Form 5500-SUP - Annual Return of Employee Benefit Plan Supplemental Information

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2015

Instructions for Form
5500-SUP

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

Annual Return of Employee Benefit Plan Supplemental Information
Section references are to the Internal
Revenue Code unless otherwise noted.
References to ERISA are to the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.

General Instructions
Future Developments

For the latest information about
developments related to Form 5500-SUP
and its instructions, such as legislation
enacted after they were published, go to
www.irs.gov/form5500sup.

Purpose of Form

Form 5500-SUP is a paper-only form filed
with the IRS that is used by the sponsors
and administrators of retirement plans to
satisfy the reporting requirements of
section 6058. Form 5500-SUP should only
be used if certain IRS compliance
questions are not answered electronically
on the Form 5500, Annual Return/Report
of Employee Benefit Plan, or the Form
5500-SF, Short Form Annual Return/
Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan.

About the Form 5500-SUP. In general,
the administrator or sponsor of a
retirement plan must annually file
information about the plan in order to
satisfy the reporting requirements of
section 6058 of the Code and sections
104 and 4065 of ERISA. The Internal
Revenue Service (IRS), Department of
Labor (DOL), and the Pension Benefit
Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) have
consolidated certain returns and report
forms to reduce the filing burden of plan
administrators and sponsors. Plans that
file in accordance with the instructions for
Form 5500 (or Form 5500-SF, when
applicable) will generally satisfy the annual
reporting requirements for the IRS, DOL,
and PBGC. Both Form 5500 and Form
5500-SF (including the schedules) must
be filed electronically under the
computerized ERISA Filing Acceptance
System (EFAST2). This mandate does not
apply to any questions on the forms that
request information solely for purposes of
satisfying the reporting requirements of
section 6058 (IRS compliance questions).
Under Treasury regulations, only filers
(plan administrators or employers who
maintain the plans) that are required to file
at least 250 returns of any type during the
calendar year that includes the first day of
Nov 05, 2015

the plan year are required to answer these
IRS compliance questions electronically.
See Regulations section 301.6058-2 for
more information. Thus, to the extent the
2015 Form 5500 and the 2015 Form
5500-SF include questions that are IRS
compliance questions and the filer files
fewer than 250 returns in that calendar
year, the filer may elect to answer the
questions electronically under EFAST2 or
on the paper Form 5500-SUP with the
IRS.

Who Must File Form
5500-SUP

You must file Form 5500-SUP for a
retirement benefit plan, if all three
conditions below are met.
1. The plan is required to file either
Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF.
2. The plan administrator and the plan
sponsor are required to file a total of fewer
than 250 returns of any type, including
information returns (for example, Forms
W-2 and Forms 1099), income tax returns,
employment tax returns, and excise tax
returns, during the calendar year that
includes the first day of the plan year.
3. The IRS compliance questions are
not answered on the Form 5500 or Form
5500-SF filed electronically through the
EFAST2.
Example. Assume a Form 5500 is
required to be filed for a plan that is on a
calendar year and the plan administrator
and the plan sponsor are required to file a
total of 152 returns in 2015 (including
Forms 1099-R, Distributions From
Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or
Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance
Contracts, etc.; and Form 945, Annual
Return of Withheld Federal Income Tax,
etc.). In this case, the IRS compliance
questions on the 2015 Form 5500 are not
required to be answered electronically
through EFAST2, but if they are not, they
must be answered by filing the paper
Form 5500-SUP with the IRS.

Who Does Not Have To
File Form 5500-SUP

If you answer the IRS compliance
questions on either the Form 5500 or the
Form 5500-SF, you do not need to file
Form 5500-SUP.

Cat. No. 67036W

Example. Assume the same facts as
the example above, but a plan
administrator voluntarily answers the IRS
compliance questions on Form 5500
electronically through EFAST2 after filing
a Form 5500. In this case, the plan does
not have to file Form 5500-SUP.
Also, see Short Plan Years in these
instructions for information regarding the
filing requirements for certain short year
filers.

When To File

The 2015 Form 5500-SUP must be filed
by the last day of the 7th calendar month
after the end of the plan year that began in
2015 (not to exceed 12 months in length).
Any extension of time to file either the
2015 Form 5500 or the 2015 Form
5500-SF will be treated as an extension of
time to file the 2015 Form 5500-SUP.
Note. If the filing due date falls on a
Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the
Form 5500-SUP may be filed on the next
day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or
legal holiday.

