HEY JOEL! - WAHT ARE THE RISKS FOR LATE 5500 FILINGS?

Submitted by Joel Shapiro, JD, LLM

Welcome to Hey Joel! This forum answers plan sponsor questions from all over the country by a former practicing ERISA attorney.

Hey Joel,

What are the risks for late 5500 filings?

~ Tardy in Tallahassee

Dear Tardy,

The main risk is the daily penalties that accrue from the IRS and DOL for each day the filing is not submitted past the deadline. There is a process you can go through that reduces the amount of daily penalties, but there is a filing charge associated with this process as well.

The DOL has a good Q&A document about the program for correcting for a late filing: https://www.dol.gov/sites/default/files/ebsa/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-center/faqs/dfvcp.pdf. Some of the penalty dollar amounts may have changed since this was published as they are adjusted on occasion.

Punctual and proud,

Joel Shapiro, JD, LLM

Joel is a former practicing ERISA attorney who works to ensure that plan sponsors stay fully informed on all legislative and regulatory matters. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University and his Juris Doctor from Washington College of Law at the American University.

Last reviewed 05/24/2022