| IRS
Overhauls the Series 5500 Forms for Benefit Plans
If your business has an employee benefit
plan, such as a 401(k) profit-sharing plan, pension plan or cafeteria plan,
you are required to file Form 5500, Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan.
In the past, there were several versions of the form, long and short, and
various schedules required to be attached, determined by the size and type
of your plan, and numerous other factors. The information reported on Form
5500 is used by three regulatory agencies, the IRS, the Department of Labor
(DOL), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Each of them collect
certain information from the forms to administer its area of responsibility,
the ultimate purpose of which is to safeguard the trillions of dollars
of benefits promised to employees in the nation. Additionally, all plans
beginning the year with 100 or more participants will require an audited
financial statement for the plan. The purpose of the audit is for the certified
public accountant to form an opinion as to whether the financial statements
are free of any |
material
misstatement. The accountant’s opinion is required to be attached to the
form 5500.
The forms and reporting requirements
have been revamped. The old forms 5500, 5500-C and 5500-R have all been
consolidated into one basic 5500. The basic form has been shortened to
one page of information, followed by various schedules, along the lines
of other corporate and individual tax returns. Many of the duplicate and
obsolete questions have been eliminated. There is a clear delineation between
the financial schedules, the pension schedules, and the fringe benefit
schedule. A comprehensive set of instructions, segregated by form, has
been rewritten. A table defines which schedules are required by each category
of the plan. These categories are identified as small pension and welfare
plans, large pension and welfare plans (large plans are those that begin
the year with 100 or more participants), fringe benefit plans, and direct
filing entities (DFE’s who invest for several plans). To allow employers
to adjust to the new rules, the deadline for filing the first forms
for 1999, which would ordinarily be seven months from the plan year-end,
has been automatically extended 2 ½ months.
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Client
Profile: THE
STUDIO THEATRE
Critical
acclaim. Standing ovations. Sold-out performances. The Studio Theatre creates
the best in contemporary theatre, focusing on the primacy of performance,
intimacy between actor and audience, and high production values. This dedication
to artistic quality has been applauded by audiences and recognized by the
theatre community.
On May
8th, The Studio Theatre swept the Resident Production categories
at this year’s Helen Hayes Award ceremony with seven wins, six of them
for its critically acclaimed production of Tom Stoppard’s Indian Ink.
This
intelligent, passionate production ran for four months, extending four
times and breaking all box office records, with an international cast of
over 30 superb actors and a personal visit from playwright Tom Stoppard.
The Washingtonian heralded the play as "a jewel in the crown of the Washington
theatrical season."
(continued
on next page)
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