The relief generally allows 403(b) plans making good faith efforts to comply to avoid the administrative burden and expense of having to collect and include in their 2009 Form 5500 financial report information on certain individual annuity contracts and mutual fund custodial accounts of current and former employees which were entered into before 2009 and for which the employer has no ongoing contribution obligation after 2008. However, as the guidance referred only to the 2009 Form 5500, that left open the question of whether the data would still need to be included in future plan years (see “DoL Provides Form 5500 Reporting Relief for 403(b) Plans“).

However, BNA reports that the department said the relief was never intended to be limited to just one year. The relief applies to future years beyond the 2009 plan year, the DoL told BNA last week.

The agency also told BNA it was not currently considering any changes to Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2009-02.