Late Form 5500-EZ? Use the IRS penalty relief program

Updated 2026-11-15 · Sources linked below · Not tax or legal advice

Short answer: if your solo 401(k) or other one-participant plan missed a required Form 5500-EZ, use the IRS penalty relief program in Rev. Proc. 2015-32: a paper 5500-EZ for each late year, Form 14704 on top, and one check for $500 per return, never more than $1,500 per plan, mailed to the IRS in Ogden, Utah.

Did you actually need to file?

A one-participant plan (covering only the owner and spouse, or partners and their spouses) doesn't file a 5500-EZ for a year when its assets, combined with any other one-participant plans you sponsor, were $250,000 or less at the end of the plan year. The final plan year always needs a return. Count only the years that were over the threshold.

Who can use Rev. Proc. 2015-32

• One-participant plans and foreign plans that file Form 5500-EZ, and other plans not covered by Title I of ERISA.
• Not if the IRS has already sent a CP 283 penalty notice for that return. Plans with any non-owner employees are Title I plans and use the DOL's DFVC Program instead.

How to file

1. Download the 5500-EZ for each late plan year from irs.gov (Prior Year Forms) and complete it.
2. Check the "IRS Late Filer Penalty Relief Program" box in Part I (line D on recent forms). If that year's form has no such box, write in red at the top: "Delinquent Return Filed under Rev. Proc. 2015-32, Eligible for Penalty Relief".
3. Complete Form 14704 (sponsor, address, EIN, phone, plan number and name, the last day of each late plan year, and the payment box) and attach it to the front of the oldest return.
4. Write one check payable to "United States Treasury" for $500 per return, maximum $1,500, with the EIN and plan number on it, and attach it to Form 14704.
5. Mail everything together to: Internal Revenue Service, 1973 Rulon White Blvd., Ogden, UT 84201. Private delivery services use "Internal Revenue Submission Processing Center" at the same street address.

Is it worth it?

Without the program the IRS penalty is $250 per day, up to $150,000 per return (Code 6652(e)). At $500 per return, the program costs less once a return is more than two days late.

IRS Employee Plans customer account services: 1-877-829-5500.

Sources

• IRS Rev. Proc. 2015-32 (late-filer penalty relief for Form 5500-EZ and non-Title I plans)
• IRS: Penalty relief program for Form 5500-EZ late filers
• Instructions for Form 5500-EZ (2025)
• IRS Form 14704 (transmittal for Rev. Proc. 2015-32 submissions)