exchange and registered under section 6 of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or (2) quoted on NASDAQ.

Assets acquired and disposed of during the plan year shall not include any investment that
was not held by the plan on the last day of the plan year if that investment is reported in the annual

1. The schedule of loans or fixed income obligations in default required by Schedule G, Part

I·
'

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report for that plan year in any of the following:

51552

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

2. The schedule ofleases in default or classified as uncollectible required by Schedule G,
Part II;

3. The schedule of nonexempt transactions required by Schedule G, Part III; or

4. The schedule of reportable transactions required by Schedule H, line 4j.

You must complete the "Schedule of Assets Acquired and Disposed of During the Plan
Year'' if you answered "Yes" to line 4(i)(2).

a Check if issuer, borrower,
lessor or similar party is
party-in-interest []

b Name of issuer,
borrower, lessor, or
similar party

c Check if asset is
hard-to-value asset

d EIN, CUSIP,
CIK., LEI, NAIC
Company Code,
other registration
number:

e Indicate Sch. H,
line 1c asset
category.

fCost

g Sales price

h Total expenses
incurred with
disposal of asset,
including any
termination or
surrender charges

i Net gain/loss

j Description of
investment,
including, as
applicable share
class, maturity
date, rate of
interest, par or
maturity value,
including
whether
asset/investment
is subject to
surrender charge.
See instructions
for reporting
assets held
through a
participantdirected
brokerage
account

Element (a). Indicate in element (a) whether the seller, issuer, lender, or similar party is
the employer, employee organization, or other party interest, including a subcontractor or affiliate.

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Schedule H, Line 4i(2) Schedule of Assets Acquired and Disposed of During the Plan Year

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51553

Element (b). Enter the name of the seller, issuer, lender, or similar party. If the person is a
plan sponsor, service provider, or direct filing entity also identified on the Form 5500, Schedule C,
or Schedule D, or any other of the Schedule H line 4 schedules, use the same name in all places. If
the asset was held through a master trust, 103-12 IE, CCT, or PSA provide the name, EIN and PN
of the entity. For DFEs use the same identifying information used on the entity's own Form 5500.

Element (c). Check here if the asset is a "hard-to-value" asset. Check this box for all assets
designated as "level 3" in the accompanying IQPA report.

Element (d). In element (d) enter the EIN of issuer, borrower, lessor, similar party. If the
person is a plan sponsor, service provider, or direct filing entity also identified on the Form 5500,
Schedule C, or Schedule D, or any other of the Schedule H, line 4 schedules, use the same name in
all places. Also enter, separated by commas, if applicable, the CUSIP, CIK, LEI, NAIC Company
Code, or other registration number.

Element (e). Enter in element (e) in which category the asset was part of the total on line
l(b).

Element (f). Enter the acquisition cost here.

Element (g). Enter the sale price.

Element (h). Enter the total expenses incurred with disposal of asset, including any
termination or surrender charges.

Element G). Enter a description of the investment, including maturity date, rate of interest,
collateral, par, or maturity value.

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Element (i). Enter the net gain (loss) on the asset

51554

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

3. Proposed Changes to Form 5500, Form 5500-SF and Instructions on counting
participants for determining small plan filing status for defined contribution plans

•

Instructions to 2022 Form 5500. Instructions to Section 4, "What to File" section of

the 2022 Form 5500 would be modified to delete the paragraph above the "Exceptions" section and
replace with the following paragraph:

To determine whether a plan is a "small plan" or "large plan," for defined benefit pension
plans and welfare plans, use the number reported on Form 5500, line 5. Defined contribution
pension plans use the number reported on the Form 5500 line 6g(l), except use the number reported
on the Form 5500 line 6g(2) for defined contribution pension plans that check the "first
return/report box on Part I, line B.

•

Instructions to 2022 Form 5500. Instructions to "80-120 Participant Rule" paragraph

in Section 4, "What to File," "Exceptions" section of the 2022 Form 5500 would be modified by
deleting the phrase "on line 5" in the first sentence and deleting the phrase "line 5 of the" in the
second sentence.

•

Instructions to 2022 Form 5500. Instructions to "Short Plan Year Rule" paragraph in

Section 4, "What to File," "Exceptions" section of the 2022 Form 5500 would be modified by
amending the last sentence to eliminate the reference at the end to Line 5:

(1) Short Plan Year Rule:

***

following the requirements for a large plan, including the attachment of the Schedule H and the
accountant's reports, regardless of the number of participants entered in Part II.

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If such an election was made for the prior plan year, the 2022 Form 5500 must be completed

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

•

51555

2022 Form 5500. Line 6 of Part II of 2022 Form 5500 would be modified by amending

line 6, renumbering 6g as line 6g(2) and adding line 6g(l), to read as follow:

6. Number of participants (welfare plans complete only Lines 6a(1), 6(a)(2), 6b, 7c, 7d,

and 7e:f3ll.