Short Plan Years

Form 5500-SUP is not required to be filed
for a 2015 plan year if the deadline for
filing the form (excluding extensions) is
before January 1, 2016. See Regulations
section 301.6058-2(f) for more
information. Accordingly, some short plan
year filers are not required to file the 2015
Form 5500-SUP (nor are they required to
answer the IRS compliance questions)
even if they would otherwise be required
to do so. For example, a 2015 Form
5500-SUP is not required to be filed for a
calendar year plan with a short 2015 plan
year that ends May 31, 2015, since the
date for filing the 2015 Form 5500-SUP
(December 31, 2015) is before January 1,
2016.

Where To File

File the Form 5500-SUP at the following
address.
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Ogden, UT 84201-0020
Private delivery services. You can use
certain private delivery services
designated by the IRS to meet the “timely

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mailing as timely filing/paying” rule for tax
returns and payments. The private
delivery services include only the
following.
Federal Express (FedEx): FedEx
Priority Overnight, FedEx Standard
Overnight, FedEx 2Day, FedEx
International Priority, and FedEx
International First.
United Parcel Service (UPS): UPS Next
Day Air, UPS Next Day Air Saver, UPS
2nd Day Air, UPS 2nd Day Air A.M., UPS
Worldwide Express Plus, and UPS
Worldwide Express.
Private delivery services should use the
following address.
Internal Revenue Service
1973 Rulon White Blvd.
Ogden, UT 84404

Who Must Sign

The plan administrator or plan sponsor/
employer must sign and date the paper
Form 5500-SUP for the 2015 filing.

Penalties

If a filer fails to file the Form 5500-SUP
when required to do so, the filer is deemed
to have failed to file the return. Section
6652(e) imposes a penalty of $25 a day
(up to $15,000) for not filing returns in
connection with employee retirement
benefit plans by the required due date.

Specific Instructions
Part I – Annual Return
Identification Information
Line A. This information must be the
same as reported in Part I, B of the Form
5500 or Form 5500-SF. See the 2015
Instructions for Form 5500 or 5500-SF.
Line B. Enter the EFAST2
Acknowledgement ID (30 characters). The
Acknowledgement ID is a number created
by the EFAST2 system to acknowledge
receipt of a filing that contains a unique
Filing ID and filing data. The filing author
received this ID when the Form 5500 or
Form 5500-SF filing was submitted and
processed through the EFAST2.
Line C. This information must be the
same as reported in Part I, D of the Form
5500 or Part I, C of the Form 5500-SF.
See the 2015 Instructions for Form 5500
or Form 5500-SF. Note that an extension
of Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF will be
treated as an extension of the Form
5500-SUP. You are not required to file a
separate Form 5558 for extension of time
to file this form.

Part II – Basic Plan
Information

Part III – Supplemental
Information

Lines 1a, 1b, and 1c. Enter the formal
name of the plan, the three-digit plan
number (PN), and the date the plan first
became effective. This information must
be the same as reported in Part II, lines
1a, 1b, and 1c of the Form 5500, or Form
5500-SF. See the 2015 Instructions for
Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF.

Line 4a. Check “Yes” if the plan includes
a cash or deferred arrangement under
which a covered employee may elect to
have the employer either contribute an
amount to the plan’s trust on behalf of the
employee or to pay the employee directly
in cash or some other taxable benefit. A
401(k) is a feature of a qualified
profit-sharing plan that allows employees
to contribute a portion of their wages to
individual accounts. The contributions go
into a 401(k) account, with the employee
often choosing the investments based on
options provided under the plan. In some
plans, the employer also makes
contributions such as matching the
employee’s contributions up to a certain
percentage. SIMPLE and safe harbor
401(k) plans have mandatory employer
contribution requirements.

Lines 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d. Enter the plan
sponsor’s name, address, the nine-digit
employer identification number (EIN), the
plan sponsor’s telephone number, and the
six-digit business code. This information
must be the same as reported in Part II,
lines 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d of the Form 5500
or Form 5500-SF. See the 2015
Instructions for Form 5500 or Form
5500-SF.
Line 3a. Enter the name of trust. If a plan
uses more than one trust or custodial
account for its fund, you should enter the
primary trust or custodial account in which
the greatest dollar amount or largest
percentage of the plan assets as of the
end of the plan year is held on this line.
For example, if a plan uses three different
trusts, X, Y, and Z, with the percentages of
plan assets, 35%, 45%, and 20%,
respectively, trust Y that held the 45% of
plan assets would be entered in line 4a.
Line 3b. Enter the trust’s employer
identification number (EIN) assigned to
the employee benefit trust or custodial
account, if one has been issued to the
trust. The trust EIN should be used for
transactions conducted for the trust. If you
do not have a trust EIN, enter the EIN you
would use on Form 1099-R to report
distributions from employee benefit plans
and on Form 945 to report withheld
amounts of income tax from those
payments.
Do not use a social security number in
lieu of an EIN. Form 5500 and its
attachments are open to public inspection,
and the contents are public information
and are subject to publication on the
Internet. Because of privacy concerns, the
inclusion of a social security number or
any portion thereof may result in the
rejection of the filing.
A trust EIN can be obtained from the
IRS by applying for one on Form SS-4,
Application for Employer Identification
Number. See the instructions for line 2b
(Form 5500) for applying for an EIN. Also
see the IRS EIN application link page for
further information.
Lines 3c and 3d. Enter the name of the
trustee or custodian and the trustee’s or
custodian's telephone number.

