Question 1

When is Form 5500 due?

Accepted Answer

The last day of the seventh calendar month after the plan year ends. A calendar-year plan is due at the end of July. Only the month of the plan year end matters, so a short plan year follows the same rule. The filing must reach EFAST2 by midnight of the due date.

Question 2

How does a Form 5558 extension change the due date?

Accepted Answer

A Form 5558 filed on or before the normal due date moves the due date to the fifteenth day of the third month after it. For a calendar-year plan that is the middle of October. An employer can instead rely on an automatic extension to its own extended tax return date, but only when the plan year and the tax year are the same, the tax extension was granted and a copy is kept with the plan records.

Question 3

What is DFVCP?

Accepted Answer

The Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program run by the Department of Labor. A late filer pays a small fixed amount for each day the report is late, counted from the normal due date even when an extension was in place, up to a cap per report. When one submission covers several late years of the same plan a higher per-plan cap applies. Small plans have lower caps than large plans, and small plans sponsored by a 501(c)(3) organisation have a single cap for the whole submission.

Question 4

What happens if the DOL has already written to me?

Accepted Answer

DFVCP is only open to a plan administrator who files before the Department of Labor notifies them in writing of a failure to file for that plan year. A Notice of Intent to Assess a Penalty is the definite disqualifier. Once that notice has arrived the program is closed for that year, and the statutory penalties are assessed under ERISA section 502(c)(2) at the Department's discretion.

Question 5

Does the IRS late filing penalty go away under DFVCP?

Accepted Answer

Under IRS Notice 2014-35 the IRS does not impose its late filing penalty on a Title I plan that satisfies DFVCP, provided any Form 8955-SSA required for that year is filed on paper with the IRS within thirty days of the DFVCP filing, with the special extension box on Line C checked and DFVC entered.

Question 6

Is a late Form 5500-EZ covered by DFVCP?

Accepted Answer

No. Form 5500-EZ plans are not under Title I of ERISA, so DFVCP does not apply. The IRS runs a separate relief program for them under Rev. Proc. 2015-32: a flat fee per return with a per-plan cap, filed on paper with the IRS in Ogden with the required red marking and Form 14704. It is not available once a CP 283 penalty notice has been issued. A one-participant plan that filed Form 5500-SF instead of Form 5500-EZ is in the same position.

Form 5500 Rescue Clock: due dates, DFVCP cost and late filing exposure for one plan or your whole plan book

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