This Client Action Bulletin (CAB) summarizes what has changed on the government filings to be filed during 2025, specifically the 2025 Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) premium filing, the 2024 Form 5500 filing, and the 2024 Form 8955-SSA filing. Plan sponsors of ERISA-covered defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) plans are advised to review these updates in advance and work with their service providers to address any questions before the filings are due.

• 2025 PBGC premiums due one month earlier. For plan years that begin in 2025 only, PBGC premiums will be due one month earlier than usual¹ (i.e., 8½ months after the beginning of the plan year). For calendar-year plans, the due date is September 15, 2025, instead of October 15, 2025. This change, enacted by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, allowed Congress to reflect 2025 premium income in its budgeting process. The accelerated due date also applies to plans that typically have different due dates (e.g., new plans, terminating plans, and plans that change their plan year). For plan years beginning in 2026, the due date will revert to 9½ months after the beginning of the plan year (e.g., October 15, 2026, for calendar-year plans).
  
  No change to the timing of 2024 plan year contributions. Contributions for the 2024 plan year can be made up to 8½ months after the end of plan year (i.e., September 15, 2025, for calendar year plans), and will be reflected in the PBGC premium calculation. However, adequate time is needed for the actuary to verify that these contributions have been deposited before calculating premiums. Therefore, plan sponsors that typically make contributions on or near the last day (September 15, 2025, for calendar year plans) should either consider making them earlier or be prepared to file an amended premium filing once the contributions have been deposited.
• Form 5500 filing due date. Form 5500 reports on a DB or DC plan’s financial status and operations for the plan year and is due² seven months after the end of the plan year (e.g., July 31, 2025, for calendar-year plans). Plans can file Form 5558 to extend the due date for an additional 2½ months (e.g., to October 15, 2025, for calendar-year plans).
• Form 8955-SSA filing due date. Form 8955-SSA is used to report deferred vested benefits of a DB or DC plan’s terminated participants. It has the same due date (including extensions) as the Form 5500.

PBGC premiums for the 2025 plan year

Flat-rate premiums. All ERISA-covered DB plans pay a per-participant annual premium. The PBGC provides a significantly higher level of benefit guarantees for participants of single-employer plans compared to multiemployer plans, which is reflected in the premium rates these plans pay.

Variable-rate premiums. In addition to the flat-rate premium, underfunded single-employer DB plans pay an additional variable-rate premium (VRP) based on the plan’s level of underfunding.

The VRP can be determined using either the standard or alternative premium funding target, the only difference being the interest rates used to determine the liability. The interest rates under the standard method are based on a one-month average of daily rates, whereas the interest rates under the alternative method are based on rates averaged over 24 months. Plan sponsors can switch between these two methodologies, but when a switch is made, it must remain in place for at least five years, unless they decide to use the full yield curve. The election to use the full yield curve is made in accordance with Internal Revenue Code (Code) Section 430 for minimum funding purposes. If elected, it must also be used to determine PBGC premiums under the alternative method. This election is considered permanent and can only be revoked with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approval.

• The election to change methods must be made as part of the premium filing process. Since the due date for the 2025 premium is September 15, 2025, this election must also be made by that date, if applicable.

Plan sponsors should consult with their actuaries to carefully evaluate which methodology to use, considering trends in interest rates, expected returns, and future contributions.

Special events during 2025. Additional information is required to be disclosed on the filing if a plan transferred some or all assets and liabilities to another plan since last year’s premium filing; froze the plan to new entrants or froze benefit accruals; purchased annuities or offered a lump-sum window during 2024; or if the filing is subject to disaster relief.

Final premium filings. When submitting their final PBGC premium filing, plans are required to provide both the date of the event and the reason that led to the cessation of PBGC coverage. For the 2025 filing year, two new reasons have been added to the following list of acceptable explanations.

• There was a merger or consolidation with another plan.
• Involuntary or distress termination of the plan, leading to the PBGC taking over as trustee.
• All assets were distributed pursuant to a plan termination.
• New: The only remaining participants are substantial owners.
• New: Other reason (with space for the plan to explain why it is no longer covered by the PBGC).

For the two new options, plan sponsors must request a coverage determination so the PBGC can verify that coverage has indeed ended.

Common filing errors. Filers should avoid making these common filing errors: providing an incorrect employer identification number (EIN) and plan number (PN), providing an incorrect plan effective date, sending premium payments without properly identifying the plan, calculating incorrect VRPs based on the Lookback Rule (small plans), not providing sufficient explanation for a change in premiums on an amended filing, reporting incorrect plan year information for short plan years, and disregarding warning messages when the filing is submitted.

Instructions for the 2025 PBGC premiums can be found here.

Form 5500 for the 2024 plan year

Each year, the IRS, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and the PBGC, the “Agencies,” typically update the Form 5500 filing. Plan sponsors should note the following updates to the 2024 Form 5500 filing.

