Retirement Plan Sponsors Risk High Penalties With Late Forms

Businesses, already struggling to keep their doors open and bills paid, face hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties if they delay filing of annual reports for 401(k) plans.

Attorneys and other plan administrators said the DOL and IRS requirements for retirement plans to submit the annual document used for compliance, research, and disclosures, called the Form 5500, is an especially onerous task this year for business owners preoccupied with the coronavirus and a bad economy.

Even without the coronavirus, the Employee Benefits Securities Administration saw an increase of penalties related to reporting compliance between 2018 and 2019. EBSA assessed ...