How to Fill Out and File Form 5500-EZ: EFAST2, Deadlines, Penalties

To file Form 5500-EZ, confirm your one-participant retirement plan crossed the $250,000 asset threshold (or is being terminated), gather your plan’s financial figures, complete the form’s five parts, and submit it through the Department of Labor’s EFAST2 system by the last day of the seventh month after your plan year ends. For a calendar-year plan, that deadline is July 31. Paper filing to the IRS in Ogden, Utah remains available for filers not subject to the electronic mandate.

Confirm You Actually Have to File

Form 5500-EZ is only for a “one-participant plan”: a retirement plan covering just the business owner (incorporated or not) and the owner’s spouse, or one or more partners and their spouses. S-corporation shareholders who own at least 2% are treated as partners for this purpose.¹ Once a single non-owner employee participates, the 5500-EZ is off the table and you file Form 5500 or 5500-SF instead.

Filing becomes mandatory when the combined assets of all your one-participant plans exceed $250,000 at year end. The IRS counts contributions, rollovers, investment gains, and account balances toward that threshold.² Below $250,000, you skip the filing for that year. One exception overrides the threshold: a final return is required in the year you terminate the plan and distribute all assets, regardless of balance.

SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs never require a 5500-EZ. If you hold one of those alongside a solo 401(k) or owner-only defined benefit plan, the SEP or SIMPLE balance doesn’t count toward the $250,000 threshold for your other plans either. The form primarily applies to solo 401(k) plans, one-participant profit-sharing plans, and owner-only defined benefit plans.

What to Have in Front of You Before Starting

Employer Identification Number for the plan sponsor. Use the same EIN as prior filings; switching without noting the change on the form invites IRS correspondence.
Plan name and three-digit plan number. Most solo plans use 001.
Beginning-of-year and end-of-year plan asset totals, including cash, investments, mutual funds, plan-held real estate, and outstanding participant loans.
Any plan liabilities to subtract from gross assets.
Outstanding participant loan balances — unpaid principal plus accrued interest as of year end.
Current business activity code. These codes change, so verify rather than copy last year’s.
If you use a pre-approved plan document, the date and serial number of the most recent favorable IRS Opinion Letter.

Working Through the Five Parts of the Form

Part I: Annual Return Identification

Enter the first and last day of the plan year. Most filers use January 1 through December 31; a short plan year gets its actual dates. Check the boxes that describe the filing: initial, final, amended, or filed under an automatic extension tied to your business tax return extension. A period longer than twelve months will be rejected.

Part II: Basic Plan Information

Provide the plan name, sponsor name and address, EIN, three-digit plan number, business activity code, and plan administrator (usually you). Report participant counts at the beginning and end of the plan year. If the sponsor’s name or EIN has changed since your last filing, report the previous information so the IRS can link this return to its records.²

Part III: Financial Information

Report total plan assets at the beginning of the year and at the end. Assets include stocks, bonds, mutual funds, bank accounts, real estate, and outstanding participant loans. Subtract plan liabilities to get the net figure. The end-of-year total on line 6a(2) is what the IRS uses to check the $250,000 threshold.³ For a final return, the ending value should be zero once all distributions are complete.

Part IV: Plan Characteristics

Line 8 takes two-character codes describing the plan’s features. Don’t leave it blank. The instructions list every code, and you enter every one that applied during the year. Common codes flag whether the plan is defined benefit or defined contribution, whether participant loans are allowed, and whether Roth contributions are permitted. An eligible combined plan gets codes for both the defined benefit and defined contribution sides.³

Part V: Compliance and Funding Questions

This section runs through yes-or-no questions about how the plan operated during the year.

Line 9 asks about participant loans. Check yes if the plan had any outstanding loans at any point in the year, and report the total year-end balance including unpaid principal and accrued interest. Loans already treated as deemed distributions are excluded.
Line 10 covers minimum funding for defined benefit plans subject to IRC Section 412. Report any unpaid minimum required contribution from Schedule SB. An enrolled actuary must complete and sign Schedule SB and get it to you by the filing deadline.
Line 11a asks about funding waivers granted in a prior year that are still being amortized. Enter the date of the letter ruling.
Line 12 asks about a pre-approved plan. Enter the date and serial number of the favorable IRS Opinion Letter.

