Looking to terminate plan cannot find record of 5500 filings

Hello all,

Have a sole proprietor with a profit sharing plan, would like to terminate and roll funds to an IRA. In looking through paperwork it appears there may have been 2 Plan ID's used.....checked both and do not see record of any 5500 filings. Plan was established in 2005 and, until recently, had more than $250K in assets each year. Only activity are yearly RMD's. Looking for advice on how to proceed.....

Thank you!

Brian

Thanks for the info.....so is there a way to check for Form 5500-EZ filings?

A plan sponsor properly advised and serious/responsible about compliance would have kept signed and dated copies and/or certified mail return receipts (IMHO). 

1 hour ago, Brian Murphy said:

Thanks for the info.....so is there a way to check for Form 5500-EZ filings?

I think we've been able to get those from the DOL Public Disclosure Room.  The following from the SAR (see last sentence):

***************************

You also have the legally protected right to examine the annual report at the main office of the plan,___________________________ and at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., or to obtain a copy from the U.S. Department of Labor upon payment of copying costs. Requests to the Department should be addressed to: Public Disclosure Room, N1513, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20210.

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1 hour ago, chc93 said:

I think we've been able to get those from the DOL Public Disclosure Room.  The following from the SAR (see last sentence):

***************************

You also have the legally protected right to examine the annual report at the main office of the plan,___________________________ and at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., or to obtain a copy from the U.S. Department of Labor upon payment of copying costs. Requests to the Department should be addressed to: Public Disclosure Room, N1513, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20210.

***************************

 

5500-EZ filers are exempt from the requirements of Title I, including the SAR and the public disclosure.

28 minutes ago, C. B. Zeller said:

5500-EZ filers are exempt from the requirements of Title I, including the SAR and the public disclosure.

I'm not sure about this (note under "year" in right corner)...

Also from the instructions...

Note (2). If a filer is not subject to the IRS mandatory electronic
filing requirement under Treasury Regulations section 301.6058-
2, a filer may elect to file Form 5500-EZ electronically using
the EFAST2 filing system. Information filed on Form 5500-EZ

is required to be made available to the public. However, the
information for a one-participant plan or a foreign plan, whether
filed electronically with EFAST2 or filed on paper, will not be
published on the internet.

Only says that 5500-EZ information will not be published "on the internet".

thanks for the replies......we haven't been able to find out who would have been responsible for filing......the assets are held with Allianz Life since 2005 all they send is a yearly summary of account value. The last plan document we can locate was an AXA Equitable prototype from 2009.....we did reach out to them but they weren't very helpful. What would be the repercussions if the plan was termed and assets distributed without knowing for sure that all the required filings were done?

The missing 5500s could be subject to substantial non-filing penalties which were recent increased quite a bit. The filing of the final return might trigger failure to file penalty letters from the IRS.

A 2009 document is probably an EGTTRA  restatement I'm guessing and if that's the last document then you have a non-amender for PPA and Cycle 3  restatements as well as some interim amendments along the way likely missing. That's a plan qualification issue if not corrected. For open tax years, loss of tax deduction, taxation of trust income, distributions not eligible for rollover, etc.

16 hours ago, chc93 said:

I'm not sure about this (note under "year" in right corner)...

 

 

Also from the instructions...

Note (2). If a filer is not subject to the IRS mandatory electronic
filing requirement under Treasury Regulations section 301.6058-
2, a filer may elect to file Form 5500-EZ electronically using
the EFAST2 filing system. Information filed on Form 5500-EZ

is required to be made available to the public. However, the
information for a one-participant plan or a foreign plan, whether
filed electronically with EFAST2 or filed on paper, will not be
published on the internet.

 

Only says that 5500-EZ information will not be published "on the internet".

Interesting, I will admit I have not scrutinized that section.

Still, I wouldn't expect the DOL to have copies of returns that were filed solely with the IRS, for example a paper 5500-EZ that was mailed to Ogden.

Is anyone familiar with the process to request a copy of a 5500-EZ from the IRS?

IRS Form 4506. Expect to wait several months.

link to form 4506 that EBE refers to.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4506.pdf