***
g(1) Number of participants with account balances as of the beginning of the plan year (only
defined contribution plans complete this item) .......................................................
g(2) Number of participants with account balances as of the end of the plan year (only
defined contribution plans complete this item) .......................................................................

•

6g(1)
6g(2)

Instructions to 2022 Form 5500. Instructions to line 6g of Part II of 2022 Form 5500

would be modified to read as follows:

Line 6. Number of participants (welfare plans complete only Lines 6a(l), 6(a)(2), 6b, 7c, 7d,

and 7g(3)).

Line 6g. Enter in Line 6g(l) the number of participants who have account balances at the

beginning of the plan year. Enter in Line 6g(2) the number of participants included on line 6f (total
participants at the end of the plan year) who have account balances at the end of the plan year. For
example, for a Code section 401(k) plan the number entered on line 6g should be the number of
participants counted on line 6fwho have made a contribution, or for whom a contribution has been
made to the plan for this plan year or any prior plan year. Welfare benefit plans and defined benefit
plans should leave line 6g blank.

•

Instructions to 2022 Form 5500-SF. Instructions to "Who May File" section of the

2022 Form 5500-SF would be modified by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows.

or (b) under 29 CFR 2520.103-1(d) was eligible to and filed as a small plan for plan year 2022 and
did not cover more than 120 participants at the beginning of plan year 2020. To determine whether

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1. The plan (a) covered fewer than 100 participants at the beginning of the plan year 2022,

51556

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

a plan is eligible, for defined benefit pension plans and welfare plans, use the number reported on
Form 5500-SF line 5a. Defined contribution pension plans use the number reported on the Form
5500-SF line 5c(l), except use the number reported on the Form 5500-SF line 5c(2) for defined
contribution pension plans that check the "first return/report box on Part I, line B;
•

2022 Form 5500-SF. Line 5c of Part II of 2022 Form 5500-SF will be renumbered as

line 5c(2) and line 5c(l) would be added to read as follow:

c(l) Number of participants with account balances as of the beginning of the plan year

Sc(l)

(only defined contribution plans complete this item) .........................................

c(2) Number of participants with account balances as of the end of the plan year (only

5c(2)

defined contribution plans complete this item) .....................................................................

•

Instructions to 2022 Form 5500-SF. Instruction to second sentence ofline 5 of Part II

of 2022 Form 5500-SF will be deleted and replaced with the following two sentences as follows.

Line 5.

***

Enter in element (c)(l) the number of participants who have account balances with account
balances as of the beginning of the plan year. Enter in element (c)(2) the number of participants
included on line 5b (total participants at the end of the plan year) who have account balances at the
end of the plan year.

•

Instructions to 2022 Form 5500-SF. Instruction to line 6 of Part II of 2022 Form 5500-

SF would be modified by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:

1. The plan (a) covered fewer than 100 participants at the beginning of the plan year 2022,
or (b) under 29 CFR 2520 .103-1 (d) was eligible to and filed as a small plan for plan year 2019 and

Who May File Form 5500-SF on counting the number of participants to determine whether a plan is
eligible);

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did not cover more than 120 participants at the beginning of plan year 2020 (see instructions for

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51557

4. Proposed Changes to 2022 Schedule MB, Schedule SB and Schedule R, and their
Instructions to Improve PBGC Reporting.

•

Instructions to 2022 Schedule MB. Instructions for line 3 of the 2022 Schedule MB

would be modified to read as follows:

Line 3. Contributions Made to Plan. Show all employer and employee contributions for
the plan year. Include employer contributions made not later than 2½ months ( or the later date
allowed under Code section 43 l(c)(8) and ERISA section 304( c)(8)) after the end of the plan year.
Show only contributions actually made to the plan by the date this Schedule MB is signed.

Add the amounts in both columns (b) and (c) and enter both results on the total line. All
contributions must be credited toward a particular plan year.

If any of the contributions reported in line 3 include amounts owed for withdrawal liability,
report in line 3(d) the total withdrawal liability amounts included. Attach a list showing the date
and amount of each withdrawal liability amount included, broken down between periodic amounts
and lump sum amounts. -Label this attachment "Schedule MB, Line 3(d) - Withdrawal Liability

Amounts".

Schedule MB Line 3(d)- Withdrawal Liability Amounts
Payment Date

•

Periodic Amounts

Lump Sum Amounts

Total Amounts

2022 Schedule MB. Line 4f of the 2022 Schedule MB would be modified to read as

f

If the plan is in critical status or critical and declining status, and is:

•

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17:43 Sep 14, 2021

Projected to emerge from critical status within 30 years, enter the plan
year in which it is projected to emerge;

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follows:

51558

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

•
•

•

Projected to become insolvent within 30 years, enter the plan year in
which insolvency is expected and check here .......................................... □
Neither projected to emerge from critical status nor become insolvent
within 30 years, enter "9999."

