Segal's Compliance Alert September 26, 2003

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September 26, 2003

5500 Filing Deadlines Postponed for Plans Directly Affected by Hurricane Isabel

The Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation have postponed the deadline for Form 5500 (and 5500EZ) filings that would otherwise have been due on or between September 18 and November 18, 2003, for employers and plan administrators directly affected by Hurricane Isabel. If the initial filing deadline for the plan is covered by that period, it is postponed until November 18, 2003. To see the DOL and IRS press releases click here and here, respectively.

Calendar-year plans have an initial 5500 filing deadline of July 31. Many of them take an extension to October 15. If their sponsors or administrators are located in the disaster areas, those plans will now have until November 18, 2003 to complete and file their Forms 5500 for the 2002 plan year.

This extension includes employers and plan administrators located in the District of Columbia and parts of four states that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has declared eligible for individual assistance. In addition, it includes employers and plan administrators located elsewhere whose access to necessary information or professional assistance was directly affected.

The affected areas include the following jurisdictions:

District of Columbia
Delaware (the counties of Kent, New Castle and Sussex)
Maryland (the City of Baltimore and the counties of Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Dorchester, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Howard, Kent, Montgomery, Prince George's, Queen Anne's, Somerset, St. Mary's, Talbot, Washington, Wicomico and Worcester)
North Carolina (the counties of: Beaufort, Bertie, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Edgecombe, Gates, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Jones, Martin, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Pitt, Tyrrell and Washington)
Virginia (The cities of Alexandria, Bedford, Buena Vista, Charlottesville, Chesapeake, Colonial Heights, Danville, Emporia, Falls Church, Fairfax, Franklin, Fredericksburg, Hampton, Harrisonburg, Hopewell, Lynchburg, Manassas, Manassas Park, Newport News, Norfolk, Petersburg, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Richmond, Staunton, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Waynesboro, Williamsburg and Winchester and the counties of Accomack, Albemarle, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Arlington, Augusta, Bedford, Brunswick, Buckingham, Campbell, Caroline, Charles City, Charlotte, Chesterfield, Clarke, Culpeper, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Essex, Fairfax, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Frederick, Gloucester, Goochland, Greene, Greensville, Halifax, Hanover, Henrico, Isle of Wight, James City, King George, King William, King and Queen, Lancaster, Louisa, Loudoun, Lunenburg, Madison, Mathews, Mecklenburg, Middlesex, Nelson, New Kent, Northampton, Northumberland, Nottoway, Orange, Page, Pittsylvania, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Prince George, Prince William, Rappahannock, Richmond, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Shenandoah, Southampton, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Surry, Sussex, Warren, Westmoreland and York)

Plan Administrators should check Part 1, Box D on the From 5500 (or Part 1, Box B on the Form 5500-EZ) and attach a statement labeled "Hurricane Isabel 2003" explaining the basis for the extension. Questions should be addressed to the EFAST Help Line at 1-866-463-3278.

At the time this Compliance Alert was published, there was no delay in the deadlines for other ERISA filings or for contributions required by the ERISA minimum funding rules.

Compliance Alert, The Segal Company’s periodic electronic newsletter summarizing important developments affecting benefit plan compliance, is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide authoritative guidance. On all issues involving the interpretation or application of laws and regulations, plan sponsors should rely on their attorneys for legal advice.