Senators Propose Companion Version of Bill Simplifying Form 5500 Filing

Senators Jim Banks, R-Indiana, and Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, have introduced legislation to simplify the annual Form 5500 filing process for employee benefit plans, marking the Senate’s entry into an effort already underway in the House of Representatives to reduce administrative burdens on plan sponsors while maintaining federal oversight.

The Form 5500 Filing Simplification Act would establish a single statutory filing deadline for Form 5500 annual reports, eliminating the need for most employers to submit a separate IRS Form 5558 extension request. The bill also would authorize electronic signatures on Form 5500 filings and related reports and would direct the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Labor and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to modernize filing requirements and align their regulations accordingly.

“Employers shouldn’t have to jump through unnecessary bureaucratic hoops just to comply with federal employee plan reporting requirements,” Banks said in a statement.

Booker said in a statement that the measure would “simplify and modernize the reporting process” by reducing paperwork and eliminating outdated administrative hurdles, particularly for small and midsize businesses sponsoring retirement plans.

The legislation addresses what supporters describe as a longstanding mismatch between statutory filing deadlines and the practical time needed to prepare annual retirement plan reports. Under current law, many employers must first request an extension by filing IRS Form 5558 before submitting Form 5500. The proposal would instead create a single filing deadline while preserving existing reporting and transparency requirements under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

The Senate bill follows similar legislation introduced in the House earlier this year by Representatives Glenn Grothman, R-Wisconsin, and Donald Norcross, D-New Jersey. The House version would extend the filing deadline for calendar-year plans to October 15 from July 31, require agencies to permit electronic signatures and submissions of accompanying information, and apply the changes to plan years ending on or after the date of enactment.

The House bill has already advanced beyond introduction. After being referred in February to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the House Committee on Ways and Means, the Education and Workforce Committee cleared it on May 21 by a 22-to-12 vote. The Ways and Means Committee has not yet considered the bill.

Industry groups including the American Retirement Association, the ERISA Industry Committee, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the CHRO Association and the American Benefits Council have endorsed the bill.

The Senate bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.