PBGC Issues Comprehensive Premium Filing Instructions for 2019 Plan Years

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has made its Comprehensive Premium Filing Instructions for 2019 Plan Years available.

The new instructions reflect the 2019 premium rates, as well as minor changes to reflect the PBGC’s streamlined disaster relief policy. They also provide information about the options plan administrators may use to certify premium filings; that information previously only had been available in the My Plan Administration Account (My PAA) user’s manual.  

The Rules

Every plan covered by ERISA Section 4021 must make a premium filing each year. There are two kinds of annual premiums: the flat-rate premium, which applies to all plans, and the variable-rate premium, which applies only to single-employer plans.

Electronic filing is mandatory for all plans. My PAA is a secure Web-based application that enables pension plan professionals to electronically submit premium filings to PBGC in accordance with PBGC’s regulations. Electronic filings may be prepared using My PAA’s data entry screens or with compatible private-sector software.

What’s New for 2019

The filing requirements for 2019 are almost identical to the filing requirements for 2018, but the PBGC has made some changes. The key changes to note for 2019:

Changes in premium rates. Single-employer plans: The flat-rate premium is $80 per-participant, up from $74; the variable-rate premium is $43 per $1,000 of unfunded vested benefits capped at $541 times the number of participants, up from $38 per $1,000 of unfunded vested benefits capped at $523 times the number of participants.

Multiemployer plans. The flat-rate premium for is $29 per participant, up from $28. Multiemployer plans do not pay variable-rate premiums.

Added information. The PBGC has added:

• information about the process by which plan administrators may certify the filing manually instead of electronically;
• a “Submit a Request” Quick Link button; and
• an expanded of common filing errors.

Revisions and clarifications. The PBGC revised the instructions regarding disaster relief to reflect recent changes made to its practices. It also has clarified the instructions for reporting the business code.