SECTION 5. PERMANENT

PENALTY RELIEF PROGRAM

This revenue procedure establishes a permanent program to provide administrative relief from the penalties imposed under §§ 6652(e) and 6692 for a failure to timely comply with the annual reporting requirements under §§ 6047(e), 6058, and 6059. The relief applies to filers who are eligible to participate under Section 6 of this revenue procedure and who satisfy the procedural requirements of Section 7 of this revenue procedure. As an alternative to making a submission under this program, filers may instead file for the relief currently available for a failure to timely file that is due to reasonable cause. ²

However, a filer who is denied relief for reasonable cause with respect to a particular delinquent return will receive a CP 283 Notice, Penalty Charged on Your Form 5500 Return, and, in accordance with Section 6.05, will not be eligible for relief as to that return under this program. Also, filers may not seek relief for reasonable cause as part of their submission under this program.

The permanent program generally follows the requirements of the pilot program, but some changes have been made to reflect the comments received as well

as to reflect the addition of a payment requirement.

The most significant change is the addition of a payment requirement with all submissions. The payment for each submission is $500 for each delinquent return for each plan, up to a maximum of $1,500 per plan. Because applicants under this program will typically be smaller than filers under the DFVC program, a smaller payment is required under this program for two or fewer delinquent returns than is required under the DFVC program, but the maximum amount per plan (which applies under this program to three or more delinquent returns) is the same. In order to keep the calculation of the payment simple, payments are not based on the number of days the return is delinquent. ³

As under the pilot program, the permanent program requires that a Form 5500–EZ return be filed even though the applicant could have filed a Form 5500–SF return electronically if the return had been timely filed. Because a Form 5500–SF return must be electronically filed under DOL’s EFAST2 filing system and any payment under this program must be submitted directly to the IRS, the Department of the Treasury and the IRS are concerned that it would be difficult to match a payment with a delinquent, electronically-filed Form 5500–SF return. The Department of the Treasury and the IRS will consider future changes in the program to allow electronic filing of delinquent returns as administrative and technological capacities improve.

The permanent program provides that the applicant must submit the delinquent return on the Form 5500–EZ that applied for the plan year for which the return was delinquent. An exception is provided for returns for plan years prior to 1990 because those returns are more difficult for applicants to obtain. For returns for plan years prior to 1990, the applicant may use a current-year Form 5500–EZ filled out with the beginning and ending dates for the plan year for which the return was delinquent.

2A request for relief due to reasonable cause may be attached to a delinquent return when the return is filed or may be filed separately. The request should state the reason why the return was late and be signed by a person in authority. See §§ 301.6652–3(b) and 301.6692–1(c) of the Regulations on Procedure and Administration. The request (with the delinquent return, if applicable) should be mailed to the filing address provided in the instructions for the most current Form 5500–EZ available to taxpayers.

3Because the lowest payment under this permanent program is $500 for a delinquent return, some filers who file a delinquent return less than 20 days late may prefer to pay the penalty of $25 per day under § 6652(e) rather than file under this program.

June 15, 2015 1064 Bulletin No. 2015–24

As noted in Rev. Proc. 2014–32, prior to 2009, some plans that are not subject to Title I of ERISA were required to file returns on Form 5500 rather than Form 5500–EZ. Under the pilot program, these filers were required to file a Form 5500 return for the applicable year rather than a Form 5500–EZ return. To simplify the program for both filers and the IRS, filers that would have been required to file a Form 5500 return under the pilot program are instead required under the permanent program to file a current-year Form 5500–EZ return, filled out with the beginning and ending dates for the plan year for which the return was delinquent.

The pilot program also provided that multiple returns for multiple plans could be included in a submission. Because the permanent program requires a payment based on the number of delinquent returns for each plan, however, the permanent program requires that delinquent returns for each plan must be submitted separately. Thus, multiple delinquent returns for a single plan should be submitted in a single package, but delinquent returns for different plans must be submitted in different packages.

Under the permanent program, applicants must include a Form 14704, Transmittal Schedule - Form 5500–EZ Delinquent Filer Penalty Relief Program (Rev. Proc. 2015–32), with each submission, as further described in Section 7.03(3). ⁴ Unlike the pilot program, the IRS will contact the applicant if the Form 14704 is not included, the documents submitted are inconsistent with the Form 14704, a required signature on a delinquent return is not provided, or the amount of payment is incorrect. As under the pilot program, however, the IRS generally does not expect to contact the applicant in other cases. Filers may use a tracking or other system provided by the United States Postal Service (or by a private delivery service if a delivery service is used) to determine when delivery of a submission is completed. Filers may also receive notice from their bank or other financial institution when a check has been processed by the IRS.

The Department of the Treasury and the IRS intend that this program will be of

indefinite duration, but the program, upon publication of further guidance, may be modified from time to time or terminated.