What's New for Practitioners Archive

Proposed Form for Requesting Plan Coverage Determination: PBGC is proposing to streamline the process of obtaining a PBGC coverage determination. On December 4, 2018, PBGC published a notice that PBGC intends to request OMB approval of a form and instructions to be used when submitting a coverage determination request. The proposed form and instructions list the information and documents required for PBGC to make a coverage determination. PBGC is soliciting public comments on the proposed form and instructions.

2018 Form 5500: On November 13, 2018, The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and PBGC released advance informational copies of the 2018 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report and related instructions. See EBSA’s News Release for more information, including a summary of key changes.

Benefit Restrictions - Present Value of PBGC Maximum Guarantee: On October 29, 2018, PBGC posted a table showing the applicable present values for 2019 plan years. For more information see Technical Update 07-04.

Reportable Events Reference Sheet for Small Plans: PBGC has created a reference tool to help practitioners when advising small plans (those with 100 or fewer participants) about possible reportable events. The tool, in the form of a quick checklist, can be found on PBGC’s Reportable Events and Large Unpaid Contributions page.

Guarantee Limit: On October 22, 2018, PBGC announced that, as a result of the indexing rules provided in ERISA, the guarantee limits for single-employer plans that fail in 2019 will be 3.46% higher than the limits that applied for 2018. A table showing the single-employer plan guarantee limits for various ages and payment forms is available on PBGC's website. The guarantee limits for multiemployer plans are not indexed and therefore have not changed.

2019 Premium Rates: PBGC updated the Premium Rates web page to show premium rates for 2019 after reflecting increases and indexing required by section 4006 of ERISA, as amended by The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015.

Enhanced ERISA Section 4062(e) Web Page: PBGC has expanded and modified the information on PBGC.gov related to liability that may arise when an employer ceases operations at a facility under ERISA section 4062(e), as amended by Public Law 113-235. The revised web page provides basic information about 4062(e), answers to frequently asked questions, and information on reporting to PBGC.

Final Rule on Mergers and Transfers Between Multiemployer Plans: On September 14, PBGC will publish a final rule to implement its authority to facilitate mergers of multiemployer pension plans. Mergers of multiemployer plans can help to protect the benefits earned by workers and retirees and extend the solvency of troubled plans. This rulemaking also updates the general rules on plan mergers and transfers. Read the press release: PBGC Finalizes Guidance on Mergers and Transfers Between Multiemployer Plans.

Modifications to 2018 Premium Filing Instructions: On September 4, 2018, PBGC modified the Comprehensive Premium Filing Instructions for 2018 Plan Years to provide information about a recent change to the premium payment instructions and, in response to questions PBGC has received, to clarify the applicability of a variable-rate premium exemption for plans closing out during the year. See pages 2 and 35 respectively.

Solicitation of Nominations for Appointment to PBGC’s Advisory Committee: On August 8, PBGC will publish a solicitation for nominations for the agency’s Advisory Committee, which gives advice on investment issues and other matters related to PBGC’s mission. The Committee meets six times a year with at least one joint session with PBGC’s Board of Directors. The Committee consists of seven members: two representatives of employee organizations, two representatives of employers who maintain pension plans, and three representatives of the general public. PBGC seeks nominations for all seats. Nominees must have experience with defined benefit plans.

Premium Payment & Correspondence Mailing Addresses: Effective immediately, the PBGC has changed their mailing addresses for paper checks and correspondence from Bank of America to U.S. Bank. If a paper check or correspondence is mailed to Bank of America, it will be forwarded to U.S. Bank until 10/30/2018. Complete premium payment instructions can be found here, Premium Filing Payment & Instructions.

New Staff Guidance Q&A web page: PBGC has developed a new web page that compiles PBGC staff responses to questions received from practitioners about Title IV requirements that may be of interest to other practitioners. The questions cover issues such as bankruptcy claims, liens arising from large missed contributions, guaranteed benefits, and reportable events. Also included is a response to a question received several times in recent months about whether a two-step transaction, sometimes called a “reverse spinoff,” is an acceptable strategy for avoiding certain premium payments.

PBGC intends to update this web page periodically as additional questions arise. The new web page can be accessed by clicking the link above or via the Other Guidance page on the “Employers and Practitioner” menu of PBGC.gov.