Instructions to 2022 Schedule MB. Instructions for line 4f of the 2022 Schedule MB

would be modified to read as follows:

Line 4f. If Code C (Critical Status) or Code D (Critical and Declining Status) was entered
on line 4b you must complete line 4f as follows:

If, based on the most recent actuarial certification for the plan year and the most recently
adopted rehabilitation plan, the plan is:

•

Projected to emerge from critical status within 30 years, enter the plan year in which the

plan is projected to emerge from critical status.
•

Projected to become insolvent within 30 years, check the box provided, enter the plan

year in which the insolvency is expected. In addition, attach an illustration showing year-by-year
cash flow projections for the period ending with the year the plan is projected to become insolvent
(or the 20th year after the valuation year if earlier) and a summary of the assumptions underlying
the projections. Label this attachment "Schedule MB, Line 4/- Cash Flow Projections".
•

Neither projected to emerge from critical status nor become insolvent within 30 years,

enter "9999." In addition, attach an illustration showing year-by-year cash flow projections ending
with the 20th year after the valuation year and a summary of the assumptions underlying the
projections. Label this attachment "Schedule MB, Line 4/- Cash Flow Projections".

2022 Schedule MB. Lines 6e and 6f would be modified and line 6i would be added to

the 2022 Schedule MB, to read as follows:

6 Checklist of actuarial assum tions

a Interest rate for 'RPA 94 current liabili '.......... ... ..... .... ... .... .. .... ..... .... ... .... .. .... ..... .... ... .... .. .... ..... ..

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•

51559

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

b Rates s ecified in insurance or annui contracts ............ .
c Mortali table code for valuation
oses:
(1) Males..............................................................
6c(l)
(2) Females ..........................................................

6c(2)
6d
6e

%

%
□ NIA
□ NIA

6f
Estimated investment return on actuarial value of assets for ear endin
h Estimated investment return on market value of assets for ear endin on the valuation date .....
i Expense loading included in normal cost reported in line 9b
( 1) lf expense load is described as a percentage of normal cost, enter the assumed percentage ...

%

%
□ NIA
6i(l)

(2) lf expense load is dollar amount that varies from year to year, enter dollar amount included
in line 9b ................................................................................................................................. .

6i(2)

(3) lfneither (1) nor (2) describes the expense load, check the box ............................................

6i(3)

•

%

□

Instructions to 2022 Schedule MB. Instructions for lines 6e and 6f would be modified

and for line 6i would be added to the 2022 Schedule MB, to read as follows:

Line 6e. Salary Scale. If a uniform level annual rate of salary increase is used, enter that
annual rate. Otherwise, enter the level annual rate of salary increase that is equivalent to the rate(s)
of salary increase used. Enter the annual rate as a percentage to the nearest .01 percent, used for a
participant from age 25 to assumed retirement age. If the plan's benefit formula is not related to
compensation, check the "NIA" box.

Line 6f. Withdrawal Liability Interest Rate. If any employer withdrew from the plan
during the plan year, enter the interest rate used to determine the present value of vested benefits for
withdrawal liability determinations. If multiple interest rates were used (e.g., select and ultimate

single equivalent interest rate that produces the same present value of vested benefits for withdrawal
liability determinations.

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rates under ERISA 4044 or blended liabilities reflecting different interest rate structures), report the

51560

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

If different interest rates were used for different employers that withdrew during the plan

year, report the weighted average interest rate used for this purpose (weighted by the applicable
withdrawal liability amount). If no employers withdrew from the plan during the plan year, check

"NIA".

Line 6i. Expense Loading Included in Normal Cost. If the normal cost reported in line
9b does not include a load for administrative or investment expenses, check the "NIA" box.
Otherwise, provide information in lines 6i(l), 6i(2), or 6i(3), whichever is applicable, about the
expense load included in the normal cost. If the expense load is described as a percentage of normal
cost, the reported percentage in line 6i(l) should be the expense load as a percent of the unloaded
normal cost. For example, if the expense load is 5% of the normal cost, the unloaded normal cost is
$100,000 and the reported normal cost is $105,000, enter 5%, not 4.8% (i.e., $5,0001$105,000).
Enter rates to the nearest 0.1 percent.

•

2022 Schedule MB. The title for line 8b would be modified and new lines 8b(3) and

8b(4) would be added to the 2022 Schedule MB to read as follows:

I

8a

(1) Is the plan required to provide a projection of expected benefit payments?
(See the instructions.) If "Yes," attach a schedule .......................................................................
(2) Is the plan required to provide a Schedule of Active Participant Data?
(See the instructions.) ....................................................................................................................

□ Yes

□ No

□ Yes

□ No

(3) Is the plan required to provide a projection of employer contributions and withdrawal liability
payments? (See instructions.) If "Yes," attach a schedule ..........................................................

