84 FR 20202 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for the Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan

The Internal Revenue Service, 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.

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 89 (Wednesday, May 8, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20202-20203]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2019-09389]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service


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.

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SUMMARY: The Internal Revenue Service, 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 July 8, 2019 to 
be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Laurie Brimmer, 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: PBGC, the Department of Labor (DOL), and the 
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) work together to produce the Form 5500 
Annual Return/Report for Employee Benefit Plan and Form 5500-SF Short 
Form Annual Return/Report for Small Employee Benefit Plan (Form 5500 
Series), through which the regulated public can satisfy the combined 
reporting/filing requirements applicable to employee benefit plans. The 
Form 5500 and Form 5500-SF are currently filed electronically through 
the web-based EFAST2 system. The Form 5500-EZ is currently filed on 
paper with the IRS or by answering a subset of questions on the Form 
5500-SF, which is then filed electronically through EFAST2. The IRS 
plans to make the Form 5500-EZ available on the EFAST2 system for 
direct electronic filing instead of using Form 5500-SF. The Form 5500-
EZ (currently OMB Number: 1545-0956) will also be subsumed under the 
OMB number for the Form 5500 and Form 5500-SF, 1545-1610 as a separate 
collection. The Form 5500-EZ would still be available to be filed on 
paper with the IRS.
    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.
    The number of filing and wage rates are unchanged from the 2019 
5500/5500-SF submission Approved on April 26, 2019.

[[Page 20203]]



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                                                                                                           Change due to   Change due to
                                                              2019--      Program change  Program change   adjustment in     potential      Previously
                                                             Requested      due to new     due to agency      agency       violation of      approved
                                                                              statute       discretion       estimate         the PRA
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Annual Number of Responses for this IC..................         804,000               0  ..............         -29,000               0         833,000
Annual IC Time Burden (Hours)...........................         330,000               0  ..............          -9,000               0         339,000
Annual IC Cost Burden (Dollars).........................     127,898,000               0  ..............      -4,763,000               0     132,661,000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Number of Respondents: 804,000.
    Estimated Time per Respondent: 24.5 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 330,000.

The number of respondents and estimated response time are unchanged 
from the 2016 5500-EZ submission approved on December 27, 2016.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 250,000.
    Estimated Time per Respondent: 27 hours, 5 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 7,005,000.
    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. All 
comments will become a matter 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 shall have 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 respondents, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques 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: May 1, 2019.
Laurie Brimmer,
Senior Tax Analyst.
[FR Doc. 2019-09389 Filed 5-7-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4830-01-P