Sarah Borders, CEBS July 8, 2024 2 min read

Reminder to File Form 5500 for Calendar Year Plans

Employers must file Form 5500 for health and welfare plans by the last day of the 7th month following the last day of the plan year, unless the small plan exception applies.

Who this applies to:

Large employers with fully insured and self-funded health plans with 100 or more plan participants as of the first day of the ERISA plan year
Small employers with level-funded health plans that pay benefits from a trust

Go Deeper:

This means plans that began Jan 1, 2023 must file by July 31, 2024, or can request a 2 ½ -month extension by filing Form 5558 before the plan's original due date. Governmental, church, or Indian tribal plans aren’t required to file a Form 5500 since those plans are exempt from ERISA and its requirements.

In addition, the plan administrator must give out the Summary Annual Report (SAR) within 9 months of the end of the plan year if they had to file 5500 in the first place. If a 5500 extension was filed, the employer must send the SAR within 2 months after the close of the period for which the extension was granted.

For instance, a calendar year plan has to distribute the SAR for the 2023 plan year by Sept. 30, 2024. But if the plan applied for an extension to the Form 5500 filing, the SAR is then due within 2 months after the filing.

Sarah Borders, CEBS

Principal, Benefits Compliance Solutions. Sarah has spent the last 15 years in the employee benefits industry, has numerous designations and serves on NAHU’s Employer Working Group Subcommittee and is an active board member of Austin AHU. She recently stepped down as Vice President of Benefits Compliance at one of the nation's largest brokerage firms to start her own compliance consulting practice. Her designations include an active license with the Texas Department of Insurance, CEBS (Certified Employee Benefits Specialist), Certified Health Care Reform Professional, HIPAA certification and Health Care Service Associate. She holds an MBA from Texas A&M Corpus Christi and a BA from University of Incarnate Word. Her consulting firm, Benefits Compliance Solutions, partners with employers to identify unknown risks and avoid hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and lawsuits from failure to comply with their healthplan obligations.