□ Yes

□ No

(4) If line 8b(l) is "Yes", enter the average age and average monthly
benefits, as of the valuation date separately for terminated vested
participants and retired participants and beneficiaries receiving
payments
(a) Average age as of the valuation date ............................................
(b) Average monthly benefit as of valuation date ..............................

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(1) Terminated
Vested Participants

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(2) Retired
Participants and
Beneficiaries
Receivine Payments

EP15SE21.060

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8 Miscellaneous Information
a If a waiver of a funding deficiency has been approved for this plan year, enter the
date (MM-DD-YYYY) of the ruling letter granting the approval ...........................
b Demographic, benefit, and contribution information

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

•

51561

Instructions to 2022 Schedule MB. Instructions for lines 8b(l) and 8b(2) would be

modified and instructions for lines 8b(3) and 8b(4) would be added to the 2022 Schedule MB, to
read as follows:

Line 8b(l). Schedule of Projection of Expected Benefit Payments. Check "Yes" only if
this is a multi employer plan covered by Title IV of ERISA that has 500 or more total participants as
of the beginning of the plan year (i.e., reported on line 2b(3)(c), column (1)).

If line 8b(l) is "Yes," in an attachment, provide a projection of benefits expected to be paid
separately for active participants, terminated vested participants, and retired participants and
beneficiaries receiving payments, and for the entire plan (not to include expected expenses) in each
of the next fifty years starting with the current plan year of this filing assuming (1) no additional
accruals, (2) experience (e.g., termination, mortality, and retirement) are in line with valuation
assumptions, (3) no new entrants are covered by the plan, and (4) benefits are paid in the form
assumed for valuation purposes. Use the format shown below. The attachment may be provided in a
spreadsheet file. Label this attachment "Schedule MB, Line 8b(l) - Schedule of Projection of
Expected Benefit Payments".

Total

Line 8b(2). Schedule of Active Participant Data. Check "Yes" only if this is a
multi employer plan covered by Title IV of ERISA that has active participants.

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Schedule MB, Line 8b(l) - Schedule of Pro_iection of Expected Benefit Payments
Expected Annual Benefit Payments
Retired
Participants and
Terminated
Beneficiaries
Active
Receiving
Vested
Payments
Plan Year
Participants
Participants
Current Plan Year
Current Plan Year+ 1
Etc.
Current olan vear + 49

51562

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

If line 8b(2) is "Yes," attach a schedule of the active plan participant data used in the
valuation for this plan year. The attachment may be provided in a spreadsheet file. Use the format
shown below and label the attachment "Schedule MB, Line 8b(2) - Schedule of Active
Participant Data".

Schedule MB, Line 8b(2) - Schedule of Active Participant Data

Attained
Age
No

YEARS OF CREDITED SERVICE
Under 1
1 to4
Average
Average
Accrued
Accrued
Mon
Mon
Comp.
Ben
No Comp.
Ben
No

5to9
Average
Accrued
Mon
Comp.
Ben

,.:
ii:
ti

ii:

•••

•

.:t•
' "'

No

40&up
Average
Accrued
Mon
Comp.
Ben

M:
:ti
,

Under
25
25 to 29
30 to 34
35 to 39
40 to 44
45 to 49
50 to 54
55 to 59
60 to 64
65 to 69
70&up

••
••
,.•·I
'II'
Ii:

''

'

,Ji,\!;:

Expand this schedule by adding columns after the "5 to 9" column and before the "40 & up"
column for active participants with total years of credited service in the following ranges: 10 to 14;
15 to 19; 20 to 24; 25 to 29; 30 to 34; and 35 to 39. For each column, enter the number of active
participants with the specified number of years of credited service divided according to age group.
For participants with partial years of credited service, truncate the total number of years-credited.
Years of credited service are the years credited under the plan's benefit formula.

Plans reporting 1,000 or more active participants on line 2b(3)(c), column (1), and using

grouping, enter the average compensation of the active participants in that group. For this purpose,
compensation is the compensation taken into account for each participant under the plan's benefit

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compensation to determine benefits must also provide average compensation data. For each

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51563

formula, limited to the amount defined under section 401(a)(l 7) of the Code. Do not enter the
average compensation in any grouping that contains fewer than 20 participants.

Plans reporting 1,000 or more active participants on line 2b(3)(c), column (1), must also
provide average accrued monthly benefits, as of the valuation date, that are payable at normal
retirement age. For each grouping, enter the average accrued monthly benefit that is payable at
normal retirement age for the active participants in that group. Do not enter the average accrued
monthly benefit in any grouping that contains fewer than 20 participants.

General Rule. In general, data to be shown in each age/service bin includes:

1.

the number of active participants in the age/service bin,

2.

the average compensation of the active participants in the age/service bin, and

3.

the average accrued monthly benefit of the active participants in the age/service bin,
using $0 for anyone who has no accrued monthly benefit.

