2014-29939. 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 Department of the Treasury, 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 proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning the Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan.

DATES:

Written comments should be received on or before February 23, 2015 to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES:

Direct all written comments to Christie Preston, Internal Revenue Service, Room 6129, 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 R. Joseph Durbala at Internal Revenue Service, Room 6129, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20224, or through the internet at [e-mail].

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 to determine if the plan appears to be operating properly as required under the law 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 aforementioned changes will generate and increase in burden by 21,000 hours and increase the estimated number of responses by 36,000 per year. Form 5500-SUP is a paper-only form filed with the IRS that is used by the sponsors and administrators of retirement plans to satisfy the reporting requirements of section 6058. Form 5500-SUP should only be used if certain IRS compliance questions are not answered electronically on the Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF. The creation of Form 5500-SUP, may create a new paper filing requirement. The paper submission of this form will increase the estimated number of responses by 500 and the estimated annual burden by 7,140 hours.

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: 822,500.

Estimated Time Per Respondent: 25 minutes.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 347,140.

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: December 15, 2014.

R. Joseph Durbala,

IRS, Tax Analyst.