The IRS will generally waive late filing penalties for Form 5500 series filers who satisfy the Department of Labor¡¯s (DOL) requirements. However, to qualify for IRS penalty relief, you must also file any missing Form 8955-SSA, Annual Registration Statement Identifying Separated Participants With Deferred Vested Benefits PDF. Form 8955-SSA must be filed directly with the IRS. You are only required to file Form 8955-SSA for a year if you have separated participants with deferred vested benefits to report for that year.
The IRS will only waive late filing penalties for filers who:
- Satisfy the DOL¡¯s DFVCP for:
- Forms 5500, Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan, or
- Form 5500-SF, Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan;
- File a paper Form 8955-SSA with the IRS if the plan had any participants with deferred vested benefits to report for the same delinquent tax year filings; and
- Meet the requirements for penalty relief in Notice 2014-35.
Plans eligible for relief
Eligible returns include retirement plans governed by Title I of ERISA that:
- must file a Form 5500-series return (but not Forms 5500-EZ or 5500-SF for plans without employees); and
- are eligible for DOL¡¯s DFVCP.
The IRS has a separate Form 5500-EZ Late Filer Program for relief from late filing penalties for non-ERISA plans that must file Forms 5500-EZ or 5500-SF because they cover only the owner, partner and spouses.
Requirements for penalty relief
You don¡¯t have to request relief from the IRS. Instead, you can qualify for penalty relief if you complete the following steps:
- satisfy all DFVCP requirements
- file a paper Form 8955-SSA with the IRS if your plan had separated participants with deferred vested benefits (electronic filings aren¡¯t eligible)
- check the box on Form 8955-SSA, Part I, line C (Special extension), and enter ¡°DFVC¡± in the description on line C
- mail the Form 8955-SSA for the delinquent returns to the IRS (address in the instructions PDF) by the later of:
- 30 calendar days after you complete the DFVC filing, or
- December 1, 2014.
IRS penalties that can be waived
In addition to DOL penalties, plan administrators may also face IRS penalties for not filing the plan¡¯s Form 5500-series annual return and Form 8955-SSA by the required deadline. The IRS may impose a penalty of:
- $1 for each participant for whom the plan fails to file a Form 8955-SSA statement for each day the failure continues, up to $5,000 for any plan year
- $1 for each day for not filing a notification of change of status, up to $1,000
- $1,000 for each failure to file an actuarial report by the required deadline
- $25 each day the Form 5500-series return is not filed, up to a maximum of $15,000
Related
- Notice 2014-35
- Form 5500 Corner
- Form 8955-SSA resources
- Penalty Relief Program for Form 5500-EZ late filers
- Revenue Procedure 2014-32 (pilot program for late Form 5500-EZ filers)
- Penalties