Compliance Alert: Form 5500 Filing Due July 31, 2026

What Is Required

Plan sponsors must file the Form 5500 series annual return for each ERISA-covered employee benefit plan, electronically through the Department of Labor's EFAST2 system. The filing covers the 2025 plan year and is due seven months after the plan year ends. For calendar-year plans, the deadline is July 31, 2026.

Who Is Affected

• Pension and 401(k) plans. All ERISA-covered retirement plans, regardless of size.
• Welfare benefit plans with 100 or more participants at the start of the plan year (group health, group life, dental, vision, disability). Smaller welfare plans funded entirely from general assets may be exempt.
• Plans with fewer than 100 participants that do not qualify for the small-plan exemption may file the simplified Form 5500-SF.
• One-participant plans (a sole-proprietor 401(k) or a partnership-only plan covering only owners and spouses) file Form 5500-EZ if assets exceed $250,000 at year-end.

What Employers Should Do

1. Confirm EFAST2 access. Both the plan administrator and the authorized signer need active EFAST2 credentials. If either has changed in the past year, register or update credentials at efast.dol.gov - the most common cause of late filings is a credential issue discovered the week of the deadline.
2. Reconcile plan financials with the recordkeeper. For 401(k) plans, the participant count, contribution totals, and asset balances on Form 5500 must match the trustee's year-end statement. Discrepancies are the most common audit trigger.
3. Audit requirement check. Plans with 100 or more participants with account balances at the start of the plan year generally require an independent qualified public accountant's audit attached as Schedule H. The 2023 reporting-year change moved the count from "eligible participants" to "participants with balances," reducing audit triggers for many small employers.
4. File Form 5558 by July 31 if you cannot meet the deadline. The form provides an automatic two-and-a-half-month extension to October 15, 2026 for retirement plans. There is no extension on the participant disclosure deadline (Summary Annual Report due nine months after plan year end, or two months after the extended Form 5500 deadline).

Penalties for Non-Compliance

Under ERISA Section 502(c)(2), the Department of Labor may assess a civil penalty of up to $2,739 per day that the Form 5500 is late. The IRS may separately assess a $250-per-day penalty up to a $150,000 cap. The DOL's Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program (DFVCP) caps penalties at $750 to $4,000 per filing for plans that voluntarily come forward before being notified of a delinquency.

Key Deadlines

• July 31, 2026: Form 5500 / 5500-SF / 5500-EZ for calendar-year plans, or Form 5558 to extend.
• October 15, 2026: Extended deadline for retirement plans that filed Form 5558.
• September 30, 2026: Summary Annual Report due to participants for unextended calendar-year filings.

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This briefing is prepared by the AEA Editorial Team based on publicly available regulatory guidance and employment law developments. All analysis reflects general observations and should not be treated as legal advice. Consult qualified counsel for guidance on specific situations.