Form 8955-SSA, Separated Participants with Deferred Vested Benefits

Plan sponsors may use SSA-approved software to complete and electronically file a Form 8955-SSA.

A number of potential penalties could apply if there is a failure to timely file Form 8955-SSA:

• A generally applicable IRS late filing penalty of $250 for each day during which the failure continues, up to a maximum of $150,000 per failure, applies to filing failures (including Form 8955-SSA) for returns required to be filed after 2019.
  • Unless it is shown that such failure is due to “reasonable cause.”
• A penalty of $10 per day for each participant not reported, for each day multiplied by the number of days the failure continues, up to a maximum of $50,000, applies to failure to file a registration statement, including Form 8955-SSA (including failure to include all required participants).
  • The penalty is imposed on the person failing to file unless it is shown the failure is due to “reasonable cause.”
• A penalty of $10 for each day during which there is a failure to file a notification of a change in the status of the plan, such as a change in the plan name, a termination of the plan, or a change in the name or address of the plan administrator. (The penalty applies also to Form 8955-SSA.) The penalty is up to a maximum of $10,000.
  • The penalty is imposed on the person failing to file unless it is shown the failure is due to “reasonable cause.”
• A penalty of $50 is imposed on the person required to furnish a participant registration statement (including Form 8955-SSA) for each willful failure to furnish the statement to each affected participant, or a willful furnishing of a false or fraudulent statement.
  • NOTE: There is no delinquent filer program where only the Form 8955-SSA (and not, for example, Form 5500) is delinquent. IRS Notice 2014-35, however, provides penalty relief in cases where the Form 5500 series return is also delinquent and the filer is eligible for, and satisfies the requirements of, the Department of Labor’s Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program (“DFVCP”).