# Proposed Collection; Comment Request for the Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan
**AGENCY:**
Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury.
**ACTION:**
Notice and request for comments.
**SUMMARY:**
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The IRS is soliciting comments concerning the Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan.
**DATES:**
Written comments should be received on or before November 2, 2020 to be assured of consideration.
**ADDRESSES:**
Direct all written comments to Kinna Brewington, Internal Revenue Service, Room 6526, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20224.
**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:**
Requests for additional information or copies of the forms and instructions should be directed to Martha R. Brinson, at (202) 317-5753, or at Internal Revenue Service, Room 6526, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20224, or through the internet at *[email protected].*
**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:**
*Title:* Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan.
*OMB Number:* 1545-1610.
*Form Number:* 5500 and Schedules.
*Abstract:* The Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan is an annual information return filed by employee benefit plans. The IRS uses this information for a variety of matters, including ascertainment whether a qualified retirement plan appears to conform to requirements under the Internal Revenue Code or whether the plan should be audited for compliance. Form 5500-EZ (OMB Number: 1545-0956) is an annual return filed by a one participant (owners/partners and their spouses) retirement plan or a foreign plan to satisfy certain annual reporting and filing requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Code (Code). The IRS uses this data to determine if the plan appears to be operating properly as required under the Code or whether the plan should be audited.
*Current Actions:*
| Proposed changes | Apply to form/schedule | Authority | Reasons for changes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Adding a new checkbox to Form 5500, 5500-SF, and Form 5500-EZ for an initial plan retroactively adopted as permitted by SECURE Act section 201 | Form 5500, Part I | SECURE Act 201 | • Section 201 of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act), Public Law 116-94, amends IRC section 401(b) to allow an employer who adopts a retirement plan after the close of a taxable year but before the due date of filing its return for the taxable year (including extensions) to treat the plan as having been adopted as of the last day of the taxable year. |
| If this is a retroactively adopted plan permitted by SECURE Act section 201, check here ☐ | | | |
| Revise Form 5500-EZ Part IB, Checkbox for an extension of time | Form 5500-EZ, Part I | IRC 6081 7508A | • A plan can get an extension of time to file a Form 5500 using the Form 5558,
or using the employer's extension of time to file its federal income tax return if certain conditions are met; or using a special extension as the IRS may announce under certain circumstances, such as an extension for Presidentially declared disasters authorized in IRC 7508A. |
| B. Check box if filing under | | | |
| ☐ Form 5558 ☐ automatic extension | | | |
| ☐ special extension (enter description) | | | |
*Type of Review:* Revision of a currently approved collection.
*Affected Public:* Business or other for profit organizations, individuals and households, not-for profit institutions, and farms.
*Estimated Number of Respondents:* 923,800.
*Estimated Time Per Respondent:* 1 hr., 34 mins.
*Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours:* 1,451,543.
The following paragraph applies to all of the collections of information covered by this notice:
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless the collection of information displays a valid OMB control number. Books or records relating to a collection of information must be retained as long as their contents may become material in the administration of any internal revenue law. Generally, tax returns and tax return information are confidential, as required by 26 U.S.C. 6103.
*Request for Comments:* Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval. Comments will be of public record. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information has practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on or other forms of information technology; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.
Approved: August 27, 2020.
Martha R. Brinson,
Tax Analyst.