The IRS has issued the Instructions for the Form 8955-SSA: Annual Registration Statement Identifying Separated Participants with Deferred Vested Benefits to be used for 2019 reporting.
The Form 8955-SSA is the designated successor to the Schedule SSA to the Form 5500. It is used to satisfy the reporting requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 6057(a). it is used to report information about separated participants with deferred vested benefits. Such information includes participants who have a deferred vested benefit under the plan and who:
- separated from service covered by the plan;
- were reported as deferred vested participants on another plan's filing if their benefits were transferred (other than in a rollover) to the plan during the covered period;
- previously were reported under the plan but have been paid out or are no longer entitled to those deferred vested benefits; or
- previously were reported under the plan but whose information is being corrected.
The information reported on Forms 8955-SSA generally is given to the Social Security Administration, which provides the reported information to separated participants when they file for Social Security benefits.
What’s New for 2019
The instructions have been updated to reflect the penalty changes under Code Sections 6652(d)(1) and 6652(d)(2) for a plan failure to file a registration statement and notification of changes.
The penalty for failure to file Form 8955-SSA has been increased to $10 per participant, multiplied by the number of days the failure occurred, to a maximum of $50,000. The penalty for failure to file notification of change of status has been increased to $10 for each day during which such failure occurs, to a maximum of $10,000.
The SSA recently announced that it updated the Form 8955-SSA 2-D barcode standards.
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