I have a situation with an application for 5500-EZ penalty relief program and I would very greatly appreciate any comments, suggestions, or advice from anyone who can help:
My wife and I both opened separate solo 401(k) accounts for our respective sole proprietorship businesses. Mine in 2011, hers in 2016. We were each the only participants ever in the respective 401(k) plans. We were each the only participants in the respective businesses. There was no overlap and no involvement of one spouse in the other spouse's business or 401(k) plan. We both recently terminated our sole proprietorships, terminated our respective 401(k) plans, and zeroed out the balanced. My wife took a distribution of about $16,000 (she is over 65) and I rolled my 401(k) balance into my individual rollover IRA.
My wife had a total of about $16,000.00 and I had a total of about $760,000.00. We both terminated our respective plans prior to the rollovers and we both have recently filed Final Form 5500-EZs in early 2026 on a short plan year. It was my wife's first-ever ("first and final") 5500-EZ filing because she always had a low balance, but I have been filing them since 2018, since I have been over $250,000 since then.
· Only after the closures did we learn that we may have run afoul of IRS regulations because for several years while we were operating our 401(k) plans, we had minor children under the age of 21. Therefore, we were actually part of a "controlled group" and my wife was obligated to file 5500-EZs for her plan for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. (I have filed every year as required once over $250,000 from 2018 through to my final short year return zeroing the plan out in 2026.)
· As soon as we realized this, we also learned of the Rev. Proc. 2015-32 Penalty Relief program and put together a package including the $1,500 check to the U.S. treasury; transmittal form 14704; and her delinquent 5500-EZ returns for those years.
· She also included returns for 2023 and 2024 due to an oversight/fatigue as we no longer had minor children under 21 as of 2023, so neither 2023 nor 2024 were actually necessary. But she included "3H" in the plan characteristics section, "controlled group," even though for those years, we were no longer a "controlled group."
· My wife's first and final 5500-EZ short year filing was filed on Efast on February 10, 2026. The penalty relief application was sent by certified mail return receipt requested to the Ogden Utah location on Feb. 13, expected delivery date February 17 2026.
· She has never been contacted by the IRS about any delinquent returns--no CP 403, no CP 406, definitely no CP 283.
· So, after reviewing copies of the submission dozens of times, over the past couple of days, everything looks properly completed, all forms signed, the red ink legend prominently displayed over the form title on each of the EZ-5500 forms.
· But then today I noticed for the first time that the $1500 check was post dated 3/13/2026 rather than 2/13/2026. Again, fatigure, stress, and just a mistake.
· Our questions are:
· 1. What is the implication or possible impact, including any penalties or disqualifications, of including returns for 2023 and 2024 which were not actually required, and incorrectly including the 3H controlled group description code?
· 2. Will the IRS reject her application due to inadvertently post dating the check? She has plenty of funds in her checking account and the check will not bounce IF it is deposited by the IRS. Also, her checking account is with Chase and the internet indicates they don't care what the date is on the check, they will honor it even if post-dated.
· 3. What is the likely timeline on getting a CP 283? Will we at least get the CP 406 and 403 first? About how long will the penalty relief process take?
· 4. If the application is sent back to her for having a post-dated check and she has to re-submit, what are the odds an intervening CP 283 will be generated based on her filing of a first and final return and/or the penalty relief request? I.E. will that trigger an automatic, quick CP 283 before her penalty relief application can be processed and approved, skipping the 403 and 406?
· 5. Is there anything we should do about the post-dated check? Should we try to call the IRS office in Ogden Utah and explain the check is good and should be deposited and that the post-dating was a mistake?
· 6. Anything else she/we should be doing, or just sit tight for now? Any other advice or suggestions any of you have will be greatly appreciated.
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