5305 SEP Simplified Employee Pension—Individual Retirement Accoun

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Form

I.R.S. SPECIFICATIONS
TO BE REMOVED BEFORE PRINTING
INSTRUCTIONS TO PRINTERS
FORM 5305-SEP, PAGE 1 OF 2
MARGINS; TOP 13mm (1/2"), CENTER SIDES.
PRINTS: HEAD TO HEAD
PAPER: WHITE WRITING, SUB. 20.
INK: BLACK
FLAT SIZE: 216mm (8-1/2") x 279mm (11")
PERFORATE: None
DO NOT PRINT — DO NOT PRINT — DO NOT PRINT — DO NOT PRINT

5305-SEP

(Rev. December 2004)

Action

Date

O.K. to print
Revised proofs
requested

OMB No. 1545-0499

Simplified Employee Pension—Individual
Retirement Accounts Contribution Agreement

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

Signature

Do not file
with the Internal
Revenue Service

(Under section 408(k) of the Internal Revenue Code)

makes the following agreement under section 408(k) of the
Internal Revenue Code and the instructions to this form.

(Name of employer)

Article I—Eligibility Requirements (check applicable boxes—see instructions)
The employer agrees to provide discretionary contributions in each calendar year to the individual retirement account or individual
retirement annuity (IRA) of all employees who are at least
years old (not to exceed 21 years old) and have performed
services for the employer in at least
years (not to exceed 3 years) of the immediately preceding 5 years. This simplified
employee pension (SEP)
includes
does not include employees covered under a collective bargaining agreement,
includes
does not include certain nonresident aliens, and
includes
does not include employees whose total
compensation during the year is less than $450*.

Article II—SEP Requirements (see instructions)
The
A.
B.
C.
D.

employer agrees that contributions made on behalf of each eligible employee will be:
Based only on the first $205,000* of compensation.
The same percentage of compensation for every employee.
Limited annually to the smaller of $41,000* or 25% of compensation.
Paid to the employee’s IRA trustee, custodian, or insurance company (for an annuity contract).

Employer’s signature and date

Instructions
Section references are to the Internal
Revenue Code unless otherwise noted.

Purpose of Form
Form 5305-SEP (Model SEP) is used by an
employer to make an agreement to provide
benefits to all eligible employees under a
simplified employee pension (SEP) described
in section 408(k).
Do not file Form 5305-SEP with the IRS.
Instead, keep it with your records.
For more information on SEPs and IRAs,
see Pub. 560, Retirement Plans for Small
Business (SEP, SIMPLE, and Qualified Plans),
and Pub. 590, Individual Retirement
Arrangements (IRAs).

Instructions to the Employer
Simplified employee pension. A SEP is a
written arrangement (a plan) that provides you
with an easy way to make contributions
toward your employees’ retirement income.
Under a SEP, you can contribute to an
employee’s traditional individual retirement
account or annuity (traditional IRA). You make
contributions directly to an IRA set up by or
for each employee with a bank, insurance
company, or other qualified financial
institution. When using Form 5305-SEP to
establish a SEP, the IRA must be a Model
traditional IRA established on an IRS form or
a master or prototype traditional IRA for
which the IRS has issued a favorable opinion
letter. You may not make SEP contributions
to a Roth IRA or a SIMPLE IRA. Making the
agreement on Form 5305-SEP does not
establish an employer IRA described in
section 408(c).
When not to use Form 5305-SEP. Do not
use this form if you:

Name and title

1. Currently maintain any other qualified
retirement plan. This does not prevent you
from maintaining another SEP.
2. Have any eligible employees for whom
IRAs have not been established.
3. Use the services of leased employees
(described in section 414(n)).
4. Are a member of an affiliated service
group (described in section 414(m)), a
controlled group of corporations (described in
section 414(b)), or trades or businesses under
common control (described in sections 414(c)
and 414(o)), unless all eligible employees of
all the members of such groups, trades, or
businesses participate in the SEP.
5. Will not pay the cost of the SEP
contributions. Do not use Form 5305-SEP for
a SEP that provides for elective employee
contributions even if the contributions are
made under a salary reduction agreement.
Use Form 5305A-SEP, or a nonmodel SEP.
Note. SEPs permitting elective deferrals
cannot be established after 1996.
Eligible employees. All eligible employees
must be allowed to participate in the SEP. An
eligible employee is any employee who: (1) is
at least 21 years old, and (2) has performed
“service” for you in at least 3 of the
immediately preceding 5 years. You can
establish less restrictive eligibility
requirements, but not more restrictive ones.
Service is any work performed for you for
any period of time, however short. If you are
a member of an affiliated service group, a
controlled group of corporations, or trades or
businesses under common control, service
includes any work performed for any period
of time for any other member of such group,
trades, or businesses.
Excludable employees. The following
employees do not have to be covered by the