In general, information should be determined as of the valuation date. Average accrued
monthly benefits may be determined as of either:

1.

the valuation date or

2.

the day immediately preceding the valuation date.

Line 8b(3). Schedule of Projection of Employer Contributions and Withdrawal
Liability Payments. Check "Yes" only if this is a multiemployer plan covered by Title IV of
ERISA that has 500 or more total participants as of the beginning of the plan year (i.e., reported on

of employer contributions and withdrawal liability payments expected to be received for the entire
plan in each of the next ten years starting with the current plan year of this filing based on the

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line 2b(3)(c), column (1)). If line 8b(3) is "Yes," in an attachment, separately provide a projection

51564

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

assumptions used for to determine the plan's status under line 4b. Use the format shown below and
label the schedule "Schedule MB, Line 8b(3) - Schedule of Projection of Employer Contributions
and Withdrawal Liability Payments".

Schedule MB, Line 8b(3) - Schedule of Projection of Employer Contributions and
W'Ithdraw al L'13bil'dy P ayments
Employer
Withdrawal
Liability Payments
Plan Year
Contributions
Total
Current Plan Year
Current Plan Year + 1
Etc.
Current olan vear + 9

Line 8b(4)(a). Average Age. If line 8b(l) is "Yes," enter the average age nearest birthday,
as of the beginning of the plan year, separately for terminated vested participants and retired
participants and beneficiaries receiving payments.

Line 8b(4)(b). Average Monthly Benefits. If line 8b(l) is "Yes," enter the average
monthly benefit, as of the beginning of the plan year payable to terminated vested participants,
assuming commencement at normal retirement age and the average monthly benefit paid during the
month containing the valuation date to retired participants and beneficiaries receiving payments.
Enter the monthly benefits in rounded whole dollars.

•

2022 Schedule SB. Line 26 would be modified in Part VI of the 2022 Schedule SB to

read as follows:

26. Demographic and Benefit Tnfonnation
a. Is the plan required to provide a Schedule of Active Participants? If"Yes," see instructions
regarding required attachment..................................................................................................

□ Yes □ No

b. Is the plan required to provide a projection of expected benefit payments? (See instructions.)

□ Yes □ No

c. If line 26b is "Yes," enter the average age and average monthly benefits,
as of the valuation date separately for terminated vested participants and
retired participants and beneficiaries receiving payments

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(a) Terminated
Vested
Participants

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15SEP2

(b) Retired
Participants and
Beneficiaries

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If "Yes," attach a schedule? ......................................................................................................

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51565

Receiving
Payments
(1) Average age as of the valuation date ...................................................
(2) Average monthly benefit as of valuation date .....................................

•

Instructions to 2022 Schedule SB. The first two paragraphs of the instructions for line

26 (now line 26a) would be modified to reference line 26a instead of line 26 as shown below. In
addition, instructions for lines 26b and 26c would be added as follows:

Line 26a. Schedule of Active Participant Data. Check "Yes" only if (a) the plan is
covered by Title IV of ERISA and (b) the plan has active participants.

If line 26a is "Yes," attach a schedule of the active plan participant data used in the

valuation for this plan year. Use the format shown on the following page and label the schedule
"Schedule SB, Line 26a - Schedule ofActive Participant Data."

Line 26b. Schedule of Projection of Expected Benefit Payments. Check "Yes" only if
this plan is covered by Title IV ofERISA and has 500 or more total participants as of the valuation
date.

If line 26b is "Yes," in an attachment, provide a projection of benefits expected to be paid

separately for active participants, terminated vested participants, and retired participants and
beneficiaries receiving payments, and for the entire plan (not to include expected expenses) in each
of the next fifty years starting with the current plan year of this filing assuming (1) no additional
accruals, (2) experience (e.g., termination, mortality, and retirement) are in line with valuation
assumptions, (3) no new entrants are covered by the plan, and (4) benefits are paid in the form

spreadsheet file. Label this attachment "Schedule SB, Line 26b - Schedule of Projection of
Expected Benefit Payments

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assumed for valuation purposes. Use the format shown below. The attachment may be provided in a

51566

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules
Schedu Ie SB L"me 26b - ScheduI eof P ro.1ection
.
ofE xpectedBeneflIt P ayments
'
Expected Annual Benefit Payments
Retired
Participants and
Terminated
Beneficiaries
Active
Receiving
Vested
Payments
Plan Year
Participants
Participants
Current Plan Year
Current Plan Year+ 1
Etc.
Current plan vear + 49

Total

Line 26c(l). Average Age. If 26b is "Yes," enter the average age nearest birthday, as of the
valuation date, separately for terminated vested participants and retired participants and
beneficiaries receiving payments.

