Late refund of excess deferrals & Form 5330

[MoShawn]

Is there a minimum excise tax amount for filing a 5330?

I have a case where the client did not remit data until after the 2 1/2 month deadline. Of course, there turned out to be an ADP failure with a refund due of $62. The 10% excise tax would be $6.

Is this really necessary? I thought I saw a few years ago that anything under $10 need not be filed, but could be getting that mixed up with something entirely different.

[Guest Sieve]

The Form 5330 Instructions do not indicate that no payment is required, or no filing is required, if the excise tax is a specific de minimum amount.

[austin3515]

This has been discussed on the boards before. Although there is no de minimus amount, the IRS has said publicly that they lose money processing tax returns for, say $15. I've heard from other places that the "break-even" point is about $100.

Also consider that the charge to prepare is likely over $100 by the time the form is completed, reviewed, filing instructions prepared, etc. and that the penalty and interest for failure to file a $75 tax are likely miniscule - as such, there is not a lot of risk to simply not filing for taxes of less than $100.