SEP: (1) employees covered by a collective
bargaining agreement whose retirement
benefits were bargained for in good faith by
you and their union, (2) nonresident alien
employees who did not earn U.S. source
income from you, and (3) employees who
received less than $450* in compensation
during the year.
Contribution limits. You may make an
annual contribution of up to 25% of the
employee’s compensation or $41,000*,
whichever is less. Compensation, for this
purpose, does not include employer
contributions to the SEP or the employee’s
compensation in excess of $205,000*. If you
also maintain a salary reduction SEP,
contributions to the two SEPs together may
not exceed the smaller of $41,000* or 25% of
compensation for any employee.
You are not required to make contributions
every year, but when you do, you must
contribute to the SEP-IRAs of all eligible
employees who actually performed services
during the year of the contribution. This
includes eligible employees who die or quit
working before the contribution is made.
Contributions cannot discriminate in favor of
highly compensated employees. Also, you may
not integrate your SEP contributions with, or
offset them by, contributions made under the
Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA).
If this SEP is intended to meet the
top-heavy minimum contribution rules of
section 416, but it does not cover all your
employees who participate in your salary
reduction SEP, then you must make minimum
contributions to IRAs established on behalf of
those employees.
Deducting contributions. You may deduct
contributions to a SEP subject to the limits of
section 404(h). This SEP is maintained on a
calendar year basis and contributions to the

* For 2005 and later years, this amount is subject to annual cost-of-living adjustments. The IRS announces the increase, if any, in a news release, in the Internal Revenue
Bulletin, and on the IRS website at www.irs.gov.

For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see page 2.

Cat. No. 11825J

Form

5305-SEP

(Rev. 12-2004)

2
I.R.S. SPECIFICATIONS
TO BE REMOVED BEFORE PRINTING
INSTRUCTIONS TO PRINTERS
FORM 5305-SEP, PAGE 2 OF 2
MARGINS; TOP 13mm (1/2"), CENTER SIDES.
PRINTS: HEAD TO HEAD
PAPER: WHITE WRITING, SUB. 20.
INK: BLACK
FLAT SIZE: 216mm (8-1/2") x 279mm (11")
PERFORATE: None
DO NOT PRINT — DO NOT PRINT — DO NOT PRINT — DO NOT PRINT

Form 5305-SEP (Rev. 12-2004)

SEP are deductible for your tax year with or
within which the calendar year ends.
Contributions made for a particular tax year
must be made by the due date of your
income tax return (including extensions) for
that tax year.
Completing the agreement. This agreement
is considered adopted when:
● IRAs have been established for all your
eligible employees;
● You have completed all blanks on the
agreement form without modification; and
● You have given all your eligible employees
the following information:
1. A copy of Form 5305-SEP.
2. A statement that traditional IRAs other
than the traditional IRAs into which employer
SEP contributions will be made may provide
different rates of return and different terms
concerning, among other things, transfers and
withdrawals of funds from the IRAs.
3. A statement that, in addition to the
information provided to an employee at the
time the employee becomes eligible to
participate, the administrator of the SEP must
furnish each participant within 30 days of the
effective date of any amendment to the SEP,
a copy of the amendment and a written
explanation of its effects.
4. A statement that the administrator will
give written notification to each participant of
any employer contributions made under the
SEP to that participant’s IRA by the later of
January 31 of the year following the year for
which a contribution is made or 30 days after
the contribution is made.
Employers who have established a SEP
using Form 5305-SEP and have furnished
each eligible employee with a copy of the
completed Form 5305-SEP and provided the
other documents and disclosures described in
Instructions to the Employer and Information
for the Employee, are not required to file the
annual information returns, Forms 5500 or
5500-EZ for the SEP. However, under Title I of
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act
of 1974 (ERISA), this relief from the annual
reporting requirements may not be available to
an employer who selects, recommends, or
influences its employees to choose IRAs into
which contributions will be made under the
SEP, if those IRAs are subject to provisions
that impose any limits on a participant’s ability
to withdraw funds (other than restrictions
imposed by the Code that apply to all IRAs).
For additional information on Title I
requirements, see the Department of Labor
regulation at 29 CFR 2520.104-48.

Information for the Employee
The information below explains what a SEP is,
how contributions are made, and how to treat
your employer’s contributions for tax
purposes. For more information, see Pub. 590.
Simplified employee pension. A SEP is a
written arrangement (a plan) that allows an
employer to make contributions toward your
retirement. Contributions are made to a
traditional individual retirement
account/annuity (traditional IRA).
Contributions must be made to either a
Model traditional IRA executed on an IRS
form or a master or prototype traditional IRA
for which the IRS has issued a favorable
opinion letter.