My PAA Updates: Additional functionality has been added to the “Submit a Request” Quick Link button, located near the top of the Plan Page. Practitioners have the ability to submit a Penalty RFR, Premium Refund and now any other type of actionable request or correspondence directly to the PBGC. When a request has been successfully submitted, an automatic Service Request ID will be generated and all filing team members will receive a confirmation message. In addition, the “Check Status of Request” Quick Link button has been created to track certain plan specific requests. This page includes all requests that filing team members created via the “Submit a Request” Quick Link (mentioned above) in addition to other relevant plan items which may have been created internally by the PBGC. Lastly, practitioners can only submit on-screen My PAA filings for plan years beginning 2008 and forward; See Prior Year Instructions and Forms for reference.

2016 Pension Insurance Data Book: On July 18th, PBGC posted the second installment of the 2016 Data Tables, which includes statistics for PBGC's single-employer and multiemployer programs and for the private defined benefit pension system. This installment provides information about plan funding levels, demographics, and premiums, and multiemployer plan zone status, including, for the first time, information specific to critical and declining plans.

Terminated and Insolvent Multiemployer Plans Proposed Rule: On July 16, PBGC will publish a proposed rule that would make more efficient certain reporting and disclosure of plan information by terminated and/or insolvent multiemployer plans to PBGC and participants and beneficiaries. Certain terminated plans and insolvent plans must provide notices of insolvency and notices of insolvency benefit level. The proposed rule would remove outdated information included in the notices and would eliminate the requirement to provide most annual updates to the notice of insolvency benefit level. Under current regulations, multiemployer plans terminated by mass withdrawal must perform an annual actuarial valuation of the plan’s assets and liabilities. Under the proposed rule, smaller plans terminated by mass withdrawal would be able to perform actuarial valuations less frequently. The proposed rule also would add new requirements for plan sponsors of certain terminated plans and insolvent plans to file their actuarial valuations and withdrawal liability information with PBGC.

Disaster Relief: On July 2, 2018, PBGC will issue a Federal Register Notice announcing changes to the way it provides disaster relief. The revised policy streamlines PBGC’s practice of announcing relief by keying it to IRS’ disaster relief news releases via a one-time Disaster Relief Announcement and makes other minor changes. PBGC’s Disaster Relief announcement explains which filings are covered, what the relief entails, how/when to notify PBGC that your plan qualifies for the relief, etc. The Federal Register notice  is available for public inspection now.

PBGC Projections Report FY 2017: On May 31, 2018, PBGC released its FY 2017 Projections Report, an annual actuarial evaluation forecasting the future financial condition of PBGC’s two separate programs (Single Employer and Multiemployer). The new projections are broadly consistent with last year’s projections and indicate that, absent changes in law or additional resources, PBGC’s Multiemployer Program is highly likely to become insolvent by the end of FY 2025, and that, while there remain significant risks, PBGC’s Single Employer Program is likely to emerge from deficit sooner than previously anticipated. PBGC’s news release provides additional information about the projections.

My PAA Updates: We have improved premium e-filing via My PAA to provide customer usability enhancements, which include improvements to the e-signature process if credits have changed since initial sign-off, displaying on-screen validations for single-filings in the upload filing process, and revised on-screen variable-rate premium validations for certain small plans. In addition, security enhancements were made, for example, to increase password complexity. For more information, see What’s New in My PAA and review the associated My PAA demos, which have been updated to reflect these changes.

Standard and distress terminations forms and instructions: OMB has approved minor revisions to the standard and distress termination forms and instructions. Key changes include a new option for submitting these filings by email and the ability to request a pre-filing consultation to determine if a distress filing application is warranted (see PBGC’s distress termination webpage for more information). In addition, because the rules related to missing participants differ depending on whether the date of plan termination is before January 1, 2018, the post-distribution certifications (i.e., Forms 501 and 602, for standard and distress terminations respectively), have been modified slightly so that they can be used for both pre-2018 and post-2017 terminations.

The new forms and instructions can be found on PBGC’s Forms for Practitioners and Employers webpage. Practitioners with questions about these forms may contact standard@pbgc.gov or distress@pbgc.gov.

2016 Pension Insurance Data Book: Today, PBGC released the first installment tables for the 2016 Data Book, updating information in the Claims and Summary Tables.