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Line 4b. If line 4a is “Yes,” check the
applicable testing method being used to
satisfy the nondiscrimination requirements
of section 401(k) and (m). A safe harbor
401(k) plan is similar to a traditional 401(k)
plan but, among other things, it must
provide for employer contributions that are
fully vested when made. These
contributions may be employer matching
contributions, limited to employees who
defer, or employer contributions made on
behalf of all eligible employees, regardless
of whether they make elective deferrals.
The safe harbor 401(k) plan is not subject
to the complex annual nondiscrimination
tests that apply to traditional 401(k) plans.
Check “Design-based safe harbor
method” if this is a safe harbor 401(k)
plan, including a SIMPLE 401(k) plan
under sections 401(k)(11) and 401(m)
(10), a safe harbor 401(k) plan under
sections 401(k)(12) and 401(m)(11), and a
safe harbor plan using automatic
contribution arrangements under sections
401(k)(13) and 401(m)(12). If the plan, by
its terms, does not satisfy the safe harbor
method, it must satisfy the regular
nondiscrimination actual deferral
percentage (ADP)/actual contribution
percentage (ACP) test.
Line 4c. If the ADP/ACP test was used to
satisfy nondiscrimination requirements
under section 401(k)(3), check “Yes” if an
election was made to use the current year
testing method under which the ADP test
is performed by comparing the current
plan year’s ADP for highly compensated
employees (HCEs) with the current plan
year’s (rather than the prior plan year)
ADP for nonhighly compensated
employees (NHCEs). Note that the plan
must specify whether the prior year or the
current year testing method will be used in
the plan document.

Instructions for Form 5500-SUP

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Line 5a. Check the applicable testing
method below used to satisfy the
minimum coverage requirements under
section 410(b). A plan satisfies the “ratio
percentage test” of section 410(b)(1)(B)
with respect to employees if the
percentage of the employer’s NHCEs who
benefit under the plan divided by the
percentage of HCEs who benefit under
the plan is at least 70% (percentages are
calculated to the nearest hundredth). For
example, if Employer Y has 100
employees, of which 30 are HCEs and 70
are NHCEs, and Employer Y maintains a
pension Plan A that benefits 15 of the 30
HCEs (that is, 50% of the HCEs) and 25 of
the 70 NHCEs (that is, 35.71% of all
NHCEs), then the ratio percentage of
71.42% (35.71% / 50%) is greater than
70%. Thus, Plan A satisfies the minimum
coverage requirement as required under
section 410(b)(1). The average benefit
test is a two-part test. First, the plan must
satisfy the nondiscriminatory classification
test. Second, the plan must satisfy the
average benefit percentage test. See
Regulations sections 1.410(b)-4 and
1.410(b)-5 for more information.
Note. (1) If this is not a tax-qualified plan,
you may skip questions 5a and 5b. (2)
Under a special rule in Regulations
section 1.410(b)-2(b)(5), if the employer
has no NHCEs, the plan will be deemed to
satisfy the coverage tests of section
410(b). Also, under Regulations section
1.410(b)-2(b)(6), if no HCEs benefit under
the plan, the minimum coverage
requirements under section 410(b) will be
deemed satisfied. Also, under Regulations
section 1.410(b)-2(b)(7), the minimum
coverage requirements under section
410(b) are also satisfied if the plan
benefits solely collectively bargained
employees. See Regulations sections
1.410(b)-2(b)(5), (6) and 1.410(b)-8(b).
Line 5b. Check “Yes” if this plan was
permissively aggregated with another plan
to satisfy the requirements under sections
410(b) and 401(a)(4). Generally, each
single plan must separately satisfy the
coverage and nondiscrimination
requirements. However, an employer may
designate two or more separate plans as a
single plan for purposes of applying the
ratio percentage test of Regulations
section 1.410(b)-2(b)(2) or the
nondiscretionary classification test of
Regulations section 1.401(b)-4. Two or
more plans that are permissively
aggregated and treated as a single plan
for purposes of the minimum coverage
test of section 410(b) must also be treated
as a single plan for purpose of the
nondiscrimination test under section
401(a)(4). See Regulations sections
1.410(b)-7 and 1.401(a)(4)-(9) for more
information.
Instructions for Form 5500-SUP

