On December 4, 2015, President Obama signed the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) into law which, among other things, repeals the automatic three-and-a-half month extension of the due date for filing Form 5500 added by the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 (Surface Transportation Act) (Pub. L. 114-41). This means that the automatic extension for filing Form 5500 remains at two-and-a-half months. The House of Representatives also published an accompanying conference report (H.R. Rep. 114-357).

Form 5500 generally must be filed within 210 days (the last day of the seventh month) after the close of the plan year (ERISA § 104(a)(1) (29 U.S.C. § 1024(a)(1)) and 26 U.S.C. § 6058). Plan sponsors may file for an automatic two-and-a-half month extension (Treas. Reg. § 1.6081–11(a)). Under the Surface Transportation Act, the automatic extension was increased to three-and-a-half months for Form 5500s filed after December 31, 2015 (see Legal Update, Recent Legislation Impacts COBRA, HSAs, Expatriate Plans, ACA Reporting Penalties and the Employer Mandate).

Section 32104 of the FAST Act repeals the three-and-a-half month automatic extension under the Surface Transportation Act which means that the current two-and-a-half month automatic extension remains in effect for Form 5500s filed after December 31, 2015 (Treas. Reg. § 1.6081–11(a)).