The Schwab SIMPLE IRA Contribution Transmittal Form tells Charles Schwab how to allocate the money you’re sending into each participating employee’s IRA. You download a blank copy from Schwab’s resource library at schwab.com, fill in your plan’s master account number and each employee’s contribution amounts, and submit it either by mail with a check or by fax alongside a MoneyLink electronic transfer.1Charles Schwab. SIMPLE IRA Contribution Transmittal Form The form is short. Getting the dollar amounts right and depositing on time is where employers usually get into trouble.
What to Have on Hand Before You Start
Pull these together before opening the form:
- Your Schwab SIMPLE IRA master account number. This is the plan-level number Schwab assigned when the plan was established, not any individual employee account. It appears on your plan setup documents and in the Schwab workplace portal.
- The plan administrator’s name and phone number.
- Your employer street address. A physical address is required; P.O. boxes are not accepted.
- Each participant’s Schwab account number and Social Security number. Schwab uses both to route the money to the correct IRA.
- The payroll data for the contribution period: each employee’s salary deferral amount and your employer contribution amount.
Mismatched or missing account numbers are the most common reason a transmittal gets kicked back. Cross-check your employee roster against Schwab’s records first, so you know every listed participant has an active SIMPLE IRA and the account number on your worksheet matches Schwab’s.
Filling In the Three Sections
Section 1 collects employer information: business name, master account number, plan administrator contact, and street address.
Section 2 tells Schwab how the money is arriving. If you’re sending a check, make it payable to “Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.” If you’re using MoneyLink, enter the transfer amount together with your bank name and account number.
Section 3 is the contribution grid. Each row is one employee, with columns for the employee’s name, Schwab account number, Social Security number, salary deferral, employer contribution, and total. Fill in every column for every participating employee. Total each dollar column at the bottom. The grand total must match the check amount or the MoneyLink transfer exactly; any discrepancy delays processing while Schwab asks for clarification.
The employer or an authorized representative signs and dates the form at the bottom. That signature directs Schwab to allocate funds as listed and confirms the instructions are complete. Keep the signed original and send Schwab a photocopy.
Submitting the Form
Schwab accepts the completed form through mail or fax, depending on how you’re funding the contribution.
By Mail With a Check
Send the photocopied form together with the check. For standard mail:
Schwab Retirement Plan Services-(DPU)
PO Box 2026
Omaha, NE 68103-2026
For overnight delivery through UPS, FedEx, or USPS Express:
Schwab Retirement Plan Services-(DPU)
200 S 108th Ave
Omaha, NE 681542Charles Schwab. Contact Us
By Fax With a MoneyLink Transfer
MoneyLink pulls funds directly from your company’s bank account. Before your first transfer, enroll by completing Schwab’s MoneyLink Electronic Funds Transfer Form and allow about two weeks for the enrollment to process. Once enrolled, complete the MoneyLink section of the transmittal (transfer amount, bank name, account number) and fax the form to one of these numbers:
- Phoenix: 1-888-526-7252
- Orlando: 1-800-955-7561
The transfer amount has to match the total contribution on the form exactly. Schwab initiates the pull and allocates the funds into each participant’s IRA according to the investment elections the employees have already set up.
Deposit Deadlines
Federal rules set separate deadlines for employee deferrals and employer contributions.
Employee salary deferrals. You must deposit withheld amounts into employees’ IRAs as soon as you can reasonably separate them from your general business assets. The outer limit is 30 calendar days after the end of the month in which the money would otherwise have been paid.3GovInfo. 29 CFR 2510.3-102 – Definition of Plan Assets – Participant Contributions For plans with fewer than 100 participants, depositing within seven business days of withholding satisfies the Department of Labor’s safe harbor.4U.S. Department of Labor. SIMPLE IRA Plans for Small Businesses Most small employers should aim for the seven-day window.
Employer matching or nonelective contributions. These are due by the business’s tax filing deadline, including extensions. For most employers that’s April 15 of the following year, or October 15 with an extension.5Internal Revenue Service. SIMPLE IRA Tips for the Sole Proprietor Many employers just submit the employer contribution on the same transmittal as each pay period’s deferrals, which avoids a year-end scramble.
Contribution Amounts to Enter (2026 Limits)
The grid separates employee deferrals from employer contributions. Keep them in the right columns; the caps are different, and so is the tax treatment.
Employee Salary Deferrals
For 2026, the maximum an employee can defer is $17,000. Employees age 50 or older can add $4,000 in catch-up contributions, and those age 60 through 63 qualify for a higher catch-up of $5,250.6Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – SIMPLE IRA Contribution Limits If an employee participates in another employer’s retirement plan during the same year, their combined elective deferrals across all plans cannot exceed $24,500 for 2026.
Employer Contributions
You must choose one of two required contributions each year. The default is a dollar-for-dollar match of each participating employee’s deferral, up to 3% of the employee’s compensation. You can reduce that match to as low as 1% for a given year, but not for more than two out of any five-year period.7Internal Revenue Service. SIMPLE IRA Plan
The alternative is a flat 2% nonelective contribution for every eligible employee who earned at least $5,000 during the year, whether or not the employee made any deferrals. If you choose this route, you must notify employees before the annual election period.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S.C. 408 – Individual Retirement Accounts Either way, employer contributions are calculated on compensation up to $360,000 for 2026.6Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – SIMPLE IRA Contribution Limits
Additional Nonelective Contribution Under SECURE 2.0
Starting in 2024, employers can make a voluntary additional nonelective contribution on top of the required match or 2% contribution. It can be up to 10% of compensation per employee, capped at $5,000 per person per year.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S.C. 408 – Individual Retirement Accounts On the transmittal, this amount goes in the employer contribution column alongside the mandatory piece.
If You’ve Missed a Deposit Deadline
If employee deferrals arrive late at Schwab, the Department of Labor treats the late amount as a prohibited transaction, because you were effectively holding plan assets in your business account. The DOL’s Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program lets you self-correct by depositing the late contribution plus the lost earnings those funds would have generated.9U.S. Department of Labor. Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program You submit an application to your regional EBSA office explaining the breach, showing how you calculated lost earnings, and proving the corrective deposit was made. If EBSA accepts the correction, you receive a no-action letter and can also get relief from the excise tax that would otherwise apply. The program is only available if the plan isn’t already under investigation, so acting quickly matters.