Missed your Form 5500 extension? What to do
If your calendar-year plan missed the October 15 extended Form 5500 deadline, file as soon as you can through the Department of Labor’s Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program. DFVCP replaces an uncapped DOL penalty with $10 a day, capped at $750 per filing for a small plan and $2,000 for a large plan, and the IRS waives its own late-filing penalty for DFVCP filers. The catch is that you lose access to the program the moment the DOL contacts you about the missing filing.
Why October 15 is the hard stop
A calendar-year plan’s Form 5500 is due July 31. Filing Form 5558 extends that by two and a half months, to October 15. There is no second extension. A filing submitted after October 15 is late, and the penalty clock runs from the original July 31 due date, not from the extended one.
What a late Form 5500 can cost
| Penalty | Without DFVCP | With DFVCP |
|---|---|---|
| DOL penalty | Up to $2,739 per day, no cap | $10 per day from the original due date |
| Cap per late filing | None | $750 small plan, $2,000 large plan |
| Cap per plan, several years filed together | None | $1,500 small plan, $4,000 large plan |
| Small plan sponsored by a 501(c)(3) | None | $750 per plan |
| IRS penalty | $250 per day, up to $150,000 per return | Waived for DFVCP filers who meet the IRS conditions |
A plan counts as large if it had 100 or more participants with account balances at the start of the plan year, subject to the 80 to 120 rule. If the plan was large in any of the years being filed late, the large-plan caps apply.
How the DFVCP math works out this year
For a 2025 calendar-year filing, the DFVCP clock started on August 1, 2026.
- Small plans reached the $750 per-filing cap on October 14. If you are past October 15, your DFVCP penalty is already $750 whenever you file.
- Large plans accrue $10 a day until the $2,000 cap on February 16, 2027. Filing on December 15 would cost $1,370.
That does not make waiting safe. If the DOL sends a notice before you file, DFVCP is off the table and the uncapped penalty applies.
How to file under DFVCP
- Complete the full Form 5500 or 5500-SF, including every required schedule. For a large plan, that includes the independent auditor's report.
- File it in EFAST2 and check the DFVCP box in Part I, line D.
- Pay the penalty through the DOL's online DFVC penalty calculator, which computes the days late and applies the caps. You can file several late years for the same plan in one submission to use the per-plan cap.
- Pay from company funds, not the plan. The plan administrator is personally liable for the DFVCP penalty, and plan assets cannot be used.
- Keep the confirmation with your plan records. You will need it if the IRS sends a penalty notice.
If you are a large plan without an audit report
This is the most common reason large plans miss October 15. The audit is not finished, or it never started because nobody realized the plan had crossed 100 participants with balances.
Filing without the audit does not solve it. A large-plan Form 5500 missing the auditor’s report is incomplete, and the DOL treats an incomplete filing much like no filing. The practical path is to line up an auditor now, complete the audit, then file the complete return through DFVCP. For a large plan, every month of delay adds about $300 to the penalty until the $2,000 cap, so the audit timeline matters more than the penalty does. What a first auditor actually looks at covers what the work involves.
While you wait on the auditor, gather what they will ask for first: the plan document and amendments, recordkeeper year-end reports, the recordkeeper’s SOC 1 report, payroll registers, and deposit dates for employee deferrals.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still use DFVCP if I already got a letter from the DOL?
No. DFVCP is only available to administrators who have not been notified in writing by the Department of Labor of the failure to file.
Does DFVCP cover IRS penalties too?
The IRS provides penalty relief for late filers who complete DFVCP and meet its conditions. DFVCP itself is a Department of Labor program and does not cover penalties under Title IV of ERISA.
Is the penalty calculated from July 31 or October 15?
From the original due date, July 31 for a calendar-year plan, even if you filed a Form 5558 extension.
Can the plan pay the DFVCP penalty?
No. It has to come from the plan sponsor or administrator, not from plan assets.
We filed late for several years. Do we pay the cap for each year?
No, if you submit them together. The per-plan cap is $1,500 for a small plan and $4,000 for a large plan, however many years you file at once.
We have fewer than 100 employees. Why do we need an audit?
The count is participants with account balances, not employees. Former employees who left balances in the plan count, and auto-enrollment adds balances quickly.
Ledgerline is building a practice that does one thing, the ERISA 401(k) plan audit, including first audits for plans filing late through DFVCP. Engagements begin in December 2026. If your large plan missed October 15, it is worth starting the conversation now and gathering documents in the meantime.
For questions about your own filing, talk to your TPA or ERISA counsel.