The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has exempted benefit plan administrators that help prepare benefit plan Form 5500 from the new IRS Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) requirements.
In IRS Notice 2011-6, the IRS has put the Form 5500 on a list of forms not subject to the PTIN requirements because the forms are not tax returns or claims for refunds.
"The IRS may in the future guidance modify the list," officials say.
Accountants and others who help consumers prepare tax returns are supposed to get PTIN registrations and show that they meet PTIN program competency standards starting this year.
Benefit plan administrators have argued that the PTIN program would be a poor fit for Form 5500 preparers, because many plan administration firms that are not accounting firms help prepare Form 5500 filings. The forms are submitted to the U.S. Labor Department and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. as well as to the IRS, plan administrators said.
The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA), Arlington, Va., an administrator group that lobbied to exempt plan administrators who work only on Form 5500 from the PTIN system, are welcoming the notice.
"The preparation of Form 5500 typically requires many individuals to gather information–such as the plan's investment providers, plan administrators, actuaries, and other service providers," ASPPA General Counsel Craig Hoffman says in a statement. "Overly broad application of the PTIN registration program would have unnecessarily increased administrative costs, which are often passed on to participants."
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