INSTRUCTIONS : ANNUAL RETURN / REPORT OF EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN (Form 5500)

A form 5500 is the required IRS form used to report information about the employer's private pension plans for employees. Under the tax codes, employers must disclose financial and other information concerning pension plans to beneficiaries and meet standards of conduct for plan fiduciaries.

In order to file an IRS form 5500, you must receive a form 5500 from the IRS, either by requesting one over the phone or accessing their website. In this case, we will use the basic form 5500 available on the IRS website.
Once you have the form, you must fill out part I with your annual report identification information.

1. You must identify the type of pension plan you company provides for its employees and under whether you are seeking an extension.

Next you have to provide the basic plan information.

2. You must identify your plan's name, its identification number, and the effective date of the plan.

3. Also required is the plan's sponsor information along with their contact information.

After identifying the basic plan information, you must have the proper individuals sign the form.

4. You must have the administrator, plan sponsor, and DFE sign the form and identify their position.

The next step in following the form 5500 instructions is to fill in the specific pension plan information detailing how the pension plan works.

5. Identify the administrator of the plan and their EIN number.

6. Next you will fill in the statistics of the pension plan. You must identify the total number of participants in the plan as well as their detailed information in box 6 lines A through H.

7. In boxes 8 and 9, you must identify the funding sources and benefits of your plan.

8. In the final box, you are required to identify the pension and general schedules which you are also attaching along with your form 5500.

Your form 5500 can be filed online using the IRS website's electronic filing system. The system is designed to allow you to easily submit the form along with all attached schedules and documents.