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Replacement of Form 5500 Schedule SSA

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Jaxine L. Wintjen, CP
Foster Swift Employment, Labor & Benefits Quarterly
Summer 2011

The IRS requires that qualified plans report certain information relating to participants with deferred vested benefits in a qualified deferred compensation plan. For plan years prior to January 1, 2009, plans were required to attach Schedule SSA to Form 5500 to satisfy this filing requirement.

Effective January 1, 2009, the Department of Labor ("DOL") mandated electronic filing of Form 5500. In order to accommodate the electronic filing mandate, a number of changes were made to the Form 5500 and accompanying schedules. One of the changes was to remove the Schedule SSA.

The IRS has developed Form 8955-SSA to replace the Schedule SSA for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009. In general, the filing due date for Form 8955-SSA is the same as Form 5500; it must be filed by the last day of the seventh month following the end of the plan year, plus extensions.

The IRS has announced an extension of time to file Form 8955-SSA for the 2009 and 2010 plan years. The due date for filing Form 8955-SSA for the 2009 and 2010 plan years is the later of:

  1. The last day of the seventh month following the end of the 2010 plan year (July 31, 2011 for calendar year plans); or
  2. January 17, 2012.

Employers may request a two month extension of the time to file form 8955-SSA by filing Form 5558 with the IRS prior to the original filing deadline.

Filers may either file separate Forms 8955-SSA for the 2009 and 2010 plan years or they may combine the 2009 and 2010 data on the 2009 Form 8955-SSA.

The Form 8955-SSA may be obtained as a fillable form from the IRS web site at http://www.irs.gov/formspubs. The form is also available from third party software developers or by calling the IRS at (800) 829-3676.

Form 8955-SSA may be filed electronically using the Filing Information Returns Electronically system or on paper at Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Ogden, UT 84201-0027.

Please contact your Foster Swift Employee Benefits professional for more information.