Instructions for Completing Form 8955-SSA

Form 8955-SSA, the Annual Registration Statement Identifying Separated Participants With Deferred Vested Benefits, is used to report information to the Social Security Administration (SSA). Plan administrators use it to report former participants who have left an employer but are still entitled to a future retirement benefit. This reporting is mandated by Internal Revenue Code section 6057.

The information allows the SSA to maintain a database of these deferred benefits. When a former employee applies for Social Security benefits, the SSA cross-references its records. If a potential private retirement benefit is identified, the SSA will notify the individual, helping to connect them with money they earned and might have forgotten.

Filing Requirements for Form 8955-SSA

The obligation to file Form 8955-SSA applies to administrators of retirement plans subject to the vesting standards of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), including most qualified plans like 401(k)s and pension plans. A filing is only triggered for a plan year if at least one participant meets the reporting criteria. If no participants meet the criteria for a given year, the form is not required.

The requirement for reporting hinges on identifying a “separated participant with a deferred vested benefit.” A participant is considered “separated from service” when they terminate employment. The term “deferred vested benefit” refers to the non-forfeitable portion of the participant’s account balance or accrued benefit that they are entitled to receive at a future date, but which has not yet been paid out.

A participant must be reported on the Form 8955-SSA for the plan year in which they separate from service. However, plan administrators can defer reporting until the form for the plan year following the year of separation. A participant does not need to be reported if, before the form’s filing deadline, they are paid their benefit, return to service, or forfeit their benefit.

The filing deadline for Form 8955-SSA is the last day of the seventh month following the end of the plan year. For plans operating on a calendar year, this date is July 31. Plan administrators can obtain an automatic 2.5-month extension by filing Form 5558, Application for Extension of Time to File Certain Employee Plan Returns, which pushes the deadline to October 15 for calendar-year plans.

Information and Codes Needed to Complete the Form

Before filling out Form 8955-SSA, a plan administrator must gather specific information. For the plan itself, you will need the official name as stated in plan documents, the plan sponsor’s nine-digit Employer Identification Number (EIN), and the three-digit plan number.

You must also have the plan administrator’s legal name and mailing address. The plan administrator is the entity or person designated in the plan document as being responsible for managing the plan’s day-to-day operations.

The most detailed information required relates to the individual participants. For each separated participant with a deferred vested benefit, you must have their full name and their Social Security Number (SSN). You will also need to report the value of their vested benefit and provide details about how it will be paid, including the type of annuity, the frequency of payments, and the periodic payment amount.

A component of the form involves using specific entry codes in Part III to describe the status of each reported participant.

• Code A is used for any participant who separated from service and is being reported for the first time.
• Code B is used to correct information for a participant who was reported on a prior year’s Form 8955-SSA.
• Code C indicates that a participant who was previously reported is no longer entitled to the deferred vested benefits under the plan.
• Code D is used for a participant who was previously reported but has since been paid their benefit.

Step-by-Step Guide to Completing Form 8955-SSA

Once all necessary information has been gathered, the process of entering the data onto Form 8955-SSA is straightforward. The form is structured into three main parts.

Part I of the form is designated for Plan Information. Here, you will enter the plan year for which you are filing, the official name of the plan, the sponsor’s Employer Identification Number (EIN), and the three-digit plan number. You will also indicate if this is the final return for the plan.

Part II requires information about the Plan Administrator. In this section, you will input the administrator’s name, mailing address, and EIN.

Part III, titled Separated Participant Information, is where the bulk of the data entry occurs. This section is a table with columns for each piece of participant-specific data. For each participant you are reporting, you will complete a new row, starting with the appropriate Entry Code (A, B, C, or D) in column (a).

You will then proceed across the row, entering the participant’s Social Security Number in column (b), their name in column (c), information about the benefit in column (d), and the total value of the participant’s deferred vested benefit in column (e).

The Filing Process and Post-Submission Procedures

After Form 8955-SSA has been accurately filled out, the next step is to submit it to the IRS. Electronic filing is mandatory for any filer required to submit 10 or more returns of any type during the calendar year. Filers below this threshold may choose to file by paper, but most submit the form electronically.

The designated platform for electronic submission is the IRS’s Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE) system. To use this system, the filer must have software that can create the file in the specific format required by the IRS. The filer or transmitter will also need a Transmitter Control Code (TCC) to access the FIRE system.

Failure to file Form 8955-SSA on time or filing an incomplete form can lead to significant penalties. The IRS can assess a penalty of $10 per day for each participant who is not reported, up to a maximum of $50,000 per plan year. A separate penalty of $50 applies for each willful failure to provide the required benefit statement to a participant.

If an error is discovered on a Form 8955-SSA that has already been filed, the plan administrator must correct it by filing another Form 8955-SSA for the same plan year. This amended filing should only include information for the participants whose data needs to be corrected.