• Form 5558. This form is used to receive an automatic 2½-month extension to file the Form 5500 and Form 8955-SSA. Be sure to use the most recent version of Form 5558, “Rev. January 2025.”
  • Starting January 1, 2025, plans have the option to file Form 5558 electronically through EFAST2 or mail the form to the IRS.
  • Defined contribution group (DCG) reporting arrangements may file a single Form 5558 to extend the due date of the Form 5500 and are not required to list the participating plans in the DCG.
• Pension-linked emergency savings accounts (PLESAs). These optional accounts became available under Section 127 of the SECURE 2.0 Act. DC plans that included a PLESA in 2024 should include plan characteristic code “2Y” on the Form 5500 (line 8a) and, if applicable, Schedule DCG (line 8).
• Schedule SB. Actuaries for certain single-employer plans that pay some or all benefits as lump sums (such as cash balance plans) must show expected benefit payments (line 26b) based on the annuity form if the annuity substitution rule was used to determine the plan’s funding target.
• Updated penalties. Failure to comply with ERISA and IRS filing requirements can result in significant penalties for plan administrators and sponsors. Administrative penalties include:
  • $2,670 per day for failing to file a complete and accurate report.
  • $250 per day (up to a maximum of $150,000) for failing to timely file returns for “certain deferred compensation, trusts and annuities and bond purchase plans.”
  • $1,000 for failing to file the actuarial statement, Schedule MB (multiemployer DB plans) or Schedule SB (single-employer DB plans).
  • Individuals who are convicted of willfully violating the reporting requirements may be penalized up to $100,000, up to 10 years in prison, or both. Those making false statements or representations may be penalized up to $10,000, five years in prison, or both.

Instructions for the 2024 Form 5500 can be found here.

Form 8955-SSA for the 2024 plan year

There were no changes to the entries on Form 8955-SSA for the 2024 plan year. However, filers³ that submit 10 or more returns of any kind (down from 250 returns last year) during the calendar year that includes the first day of the plan year must file the 2024 Form 8955-SSA with the IRS electronically.⁴ Returns for this purpose include “information returns (e.g., Forms W-2 and Forms 1099), income tax returns, employment tax returns, and excise tax returns.”⁵

IRS Publication 4810 outlines the “communication procedures, record format, validation criteria, and errors associated with the electronic filing of Form 8955-SSA” through the IRS’s FIRE system. The publication strongly recommends users to keep copies of any status emails from the FIRE system and related files or otherwise be able to recreate the data for “at least three years from the reporting due date.”

If a paper Form 8955-SSA is submitted instead of the required electronic filing, it will be disregarded, and the plan will be treated as not having filed the form at all. The penalty for failing to file Form 8955-SSA is $10 per unreported participant multiplied by the number of days the failure lasts. The maximum penalty is $50,000, imposed on the person who fails to properly file the form, unless the failure is determined to be due to reasonable cause.

Instructions for the 2024 Form 8955-SSA can be found here.

Information reported used for the Retirement Savings Lost and Found database. The DOL has started collecting information for the Retirement Savings Lost and Found (RSLF) database that it was directed to establish under Section 303 of the SECURE 2.0 Act. Although the IRS initially declined the DOL's request to use Form 8955-SSA data to populate the RSLF database due to confidentiality laws protecting tax return information, the DOL continued discussions with the Treasury, the IRS, and the Social Security Administration (SSA), and now believes the concerns are resolved and that it will be able to use the data.

Despite having this access, the DOL is concerned “that the Form 8955-SSA data may often be inaccurate, outdated, or incomplete”⁶ because the form often lacks updated reporting if previously reported deferred vested benefits have since been fully paid.

• In addition to reporting newly terminated participants who are entitled to deferred vested benefits, the Form 8955-SSA is also used to update records by indicating previously reported participants who are no longer entitled to those benefits. If a participant has commenced benefits, received a lump sum, or transferred to another plan (including plan terminations), then they should be reported on the Form 8955-SSA.

Plan sponsors are advised to review the changes in reporting requirements in detail and consult with their service providers to understand how the changes impact them and what information will be needed to complete the filings later this year.

Please contact your Milliman consultant regarding how these provisions may impact your plan(s).

¹ Due dates can be extended for plans affected by federally declared disasters. The PBGC generally grants disaster relief when the IRS grants such relief for taxpayers. IRS announcements for tax relief are found here: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-relief-in-disaster-situations.

² Ibid.

³ Filers are defined in the IRS regulation §54.6011–3 as “the person required to report the tax on the Form 5330.” https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-02-23/pdf/2023-03710.pdf.

⁴ The IRS may waive the electronic filing requirement due to undue hardship on a year-by-year basis. In certain circumstances, the filer may be administratively exempt from the electronic filing requirement. Such filers should retain documentation of undue hardship or other electronic filing exclusion.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). (November 20, 2024). 89.224 Fed. Reg. Notices 91794. Retrieved March 17, 2025, from https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-11-20/pdf/2024-27098.pdf.