Form 5500 Extensions Filed; Distribute Summary Annual Reports in November

2020 Summary Annual Reports (SARs) for the 401(k) Pension Plan and Group Benefits Program will be posted to the Employee Benefits website in November. These documents should be distributed to participants by mid-December. An article in NRECA Employee Benefits Weekly will let you know of their availability with links to the documents and accompanying distribution instructions.

Cooperatives will receive SARs for only the 401(k) Plan and the Group Benefits Program. The annual funding notice replaces the SAR for the Retirement Security Plan.

Because NRECA filed extensions for both the 401(k) Plan and the Group Benefits Program, the Form 5500 returns will be filed later than the regular due date. The 60-day SAR distribution period begins once the Form 5500 returns have been filed.

A SAR is a narrative summary of Form 5500, which is the annual financial report that must be filed every year with the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor. These documents must be distributed annually to plan participants.

If you’ve loaded 2021 compliance reminders into your calendar application (e.g., Microsoft Outlook), disregard the September 30 SAR distribution reminder. The calendar’s reminders on November 15 will alert you so you can plan to distribute the SARs by the extended distribution deadline of December 15.

If you have questions, contact the benefits compliance team at 866.673.2299, option 7.