Line 26c(2). Average Monthly Benefits. If 26b is "Yes," enter the average monthly
benefit, as of the valuation date payable to terminated vested participants, assuming commencement
at normal retirement age and the average monthly benefit paid during the month containing the
valuation date to retired participants and beneficiaries receiving payments. Enter the monthly
benefits in rounded whole dollars.

•

2022 Schedule SB. The title for Part IX of the 2022 Schedule SB and line 41 would be

modified and replaced with the following:

Pension Funding Relief under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (See instructions.)

41 lf an election was made to use the extended amortization rule for a plan year beginning on or before
December 31, 2021, check the box to indicate the first plan year for which the rule
a lies.
□ 2019 □ 2020
□ 2021

Instructions to 2022 Schedule SB. The instructions for Part IX would be modified

and replaced with the following:

Part IX - Pension Funding Relief under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021

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•

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51567

Line 41. If an election was made under Code section 403(c)(8) or ERISA section 303(c)(8)

to apply the extended amortization rule for a plan year beginning on or before December 31, 2021,
check the box to indicate the first plan year for which the rule applies (i.e., the box for the 2019,
2020, or 2021 plan).

•

Instructions to 2022 Schedule R. Line 13 would be modified in the instructions for

Part V of the 2022 Schedule R to read as follows:

Line 13. This line should be completed only by multiemployer defined benefit pension

plans that are subject to the minimum funding standards (see Code section 412 and Part 3 of Title I
of ERIS A). Enter the information on lines 13a through 13e for any employer that, for the plan year,
(1) contributed more than five percent of the plan's total contributions or (2) was one of the top ten
highest contributors. List employers in descending order according to the dollar amount of their
contributions to the plan. Complete as many entries as are necessary to list all employers required to
be reported.

5. Proposed Changes to 2022 Schedule H, Schedule I, Form 5500-SF, Form 5500-EZ And
Their Instructions To Add New Trust Questions

•

2022 Schedules H and I. The following Trust Information questions, lines 6a-6d,

would be added as new Part V of 2022 Schedule H and Part Ill of 2022 Schedule I:

Trust Information

Line 6b. Trust EIN

Line 6c. Name of trustee/custodian

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Line 6a. Name of trust

51568

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

Line 6d. Trustee's or custodian's telephone number

•

2022 Form 5500-SF. Trust Information questions identical to lines 6a-6d of Schedules

Hand I shown above would be added to 2022 Form 5500-SF as new Part VIII, lines 14a-14d.

•

2022 Form 5500-EZ. Trust Information questions identical to lines 6a-6d of Schedules

Hand I shown above would be added to Part II of2022 Form 5500-EZ as new lines 4a-4d, and
current lines 4-11 would be renumbered as lines 5-12.

•

Instructions to 2022 Schedules H and I. Instructions for new Trust Information

questions, lines 6a-6d, would be added as instructions for new Part V of 2022 Schedule H and Part
III of Schedule I to read as follows.

Line 6a. Enter the name of the trust. If a plan uses more than one trust, enter the primary
trust in which the greatest dollar amount or largest percentage of the plan assets as of the end of the
plan year is held. For example, if a plan uses three different trusts, X, Y, and Z, and the percentages
of the plan assets are 35%, 45%, and 20%, respectively, Trust Y with 45% of the total plan assets
would be entered in line 6a.

Line 6b. Enter the EIN assigned to the employee benefit trust, if one has been issued to the
trust. If you do not have a trust ETN, enter the ETN you would use on Form 1099-R, Distributions

From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRS, Insurance Contracts, to report
distributions from employee benefit plans and on Form 945, Annual Return of Withheld Federal

Income Tax, to report amounts of income tax withheld from those payments. Do not enter a SSN.

A trust BIN can be obtained from the IRS by applying on Form SS-4, Application for EIN.

link page at www.irs.gov/businesses and click on "Employer ID Numbers" for additional
information. The EIN is issued immediately once the application information is validated.

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See the instructions for Form 5500, line 2b, to apply for an EIN. Also see the IRS EIN application

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51569

Lines 6c and 6d. Enter the name of the trustee or custodian and the trustee's or custodian's
telephone number.

•

Instructions to 2022 Form 5500-SF. Instructions to new Trust Information questions

identical to instructions to lines 6a-6d of Schedules Hand I shown above would be added to
instructions for new Part VIII of 2022 Form 5500-SF, except the line numbers would be lines 14a14d.
•

Instructions to 2022 Form 5500-EZ. Instructions to new Trust Information questions

identical to instructions to lines 6a-6d of Schedules Hand I shown above would be added to
instructions for 2200 Form 5500-EZ as lines 4a-4d and current instructions to lines 4-11 would be
renumbered as lines 5-12.

