All businesses with a pension plan and/or a 401k must file certain forms with the Department of Labor (DOL). However, as of January 1, the DOL is going “paper-less.” For the 2009 Plan year, all forms must now be submitted to the DOL electronically. Unfortunately the DOL has announced no exceptions to this requirement, forcing businesses without email or who are unfamiliar with the Internet to get online or face a $15,000 penalty.
Brett Goldstein, a New York-based pension administrator and president of The Pension Department, states, the law is designed to save the government money by reducing manual operations.
Unfortunately, 20-28 percent of small businesses don’t use email and may be forced to pay a $15,000 penalty,” says Goldstein. “Small business owners who don’t have email, high speed Internet connections, and older business owners are going to have a hard time trying to comply with the DOL’s mandate that everyone use the Internet to electronically file their Forms. Some small business owners may have an email address; they just don’t understand how to use it. The new e-filing requirement will be burdensome to small business owners who will have to spend time away from their business to e-file. As small business owners don’t want to spend time administering their 401k, this may be disincentive for small businesses to establish news 401ks and, at worst, may lead to 401k plan terminations.”
Due to concerns that some employers may have difficulty accessing the Internet, groups have approached the DOL seeking to clarify situations in which a tax preparer could electronically file the 5500 on behalf of the client. The DOL responded by saying that the ID and password given to employers so that they can electronic file the Form 5500, must be protected and not shared.
“A petition is being sent to the Department of Labor asking them to allow actuaries and tax preparers to file the Form 5500 on behalf of clients. It’s one thing to allow companies to electronically file, but to mandate that everyone must file electronically without any exceptions is unconstitutional. To assume that every business in America has access to the Internet and knows how to use it or wants to, is ridiculous. I have several clients that refuse to use the Internet or email. If this petition is not accepted by the Department of Labor, I will have to tell my clients that I can no longer service them; that’s going to hurt my cash flow,” says Goldstein. The Department of Labor needs to make exceptions for people without Internet access or allow actuarial firms to electronically file on behalf of their clients.