Page

An employer is not required to make SEP
contributions. If a contribution is made,
however, it must be allocated to all eligible
employees according to the SEP agreement.
The Model SEP (Form 5305-SEP) specifies
that the contribution for each eligible
employee will be the same percentage of
compensation (excluding compensation
greater than $205,000*) for all employees.
Your employer will provide you with a copy of
the agreement containing participation rules and
a description of how employer contributions
may be made to your IRA. Your employer must
also provide you with a copy of the completed
Form 5305-SEP and a yearly statement showing
any contributions to your IRA.
All amounts contributed to your IRA by your
employer belong to you even after you stop
working for that employer.
Contribution limits. Your employer will
determine the amount to be contributed to
your IRA each year. However, the amount for
any year is limited to the smaller of $41,000*
or 25% of your compensation for that year.
Compensation does not include any amount
that is contributed by your employer to your
IRA under the SEP. Your employer is not
required to make contributions every year or
to maintain a particular level of contributions.
Tax treatment of contributions. Employer
contributions to your SEP-IRA are excluded
from your income unless there are
contributions in excess of the applicable limit.
Employer contributions within these limits will
not be included on your Form W-2.
Employee contributions. You may make
regular IRA contributions to an IRA. However,
the amount you can deduct may be reduced
or eliminated because, as a participant in a
SEP, you are covered by an employer
retirement plan.
SEP participation. If your employer does not
require you to participate in a SEP as a
condition of employment, and you elect not to
participate, all other employees of your
employer may be prohibited from participating.
If one or more eligible employees do not
participate and the employer tries to establish
a SEP for the remaining employees, it could
cause adverse tax consequences for the
participating employees.
An employer may not adopt this IRS Model
SEP if the employer maintains another
qualified retirement plan. This does not
prevent your employer from adopting this IRS
Model SEP and also maintaining an IRS
Model Salary Reduction SEP or other SEP.
However, if you work for several employers,
you may be covered by a SEP of one
employer and a different SEP or pension or
profit-sharing plan of another employer.
SEP-IRA amounts—rollover or transfer to
another IRA. You can withdraw or receive
funds from your SEP-IRA if, within 60 days of
receipt, you place those funds in the same or
another IRA. This is called a “rollover” and
can be done without penalty only once in any
1-year period. However, there are no
restrictions on the number of times you may
make “transfers” if you arrange to have these
funds transferred between the trustees or the
custodians so that you never have
possession of the funds.
Withdrawals. You may withdraw your
employer’s contribution at any time, but any
amount withdrawn is includible in your
income unless rolled over. Also, if withdrawals

2

occur before you reach age 591⁄2, you may be
subject to a tax on early withdrawal.
Excess SEP contributions. Contributions
exceeding the yearly limitations may be
withdrawn without penalty by the due date
(plus extensions) for filing your tax return
(normally April 15), but are includible in your
gross income. Excess contributions left in
your SEP-IRA after that time may have
adverse tax consequences. Withdrawals of
those contributions may be taxed as
premature withdrawals.
Financial institution requirements. The
financial institution where your IRA is
maintained must provide you with a disclosure
statement that contains the following
information in plain, nontechnical language:
1. The law that relates to your IRA.
2. The tax consequences of various options
concerning your IRA.
3. Participation eligibility rules, and rules on
the deductibility of retirement savings.
4. Situations and procedures for revoking
your IRA, including the name, address, and
telephone number of the person designated
to receive notice of revocation. This
information must be clearly displayed at the
beginning of the disclosure statement.
5. A discussion of the penalties that may
be assessed because of prohibited activities
concerning your IRA.
6. Financial disclosure that provides the
following information:
a. Projects value growth rates of your IRA
under various contribution and retirement
schedules, or describes the method of
determining annual earnings and charges that
may be assessed.
b. Describes whether, and for when, the
growth projections are guaranteed, or a
statement of the earnings rate and the terms
on which the projections are based.
c. States the sales commission for each
year expressed as a percentage of $1,000.
In addition, the financial institution must
provide you with a financial statement each
year. You may want to keep these statements
to evaluate your IRA’s investment performance.
Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. 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 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
any Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax
returns and return information are confidential,
as required by section 6103.
The time needed to complete this form will
vary depending on individual circumstances.
The estimated average time is:
Recordkeeping
Learning about the
law or the form
Preparing the form

1 hr., 40 min.
1 hr., 35 min.
1 hr., 41 min.

If you have comments concerning the
accuracy of these time estimates or suggestions
for making this form simpler, we would be
happy to hear from you. You can write to the
Internal Revenue Service, Tax Products
Coordinating Committee, SE:W:CAR:MP:T:T:SP,
1111 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC
20224. Do not send this form to this address.
Instead, keep it with your records.