6. Proposed Changes to Form 5500 to add new checkboxes for proposed Schedules DCG and
MEP.

•

2022 Form 5500

(1) Line l0(a) of Part II of 2022 Form 5500 would be modified by adding new
checkboxes for new schedules: DCG and MEP to read as follow:

10. Check all applicable boxes in 10a and 10b to indicate which schedules are attached
and, where indicated, enter the number attached. (See instructions)

***

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a. Pension Schedules

51570

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

(4)

□

DCG (Individual Plan Information)

(5) □

MEP (Multiple-Employer Retirement Plan Information)

7. Proposed Changes to 2022 Schedule R, Form 5500-SF, Form 5500-EZ and Their
Instructions to Add New IRS Required Compliance Questions

•

2022 Schedule R. New Part - IRS Compliance questions, lines 21a, 21b, and 22, would

be added to 2022 Schedule R as follows:

IRS Compliance Questions

Line 21a. Does the plan satisfy the coverage and nondiscrimination tests of Code sections
410(b) and 401(a)(4) by combining this plan with any other plans under the permissive aggregation
□

rules?

Yes

□ No

Line 21b. If this is a Code section 401(k) plan, check the correct box to indicate how the
plan is intended to satisfy the nondiscrimination requirements for employee deferrals and employer
matching contributions (as applicable) under Code sections 401(k)(3) and 401(m)(2)?

Design-based safe harbor method

□

"Prior year" ADP test

□

"Current year'' ADP test

□ NIA

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□

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51571

Line 22. If the plan sponsor is an adopter of a pre-approved plan that received a favorable
IRS Opinion Letter, enter the date of the Opinion Letter

_ _ (MMDD YYYY) and the

Opinion Letter serial number_ _ _ __

•

2022 Form 5500-SF. New IRS Compliance questions identical to lines 21a, 21b, and 22

of Schedule R shown above would be added to 2022 Form 5500-SF as new Part IX, lines 15a, 15b
and 16.
•

2022 Form 5500-EZ. The following IRS Compliance question would be added to Part

V of2022 Form 5500-EZ as new line 13.

Line 13. If the plan sponsor is an adopter of a pre-approved plan that received a favorable
IRS Opinion Letter, enter the date of the Opinion Letter_/_/_ _ (MMDD YYYY) and the
Opinion Letter serial number_ _ _ __

•

Instructions to 2022 Schedule R. Instructions for new Part VII-IRS Compliance

questions, lines 21a-21c and 22, would be added to instructions for 2022 Schedule R to read as
follows.

Line 21a. Check "Yes" if this plan was permissively aggregated with another plan to satisfy
the requirements of Code sections 410(b) and 401(a)(4). Generally, each single plan must
separately satisfy the coverage and nondiscrimination requirements. However, generally, an
employer may designate two or more separate plans as a single plan for purposes of applying the
ratio percentage test of Treasury Regulations section 1.41 0(b )-2(b )(2) or the nondiscriminatory

permissively aggregated and treated as a single plan for purposes of the minimum coverage test of
Code section 41 0(b) must also be treated as a single plan for purpose of the nondiscrimination test

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classification test of Treasury Regulations section 1. 41 0(b )-4. Two or more plans that are

51572

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

under Code section 401(a)(4). See Treasury Regulations sections 1.410(b)-7(d) and 1.401(a)(4)(9)(a) for more information.

Line 21b. Check the applicable method used to satisfy the nondiscrimination requirements
of Code section 401(k). A safe harbor 401(k) plan is similar to a traditional 401(k) plan but, among
other things, it must provide for employer contributions. These contributions may be employer
matching contributions, limited to employees who defer, or employer contributions made on behalf
of all eligible employees, regardless of whether they make elective deferrals. The safe harbor 401(k)
plan is not subject to the complex annual nondiscrimination tests that apply to traditional 401(k)
plans. Check "Design-based safe harbor method" if this is a safe harbor 401(k) plan, that is, a
SIMPLE 401(k) plan under Code section 401(k)(l 1), a safe harbor 401(k) plan under Code section
401(k)(12), or a qualified automatic contribution arrangement under Code section 401(k)(13). If the
plan, by its terms, does not satisfy the safe harbor method, it generally must satisfy the regular
nondiscrimination test, known as the actual deferral percentage (ADP) test. Check the appropriate
box to indicate if the plan uses the "current year'' ADP test or the "prior year" ADP test. Check
"current year" ADP test if the plan uses the current year testing method under which the ADP test is
performed by comparing the current plan year's ADP for highly compensated employees (HCEs)
with the current plan year's (rather than the prior plan year's) ADP for nonhighly compensated
employees (NHCEs). Check all boxes that apply for a plan that tests different groups of employees
on a disaggregated basis. Check "NIA" if the plan is not required to test for nondiscrimination under
Code section 401(k)(3), such as a plan in which no HCE is benefiting.

favorable Opinion Letter of a pre-approved plan, enter the date of the most recent favorable Opinion
Letter issued by the IRS and the Opinion Letter serial number listed on the letter.

