When is Form 5500 required?

Not every plan files

The honest answer to “when is Form 5500 required” is: it depends on the plan, and the publication says only that you “may have to” file. Publication 560’s reporting section lists the forms and conditions, and the rest is in the form instructions. Some plans never file. A SEP set up with the IRS model Form 5305-SEP will usually relieve you from filing annual retirement plan information returns with the IRS and the Department of Labor, according to the publication’s note in the SEP chapter. Qualified plans, including 401(k) plans, are where the annual return normally comes in.

The deadline

You may have to file an annual return or report by the last day of the seventh month after the plan year ends. For a calendar-year plan, a plan year that ends December 31 means a July 31 due date the next year. A plan year ending June 30 means a due date of January 31. The calculator turns your plan-year end month into the due month, and says whether it falls in the same or the following calendar year.

Forms 5500 and 5500-SF are filed electronically with the Department of Labor through EFAST2. One-participant plans may file Form 5500-SF electronically instead of mailing a paper Form 5500-EZ to the IRS.

Form 5500-EZ and the $250,000 exception

A one-participant plan is a plan that covers only you (or you and your spouse) when you own the entire business, incorporated or not, or a plan that covers only one or more partners (or partners and spouses) in a business partnership. A one-participant plan may not file Form 5500; it files either Form 5500-EZ or Form 5500-SF.

However, if the plan’s total assets (or the combined assets of your one-participant plans) were $250,000 or less at the end of the plan year, you do not have to file Form 5500-EZ for that year. Every one-participant plan, however, should file Form 5500-EZ for its final plan year, the year in which distribution of all assets is completed. Example: a sole proprietor’s solo 401(k) with $180,000 at year end files nothing for that year; the same plan at $310,000 must file Form 5500-EZ or 5500-SF.

Form 5500-SF, the simplified form

Form 5500-SF can be used if the plan meets all of these conditions: it is a small plan (generally fewer than 100 participants at the beginning of the plan year); it meets the conditions for being exempt from the requirement that its books and records be audited by an independent qualified public accountant; 100% of its assets are invested in certain secure investments with a readily determinable fair value; it holds no employer securities; and it is not a multiemployer plan. The calculator treats the Form 5500-SF checkbox as a single yes/no for all of these; read the form instructions to confirm each.

If a plan must file but cannot use Form 5500-SF, it files Form 5500 or, if eligible, Form 5500-EZ.

Other forms in the same section

The reporting section also lists two forms that are easy to confuse with the annual return. Form 5310 is the application you can file with the IRS if you terminate your plan, and it must be accompanied by the user fee and Form 8717. Form 8955-SSA reports participants who are no longer covered by the plan but have a deferred vested benefit; it is filed with the IRS and can be filed electronically through the FIRE system. For deducting contributions and how the plan type changes the paperwork, see our employer contribution deduction page and the solo 401(k) and SEP calculator.

What the page cannot tell you

The publication does not give penalties for late filing in this section, does not say which plan types are exempt from filing beyond the one-participant threshold, and sends you to the instructions for Forms 5500, 5500-SF and 5500-EZ for details. Check those instructions and the Department of Labor’s EFAST site before concluding that you do not have to file. A late or missing return can be costly, which is a good reason to ask a plan provider or tax professional.

Sources

• IRS Publication 560, Retirement Plans for Small Business (SEP, SIMPLE, and Qualified Plans) (2025): Chapter 4, Reporting Requirements (Form 5500-SF; Form 5500-EZ; one-participant plan; Form 5500; Electronic filing; Form 5310; Form 8955-SSA); Chapter 2, Setting up a SEP (Formal written agreement); Reporting and Disclosure Requirements. Read November 2, 2026.

Edition read: Publication 560 (2025), for use in preparing 2025 returns. Where the publication gives 2026 figures, this page labels them 2026. Dollar limits change every year; check the current publication and form instructions for your plan year. This page summarizes the publication and does not replace it.