Who is required to file a Health and Welfare 5500?

Health & Welfare Plans provide benefits such as medical, dental, life insurance, disability, and FSA.  Any employer that sponsors health & welfare benefit plans with 100 or more plan participants is required to file a Form 5500 for those benefit plans. 

There are plans that are not required to file a Form 5500:

• Premium Only Plans (POP)

• A health & welfare plan that has fewer than 100 participants as of the beginning of the plan year, as long as the plan is not funded through a Trust

• Governmental and church plans

The due date for filing the Health & Welfare Form 5500 is the last day of the 7th month after the plan year ends.  If the plan year ends on December 31st, Form 5500 would be due July 31st, unless a 2½ month extension is filed, making the Form 5500 due on October 15th.  Form 5500 must be filed electronically through the EFAST2 system. 

Employers sponsoring insured health and welfare plans with 100 or more participants and self-funded health and welfare plans of any size face substantial penalties by both the Department of Labor and the IRS for failure to file timely:

• The DOL per day penalty for failure to properly file Form 5500 has increased to $2,586 with no maximum.

• The IRS penalizes late filers up to $250 a day, up to a maximum penalty of $150,000 per plan year.

Penalties can be reduced through the Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program (DFVCP).

Employers who file a Health & Welfare Form 5500 must also distribute a Summary Annual Report, which is a summary of the Form 5500, to plan participants within 9 months after the plan year, or 2 months after they file Form 5500 if an extension was granted.