Submitting Through EFAST2

Most filers submit electronically through EFAST2 at efast.dol.gov.⁴ Electronic filing is required if you file at least 10 returns of any type with the IRS during the calendar year, counting income tax, employment tax, and information returns together, which many business owners hit quickly.⁵ The IRS can waive the mandate case by case for undue economic hardship, but you have to document the hardship and keep that documentation.²

Set up your access first. At efast.dol.gov, sign in through Login.gov and create an EFAST2 account. During registration, select both the Filing Author role (to prepare and submit) and the Filing Signer role (to electronically sign). The system issues a User ID and PIN, which you use every time you file.⁶

After you submit, the system returns a status. “Accepted” means the return went through cleanly. “Received with Errors” means you need to review the error messages, fix the issues, and resubmit. Download and save a signed copy of the accepted filing as proof of timely submission.

Paper Filing to Ogden

If you’re not subject to the electronic mandate, mail the completed form to:

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Ogden, UT 84201-0020

Send it far enough ahead to arrive by the deadline, or use a delivery service that provides proof of the mailing date. Keep a copy of everything.

When It’s Due and How to Extend

Form 5500-EZ is due by the last day of the seventh month after the plan year ends. For calendar-year plans, that’s July 31.²

Two extension paths exist. File Form 5558 before the original due date to get an automatic extension of up to two and a half months, pushing calendar-year filers to October 15. The extension is approved automatically if filed on time and the requested date is no later than the 15th day of the third month after the normal due date.⁷

The other path is the automatic extension tied to your business income tax return. If the plan year matches the employer’s tax year and you’ve already extended the business return, the 5500-EZ deadline extends to the same date. Check the automatic extension box in Part I and keep a copy of the business tax extension with the plan records. You can’t stack a Form 5558 extension on top of this one.³

What Happens If You File Late

The penalty for failing to file on time is $250 per day, capped at $150,000 per return.⁸ It applies unless you can show reasonable cause.

Reasonable cause is evaluated case by case. The IRS looks at whether you exercised ordinary care and still couldn’t file on time. Fires or natural disasters, serious illness, a death in the family, inability to access plan records, and system problems that prevented timely electronic filing may qualify. A clean compliance history and being a first-time filer of the form help.⁹

What generally won’t work: not knowing the form existed, relying on a tax professional who dropped the ball (the IRS holds you responsible either way), simple mistakes, or lack of funds. If you receive a penalty notice and think you have reasonable cause, call the number on the notice. If that doesn’t resolve it, submit Form 843 to formally request abatement.⁹

One boundary worth knowing: the Department of Labor’s Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program, which offers reduced penalties for late Form 5500 and 5500-SF filings, does not cover Form 5500-EZ.¹⁰ The IRS reasonable cause process is your only avenue for relief.

Filing a Final Return When You Terminate the Plan

When you terminate a one-participant plan and distribute all assets, you must file a final Form 5500-EZ for the last plan year regardless of asset value.² Check the “final return” box in Part I. Report beginning-of-year assets normally in Part III, but the ending value should be zero once distributions are complete. Skipping this final filing, even for a plan well under $250,000, exposes you to the same $250-per-day penalty as any other missed filing.

Keeping the Supporting Records

The IRS generally requires plan records to be kept at least three years from the filing date. A safer practice is six years, which aligns with the record retention period under ERISA Section 107. For anything tied to plan benefits, hold records until all benefits have been paid and any audit window has closed. Store the EFAST2 submission alongside the account statements, contribution records, and loan documentation that back the numbers on the form.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Form 5500 Corner
2
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 5500-EZ, Annual Return of a One-Participant Retirement Plan or a Foreign Plan
3
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 5500-EZ
4
EFAST2 Filing. Welcome
5
Internal Revenue Service. Mandatory Electronic Filing for Certain Form 8955-SSA and 5500-EZ Returns
6
U.S. Department of Labor. FAQs on EFAST2 Credentials
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Internal Revenue Service. Form 5558 Reminders
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6652 – Failure to File Certain Information Returns, Registration Statements, Etc.
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Internal Revenue Service. Penalty Relief for Reasonable Cause
10
U.S. Department of Labor. Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance (DFVC) Program