IRS filing notices for Forms 5500, 5500-SF, 5500-EZ or 5558

• Review your records to determine if you filed a Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF return.
• If you filed, review your copy of the form to ensure the employer identification number (EIN), plan name and plan number on the return match the notice received.
• If you filed your return within the last four weeks and used the EIN, plan name and plan number shown on the notice, you may ignore the CP403 notice.
• If you received a CP406 notice, you must complete Section I and return a copy of the notice.

Visit the Form 5500 Corner for forms, instructions and due dates.

IRS sends CP403 and CP406 notices to request a missing or non-filed Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF return. They aren’t bills.

• We mail CP403 15 months after the original due date of the return. This allows enough time for the Department of Labor (DOL) to process timely filed returns.
• We mail the final notice, CP406 15 weeks after the CP403 IF:
  • we don’t receive a response to the CP403 by the 30-day response date, and
  • the DOL still hasn’t received the return.

Submit these documents to the address shown on the notice:

1.    A copy of the CP notice with Section I completed, and
2.    A statement explaining why the information on the notice (EIN, plan name, or plan number, etc.) doesn’t match the information on the return. 

Send a copy of the notice to the address below along with a statement explaining why you think you mistakenly received the notice.

Review the previously filed form copy to determine if:

1. you checked the final return box,
2. the return showed zero participants and zero assets at year-end.

If the return copy shows both 1 and 2 above, then return a copy of the notice with Section II completed. If the return copy does NOT show both 1 and 2 above, then our records won’t show you filed a final return.

You must amend the previously filed return or continue to file a return until the plan has zero assets and zero participants. Respond to the notice by sending a statement that you will file or have filed the missing return. Include a copy of the CP notice with Section III completed.

If you're exempt from filing, submit the following:

1. a copy of the CP notice with Section II completed, and
2. a detailed explanation stating which exemption you meet or why you’re not required to file the return.

The plan sponsor or plan administrator is responsible for filing the form. The plan sponsor may have a contract with an outside administrator who may complete the form. However, the plan sponsor or plan administrator is responsible for the accuracy of the filing and must sign the return. Review your contract with any outside administrator to determine if it covers the form completion.

For information on forms filed in the past, visit FreeERISA Benefits Pro. For additional filing information, see:

• Instructions for Form 5500
• Instructions for Form 5500-SF PDF

We don’t allow extensions to reply. If we don’t receive a response to the CP403 or your return isn’t filed by the 30-day response date, we mail a final notice, CP406, 15 weeks after the CP403. We must receive a response to the CP406 within 30 days to prevent taking further action on accounts.
 

The IRS penalties for late filing are $250 per day (up to a maximum of $150,000 per plan year) for returns due after December 31, 2019. See Section 403 of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act) for more information.

The DOL penalties can run up to $2,259 per day (adjusted for inflation per the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 as amended by the 2015 Inflation Adjustment Act).

Note: An incomplete return isn’t considered filed until it is complete. Incomplete returns are subject to either late-filing penalties or incomplete penalties, or both, from the IRS and DOL.

Yes, the DOL has a Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program (DFVCP) for ERISA Title I plans. The DFVC program allows plan administrators, who don’t file a timely annual report, to pay reduced civil penalties.

The IRS won’t impose late-filing penalties for Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF filers who are eligible for relief under DOL's DFVC program if they file Form 8955-SSA, Annual Registration Statement Identifying Separated Participants With Deferred Vested Benefits, along with the delinquent return.

For more information, see IRS Penalty Relief for DOL DFVC Filers and Notice 2014-35. Penalty relief is available under Internal Revenue Code (IRC)Sections 6652(c)(1), 6652(d), 6652(e) and 6692 for failure to timely comply with the annual reporting requirements under IRC Sections 6033(a), 6057, 6058, 6047 and 6059.

For notice questions and Form 5500, 5500-EZ or 5500-SF filing requirements, call Customer Account Services at 877-829-5500, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CT.

Send responses to the address shown in the upper left-hand corner of the notice or the fax number shown in the body of the notice. Only employees in Ogden can adjust accounts.

Write or fax the EP Entity Unit in Ogden using the following contact information:

Mail: 
Attention: EP Entity Unit, Mail Stop 6273
Internal Revenue Service
Ogden, UT 84201-0018

Fax: 855-214-7520

Private Delivery Service:
Attention: EP Entity Unit, Mail Stop 6273
Internal Revenue Service
1973 Rulon White Blvd.
Ogden, UT 84404

File your required Form 5500 series return or Form 8955-SSA, or both, immediately to limit any late filing penalties. If you file a Form 5500 series return or Form 8955-SSA after the normal due date of the return, we’ll consider the return late and subject to late filing penalties.

Review the filing requirement for your organization at the Form 5500 Corner.

Review the filing requirement for your organization at the  IRS.gov/retirement.

Call Customer Account Services at 877-829-5500, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CT.

• Keep this notice for your records.
• File your required form by your new due date shown on the notice.

Review your plan or organization’s filing requirement at the Form 5500 Corner.

For more information on Employee Benefit Plans, see IRS.gov/retirement.

You don't have to respond since this is a reminder notice. However, if your plan is a one-participant plan or a foreign plan, as defined in the instructions for Form 5500-EZ, you must file either an electronic Form 5500-EZ online through the DOL ERISA Filing Acceptance System (EFAST2) or on a paper Form 5500-EZ with the IRS. Filing electronically is safe, easy to complete, and you have an immediate record that the return was filed.

You must file Form 5500-EZ electronically if you’re required to file the applicable number (electronic-filing threshold) of returns with the IRS during the calendar year as stated in IRC Section 6011(e)(5) and Treasury Regulations Section 301.6058-2. This includes returns of any type (for example, information returns, income tax returns, employment tax returns and excise tax returns) you file during the calendar year that starts with the first day of the applicable plan year.

You don’t need to file a Form 5500-EZ for a one-participant plan if the plan's total assets (either alone or combined with another one-participant plan you maintain) are $250,000 or less at the end of the plan year, unless this is the final plan year. For more information, see the Instructions for Form 5500-EZ PDF and page two of the CP214 notice.

• Review the filing requirements for your plan to determine if you’re required to file a Form 5500-EZ for the plan period referenced on the notice.
• If you’re required to file, complete and submit your Form 5500-EZ on or before the filing deadline.

Two months before the plan year ends.

Review your records to determine if you're required to file a Form 5500-EZ for the current plan year. If you are, you must file the return by the last day of the 7th calendar month after the end of the plan year (July 31 for calendar-year plans). You can file Form 5558 PDF to apply for a one-time extension of time to file.

The plan sponsor or plan administrator.

The plan sponsor may have a contract with an outside administrator who may complete the form. However, the plan sponsor or plan administrator is responsible for the accuracy of the filing and must sign the return. Review your contract with any outside administrator to determine if it covers the form completion.

Read the Instructions for Form 5500-EZ PDF or call Customer Account Services at 877-829-5500, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CT.