Line 6a. Check “Yes” if a plan has timely
adopted the amendments for all required
tax law changes. Check “N/A” if it is a
newly established plan. In order to be a
qualified plan and to retain tax
advantages, a pension plan must be
timely amended for all required tax law
changes and operate in accordance with
the plan document. The IRS generally
establishes a deadline by which plan
amendments that reflect tax law changes
must be adopted. See Rev. Proc.
2007-44, 2007-28 I.R.B. 54, for more
information.
Line 6b. Enter the date of the last plan
amendment or restatement for the
required law changes, and enter the
applicable Code indicating the law
changes below.
Tax Law

Code

Pension Protection Act
of 2006 (PPA 06)

J

Economic Growth and
Tax Relief
Reconciliation Act of
2001 (EGTRRA)

M

GATT, USERRA,
SBJPA, and TRA
(GUST)

K

Line 6c. If a plan sponsor or an employer
adopted a pre-approved plan that includes
a master and prototype plan (M&P), or a
volume submitter plan, enter the date of
opinion or advisory letter issued by the
IRS and the corresponding serial number
listed on that favorable letter.
Line 6d. If the plan is an individually
designed plan and received a favorable
determination letter from the IRS, enter the
date of the most recent determination
letter. Leave this line blank if this individual
designed plan never received a favorable
determination letter.
Line 7. Check “Yes” if a plan is in a U.S.
territory, including Puerto Rico (if no
election under ERISA section 1022(i)(2)
has been made), American Samoa,
Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands, or the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Line 8. Plans that check “Yes” must
enter any amount of unrelated business
taxable income as a result of gross
income derived from any trade or
business regularly carried on and not
substantially related to the plan’s exempt
purpose under section 512. Form 990-T,
Exempt Organization Business Income
Tax Return, is required for any gross
income of $1,000 or more generated by an
employee’s trust. Form 990-T must be
filed by the 15th day of the 4th month
following the end of the trust’s tax year.

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See the instructions for Form 990-T for
more details.
Line 9. Plans that check “Yes” must
enter amounts of any distributions made
prior to attainment of retirement, death,
disability, and severance of employment
or termination of the plan. These amounts
would include any distribution allowed
under a profit sharing plan after a fixed
number of years. See Regulations section
1.401-1(b)(1)(ii). This includes any
hardship distributions under section
401(k)(2)(B)(i)(IV) or any distribution
allowed under the terms of the plan upon
attainment of age 62 under a money
purchase plan or defined benefit plan for
plan years beginning after December 31,
2006.

Preparer Information

Enter the preparer’s name (including the
firm’s name, if applicable), address, and
telephone number of the Form 5500 or
Form 5500-SF related to this filing. A
preparer is any person who prepares an
annual return/report for compensation, or
who employs one or more persons to
prepare the return for compensation. If the
person who prepared the annual return/
report is not the plan sponsor or employer
named in line 2a, or the plan administrator
named in line 3a (of Form 5500 or Form
5500-SF), name the person on this line. If
there are several people who prepared
this form, please name the person who is
primarily responsible for the preparation of
the annual return/report.
Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction
Act Notice. We ask for the information on
this form to carry out the Internal Revenue
laws of the United States. This form is
required to be filed under section 6058(a).
Section 6109 requires you to provide your
identification number. If you fail to provide
this information in a timely manner or if
you provide false or fraudulent
information, you may be subject to
penalties. Section 6104(b) makes the
information contained in this form publicly
available. Therefore, the information will
be given to anyone who asks for it and
may be given to the PBGC for the
administration of ERISA, the Department
of Justice for civil and criminal litigation,
and cities, states, the District of Columbia,
and U.S. commonwealths and
possessions for use in administering their
tax laws. The IRS may also disclose this
information to other countries under a
treaty, to federal and state agencies to
enforce federal non-tax criminal laws, and
to federal law enforcement and
intelligence agencies to combat terrorism.
You are not required to provide the
information requested on a form that is
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act
unless the form displays a valid OMB

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control number. Books or records relating
to a form or its instructions must be
retained as long as their contents may
become material in the administration of
the Internal Revenue Code. Generally, the
Form 5500 series return/reports and some
of the related schedules are open to public
inspection.
The time needed to complete and file
this form will vary depending on individual

circumstances. The estimated average
time is:
Reporting

25 min.

If you have suggestions for making this
form simpler, we would be happy to hear
from you. You can send comments to the
IRS from www.irs.gov/formspubs. Click on

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“More Information” and then on “Give us
feedback.” You can also send your
comments to Internal Revenue Service,
Tax Forms and Publications Division,
1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526,
Washington, DC 20224. Do not send this
form to this address. Instead, see Where
To File, earlier.

Instructions for Form 5500-SUP