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Line 22. If a plan sponsor or an employer adopted a pre-approved plan that relied on a

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

•

51573

Instructions to 2022 Form 5500-SF. Instructions for new IRS Compliance questions

identical to instructions to lines 2la-2lc and 22 of 2022 Schedule R shown above would be added
as instructions for new Part IX of 2022 Form 5500-SF, except the instruction line numbers would be
lines 15a, 15b and 16.
•

Instructions to 2022 Form 5500-EZ. Instructions for new IRS Compliance question,

line 13 would be added to instructions for Part V of 2022 Form 5500-EZ to read as follows.

Line 13. If a plan sponsor or an employer adopted a pre-approved plan that relied on a
favorable Opinion Letter of a pre-approved plan, enter the date of the most recent favorable Opinion
Letter issued by the IRS and the Opinion Letter serial number listed on the letter.

8. Proposed change to Participant-Count Methodology for Determining Independent
Qualified Public Accountant Audit Requirement for Individual Account Plans

•

2022 Form 5500. Current line 6g, Number of participants with account balances as of

the end of the plan year (only defined contribution plans), would be renumbered as line 6g(2) and a
new line 6g(l) would be added to the 2022 Form 5500 read as follows.

Line 6g(l). Number of participants with account balances as of the beginning of the plan
year (only defined contribution plans).

•

Instructions to 2022 Form 5500. Instructions to line 6g of 2022 Form 5500 would be

modified to read as follows:

Line 6g. Enter in line 6g(l) the number of participants included on line 5 (total participants

Enter in line 6g(2) the number of participants included on line 6f (total participants at the end of the
plan year) who have account balances at the end of the plan year. For example, for a Code section

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at the beginning of the plan year) who have account balances at the beginning of the plan year.

51574

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

401(k) plan the number entered on line 6g(2) should be the number of participants counted on line
6fwho have made a contribution, or for whom a contribution has been made to the plan for this
plan year or any prior plan year. Welfare benefit plans and defined benefit plans should leave lines
6g(l) and 6(g)(2) blank.

•

2022 Form 5500-SF. Current line 5c, Number of participants with account balances as

of the end of the plan year (only defined contribution plans), would be renumbered as line 5c(2) and
a new line 5c(l) would be added to 2022 Form 5500-SF read as follows.
•

Line 5c(l). Number of participants with account balances as of the beginning of the

plan year (only defined contribution plans).
•

Instructions to 2022 Form 5500-SF. Instructions to line 5c of 2022 Form 5500-SF

would be added to read as follows:

Line 5c. Enter in line 5c(l) the number of participants included on line 5a (total participants
at the beginning of the plan year) who have account balances at the beginning of the plan year.
Enter in line 5c(2) the number of participants included on line 5b (total participants at the end of the
plan year) who have account balances at the end of the plan year. For example, for a Code section
401(k) plan the number entered on line 5c(2) should be the number of participants counted on line
6fwho have made a contribution, or for whom a contribution has been made to the plan for this
plan year or any prior plan year. Welfare benefit plans and defined benefit plans should leave lines
5c(l) and 6(g)(2) blank.

9. Proposed changes to Form 5500-EZ to add new checkbox F to Part I for filer not required

•

2022 Form 5500-EZ. The following new checkbox F would be added to Part I of the

2022 Form 5500-EZ.

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toe-file Form 5500-EZ

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules

51575

F If you are not required to file Form 5500-EZ electronically pursuant to Treas. Regs.
301.6058-2, check this box (see instructions) ..............................................

•

►

D

Instructions to 2022 Form 5500-EZ. Instructions to the new checkbox F added to Part

I of the 2022 Form 5500-EZ would be added to read as follows:

Instructions for Electronic Filing Certification

Check box F only if you are filing using paper Form 5500-EZ and you are not required to
electronically file Form 5500-EX pursuant to Treas. Regs. 301.6058-2, which requires a return
required to be filed under Code section 6058, such as Form 5500-EZ, to be filed electronically if the
filer is required by the Code or regulations to file at least 10 returns during the calendar year that
includes the first day of the plan year.
Statutory Authority
Accordingly, pursuant to the
authority in sections 101, 103, 104, 109,
110 and 4065 of ERISA and sections
6058 and 6059 of the Code, the Form
5500 Annual Return/Report and the

instructions thereto are proposed to be
amended as set forth herein.

Signed at Washington, DC,
Ali Khawar,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits
Security Administration, U.S. Department of
Labor.
Eric Slack,
Director, Employee Plans, Tax Exempt and
Government Entities Division, Internal
Revenue Service.
Gordon Hartogensis,
Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2021–19714 Filed 9–14–21; 8:45 am]

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BILLING CODE 4510–29–C