Due Dates — When to File

Introduction

This section describes when premium filings are due. A filing includes both the submission of required data and the payment of any required premium. In general, if a filing is not made by the due date, late payment charges will apply. Late payment charges include both interest charges and penalty charges. See "Late Payment Charges" section for more information on the ramifications of missing a deadline.

Normal Premium Due Date

The Normal Premium Due Date applies unless:

• The plan is a New or Newly Covered Plan,
• The plan year changed since last year, or
• All assets are distributed during the Premium Payment Year pursuant to a standard termination.

The Normal Premium Due Date is the 15th day of the 10th full calendar month in the plan year (e.g., generally October 15th for calendar-year plans). If the Normal Premium Due Date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or Federal Holiday, the due date is automatically extended to the next business day.

Transition Rule for Small Plans

Before 2014, the due date for small plans was last day of the 16th full calendar month following the end of the plan year preceding the Premium Payment Year (i.e., April 30th after year-end for small calendar-year plans). For plans that were considered small for 2013, the revised Normal Premium Due Date means premiums will be due 6½ months earlier than they would have been absent the recent amendments to our premium regulations. To give such plans time to adjust to the new rules and to spread out the time between the 2013 and 2014 premium due dates, the Normal Premium Due Date for plans that were considered small for 2013 is automatically extended to the 15th day of the 14th full calendar month beginning on or after the first day of the plan year (e.g., generally February 15, 2015 for calendar-year small plans). Starting in 2015, Small Plans will be subject to the same Normal Due Date rules as other plans.

The following table shows the Normal Premium Due Dates for plan years beginning in 2014:

Due Date for Special Situations

In the situations noted below, premiums may be due on a date other than the Normal Premium Due Date:

• The plan is a New or Newly Covered Plan,
• The plan year changed since last year, or
• All assets are distributed during the Premium Payment Year pursuant to a standard termination.

The due dates for these situations are described below. For all of these situations, if the adjusted due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or Federal Holiday, the due date is automatically extended to the next business day.

New and Newly Covered Plans

In some cases, these first time filers cannot have their filings ready by the Normal Due Date. For example, consider a calendar year plan that is adopted November 1st with an effective date retroactive to January 1. Because the plan was adopted after the Normal Premium Due Date (October 15th), a later due date is warranted.

To accommodate such plans, the due date for New and Newly Covered Plans is the latest of:

• The Normal Due Date
• 90 days after the date of the plan’s adoption,
• 90 days after the date on which the plan became covered by title IV of ERISA, or
• In the case of a Small Plan that is also a Continuation Plan, 90 days after the UVB Valuation Date.

These rules are illustrated in the following examples:

Example 1 – Plan A, a calendar-year plan was adopted August 1, 2014 with a retroactive effective date of January 1, 2014. Plan A is not a Continuation Plan or a Small Plan. The due date for Plan A’s first premium filing is October 30, 2014 (90 days after August 1, 2014) because that date is later than the Normal Premium Due Date (October 15, 2014).

Example 2 – The situation for Plan B is identical to Plan A (see Example 1) except that the plan was adopted one month earlier, July 1, 2014. The due date for Plan B’s first premium filing is October 15, 2014, the Normal Premium Due Date because that date is later than 90 days after the adoption date.

Example 3 – A professional service employer maintains Plan C, a Small Plan with a calendar plan year. From September 2, 1974 through September 30, 2014, Plan C never had more than 25 active participants, and thus was not a covered plan under ERISA section 4021. On October 1, 2014, a few employees were hired and became covered by the plan resulting in a total active participant count of 26 and therefore, the plan became a covered plan on that date. Plan C will continue to be a covered plan regardless of how many active participants the plan has in the future. Note that the Premium Payment Year begins on January 1, 2014, even though the plan did not become covered until after that date. The due date for the plan’s first premium filing is the Normal Premium Due Date for a Small Plan (February 15, 2015) because that date is later than December 30, 2014 (90 days after October 1, 2014)

Plans Changing Plan Years

For a plan that changes its plan year, the filing due dates for the short year are unaffected by the change in plan year. However, for the first plan year under the new cycle, the due date is whichever is later:

• The Normal Premium Due Date, or
• 30 days following the date on which a plan amendment changing the plan year was adopted.

The following examples show the due dates for plans changing plan years:

Example 1 – By plan amendment adopted on December 1, 2014, a plan that is not a Small Plan changes from a plan year beginning January 1 to a plan year beginning June 1. This results in a short plan year beginning January 1, 2014, and ending May 31, 2014. Premiums for the short plan year are due October 15, 2014, the Normal Premium Due Date.

For the plan year beginning June 1, 2014, the premiums are due by the Normal Premium Due Date (March 15, 2015) because that is later than 30 days after the date the plan amendment changing the plan year was adopted (December 31, 2014).

Example 2 – By plan amendment adopted on January 7, 2015, and made retroactively effective to April 1, 2014, a plan that is not a Small Plan changes from a plan year beginning on March 1 to a plan year beginning on April 1. For the March 1, 2014 - March 31, 2014 short plan year, the premium is due December 15, 2014. For the new plan year beginning April 1, 2014, the due date is 30 days after the adoption of the plan amendment changing the plan year (February 6, 2015) because that is later than the Normal Premium Due Date (January 15, 2015).

Assets Distributed Pursuant to a Standard Termination

For the Premium Payment Year in which all plan assets are distributed pursuant to standard termination, it’s possible that the employer will be out of business or plan records and personnel will not be available by the Normal Premium Due Date. To streamline the final premium payment with the other activities related to a standard termination, the due date for a plan in this situation is the earlier of:

• The Normal Premium Due Date (i.e., the date premiums would have been due had the plan not been terminated), or
• The date when the post-distribution certification is filed with us.

Disaster Relief

From time to time PBGC grants disaster relief by waiving late filing and payment penalties for certain plans that are unable to meet the filing deadline as a result of a major disaster (e.g., a hurricane). If such relief is granted, a Disaster Relief Announcement explaining what relief has been granted and how to claim the relief will be posted on the Resources Page at www.pbgc.gov.

Additional Information

You can find detailed rules about filing due dates in PBGC’s premium payment regulation (29 CFR Part 4007). You can access this regulation through the Resources Page at www.pbgc.gov.