HR Alert

December 2013

Employers and plan sponsors must comply with various reporting and notice deadlines for their retirement and health and welfare plans. In order to avoid costly penalties and excise taxes, employers must remain up-to-date with respect to benefit plan reporting and notice deadlines. The calendar below provides first quarter (January - March) key reporting and notice deadlines for calendar year benefit plans (the deadlines are different for a benefit plan with a non-calendar year plan year). Please note that the calendar does not include all applicable reporting and notice deadlines, just some of the common ones.

Deadline	Document/Item		Description	Plans Affected
January 31	IRS Form 5300 Cycle Filings		Deadline for filing a Determination Letter request according to a five-year cycle based upon the last digit of the plan sponsor’s employer identification number (EIN)	Qualified Retirement Plans
	IRS Form 1099-R		Deadline for payer (i.e., employer, trustee or custodian) to issue IRS Form 1099-R to participants and beneficiaries who received a retirement plan distribution (including direct rollovers, periodic annuities, pension payments, excess deferrals or excess contributions).	Qualified Retirement Plans
	IRS Form W-2 (must report value of health coverage)		Deadline for employer to report the aggregate cost of applicable employer-sponsored health coverage on each employee’s Form W-2. The cost of coverage includes health and prescription drug coverage and health flexible spending account (FSA) value for the plan year (but only the amount in excess of the employee’s cafeteria plan salary reduction). Long-term care insurance, HRA contributions and certain stand-alone dental or vision coverage is not required to be reported.	Health and Welfare Plans
February 28 (if filing paper forms) April 2 (if filing electronic forms)	IRS Form 1099-R		Deadline for payer to file Form 1099-R with the IRS for 2013 retirement plan distributions. Form 1096 should be filed with Form 1099-R if it is a paper filing. If the forms are filed electronically, the deadline can be extended until April 2.	Qualified Retirement Plans
March 15 (2 ½ months after the end of the plan year)	Excess Contributions		Deadline for plan to distribute any excess contributions and earnings from the prior year to avoid 10% excise tax on employer (other than eligible automatic contribution arrangements (EACAs)).	401(k) Plans Other Than EACAs
Other DOL, IRS, ACA Reporting and Notice Deadlines
DOL
Deadline		Document/Item	Description	Plans Affected
Upon enrollment and annually thereafter		Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act (WHCRA) Notice	Deadline for providing a description of benefits available under WHCRA (and applicable deductibles and coinsurance limits for such benefits).	Health and Welfare Plans that provide mastectomy benefits
IRS
Not less than 30 or more than 180 days prior to the initial payment starting date		Notice of Eligible Rollover Distribution	Deadline for notice explaining eligible rollover distribution to an eligible retirement plan (i.e., an IRA, §403(b), §457(b) or §401(a) plan) and mandatory withholding requirements.	Qualified Retirement Plans
Affordable Care Act (ACA)
Not less than 30 days before coverage may be rescinded		Notice of Rescission	Deadline for plan administrator (for self-insured plans) or plan sponsor or insurer (for fully insured plans) to provide written notice of retroactive termination of health coverage due to fraud or intentional misrepresentation of material facts by a participant.	Health and Welfare Plans

Please note that for purposes of this calendar, “Qualified Retirement Plans” means all defined benefit and defined contribution plans that are intended to satisfy Code Section 401(a) and “Retirement Plans” means all employee pension plans defined in ERISA 3(2).

Hamby Benefits Law, LLC recommends that you consult with ERISA legal counsel to assist you with any questions you may have regarding compliance with the first quarter reporting and notice obligations listed above and any other reporting and notice requirements (i.e., COBRA and HIPAA) for your employee benefit plans.

This HR Alert was written by:

Anne Tyler Hamby
ERISA Attorney
3525 Piedmont Rd NE
7 Piedmont Center, Suite 300
Atlanta, GA 30305
(678) 929-9264 (office)
(404) 861-7441 (cell)
athamby@hambybenefitslawllc.com
Specializing in retirement plans, health and
welfare benefits and executive compensation law

This HR Alert is intended to provide a summary of significant developments to clients and friends. It is intended to be informational and does not constitute legal advice regarding any specific situation. This material may also be considered attorney advertising under rules of certain jurisdictions.