Form 5558 Can Be Filed Electronically Beginning Jan. 1, 2024

The IRS has updated the information on its website to indicate that beginning Jan. 1, 2024, Form 5558, Application for Extension of Time to File Certain Employee Plan Returns and its instructions, can be filed electronically or on paper. 

The American Retirement Association (ARA) in a Dec. 5, 2022 letter to the IRS had expressed strong support for the electronic submission of Form 5558 via the Department of Labor’s EFAST2 system. It sent the letter in response to a request for comments from the IRS regarding proposed revisions to the form to allow for such electronic filing.

“In an increasingly computerized society, filers recognize the efficiencies and effectiveness of electronic filing,” wrote ARA Chief Executive Officer Brian Graff and ARA Chief Counsel Allison Wielobob in the letter. They continued, “Because the Form 5500 filing process requires certain employers and service providers to electronically file, it is a natural step for the IRS to allow those same filers to electronically file the Form 5558.” 

Filing the Form 

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2024, Form 5558 can be filed:

• electronically through the DOL’s EFAST2 system  https://www.efast.dol.gov/welcome.html,or
• on a paper Form 5558 with the IRS, mailed to:

Department of the Treasury
IRS
Ogden, UT 84201-0045

About the Form 

What the form is used for. The Form 5558 is used to apply for a one-time extension of time to file the following forms: 

• Form 8955-SSA, Annual Registration Statement Identifying Separated Participants With Deferred Vested Benefits; and 
• The Form 5500 Series:
  • Form 5500, Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan;
  • Form 5500-SF, Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan; and
  • Form 5500-EZ, Annual Return of One-Participant (Owners and Their Spouses) Retirement Plan). 

Form 5558 also had been used to request an extension of time to file the Form 5330, Return of Excise Taxes Related to Employee Benefit Plans, but that is no longer the case. Instead, such a request can be made by using Form 8868, Application for Extension of Time To File an Exempt Organization Return or Excise Taxes Related to Employee Benefit Plans. 

Signatures. The IRS says that signatures are not needed for extension of time to file Form 5500 series or Form 8955-SSA.

DCG filers. The IRS says that a DCG filer is not required to attach a list of participating plans to their Form 5558 for submission through EFAST2.