Document Type Date Uploaded By Justification for Non-Material or Non-substantive Change to Currently Approved Collection

Justification for Non-Material or Non-substantive Change to Currently Approved Collection

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)

TITLE: Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan (Form 5500)

STATUS: OMB control number 1212-0057; expires 03/31/26

CONTACT: Karen Levin (202-229-3559)

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is making changes to the Form 5500, Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan, and instructions, as a non-material/non-substantive change request under OMB Control Number 1212-0057, which currently is scheduled to expire on March 31, 2026. In this submission, PBGC is requesting non-material/non-substantive changes to the Form 5500 instructions effective for plan year 2025. PBGC’s changes, as shown below, are to the currently-approved filing instructions for the 2024 plan year Form 5500. In addition, the forms and instructions have been updated to reflect the new form year (2025). This request parallels non-material/non-substantive change requests submitted by the Department of Labor (DOL (1210-0110) and the Internal Revenue Service (OMB Control Number 1545-1610) as part of their related submission.

PBGC is making conforming changes to the existing plural word “characteristics” when used in the full term “plan characteristics codes” to revise it to the singular “characteristic” and to consistently use the term “plan characteristic codes,” or when more appropriate for the context “characteristic code” on forms and instructions.

PBGC is also adding new multiemployer plan characteristic codes 1J, 1K, and 1L to the Defined Benefit Pension Features section of Form 5500, Part II, line 8 to identify multiemployer defined benefit plans that terminated during the plan year or in a prior plan year, as a result of mass withdrawal or plan amendment, or became insolvent, respectively. Plan characteristic code 1H (plan covered by PBGC that was terminated and closed out for PBGC purposes) has been modified to clarify that it applies only to terminated single-employer PBGC-covered plans.

The edits to line 8a of the Form 5500 and to pages 21 and 23 of the Instructions for Form 5500 are shown in red below.

Form 5500

8a If the plan provides pension benefits, enter the applicable pension feature codes from the List of Plan Characteristics Codes in the instructions:

Instructions for Form 5500

Page 19

Line 8 - Benefits Provided Under the Plan. Do not leave blank. In the boxes for line 8a and 8b, as appropriate, enter all applicable two-character plan characteristics codes that applied during the reporting year from the List of Plan Characteristics Codes on pages 21 and 22 that describe the characteristics of the plan being reported.

Page 21

LIST OF PLAN CHARACTERISTICS CODES FOR LINES 8 AND 8b

1H	Single-employer Pplan covered by PBGC that was terminated and closed out for PBGC purposes – Before the end of the plan year (or a prior plan year), (1) the plan terminated in a standard (or distress) termination and completed the distribution of plan assets in satisfaction of all benefit liabilities (or all ERISA Title IV benefits for distress termination); or (2) a trustee was appointed for a terminated plan under ERISA section 4042. * * * *
1J	Multiemployer plan covered by PBGC that was terminated by mass withdrawal in accordance with ERISA section 4041A(a)(2) during the plan year or in a prior plan year.
1K	Multiemployer plan covered by PBGC that was terminated by plan amendment in accordance with ERISA section 4041A(a)(1) during the plan year or in a prior plan year.
1L	Multiemployer plan covered by PBGC that became insolvent, as defined in ERISA Sec 4245(b), during the plan year or in a prior plan year and was still insolvent as of the end of the plan year.

The “Changes to Note” section on the first page of the instructions to the Form 5500 describe these changes to the instructions.

PBGC’s changes will not result in any changes to the number of filings (25,000) or to the hour and cost burden (hour burden of 15,089, cost burden of $0), for the information collection.