Form 5500-EZ

Form 5500-EZ, Annual Return of a One-Participant Retirement Plan

Form 5500-EZ is the annual return for a one-participant retirement plan: the IRS says it covers only you (or you and your spouse), or only partners, in a business you own. Upload last year's Form 5500-EZ and the new blank to reuse the plan and sponsor details each year, then review.

Tested with the irs.gov edition dated 2025

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What Form 5500-EZ is for

irs.gov says "Form 5500-EZ is used by one-participant plans and certain foreign plans that are not subject to the requirements of section 104(a) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to satisfy certain annual reporting and filing obligations imposed by section 6058(a) of the Internal Revenue Code." The form is the Annual Return of a One-Participant (Owners/Partners and Their Spouses) Retirement Plan or a Foreign Plan. This page covers one-participant plans.

Who files Form 5500-EZ

The instructions say "You must file Form 5500-EZ for a retirement plan if the plan is a one-participant plan or a foreign plan that is required to file an annual return under section 6058(a)." A one-participant plan is defined there: a defined benefit pension plan or a defined contribution profit-sharing or money purchase pension plan, other than an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, that covers only you (or you and your spouse) and you own the entire business, or covers only partners (or partners and their spouses), and provides benefits for no one else. The instructions do not use the label "solo 401(k)". Check whether your plan fits the IRS definition. The IRS also says a one-participant plan "cannot file an annual return on Form 5500 ... or Form 5500-SF".

The asset threshold and the due date

The instructions say you "do not have to file Form 5500-EZ for the 2025 plan year for a one-participant plan if the total of the plan's assets and the assets of all other one-participant plans maintained by the employer at the end of the 2025 plan year does not exceed $250,000, unless 2025 is the final plan year of the plan." On timing: "Form 5500-EZ must be filed by the last day of the 7th calendar month after the end of the plan year that began in 2025 (not to exceed 12 months in length)." These are the IRS's words for the 2025 plan year; check the instructions for the year you are filing. RepeatForm does not work out whether your plan is over or under the threshold.

E-filing and paper filing

The instructions say every one-participant plan required to file "must either file paper Form 5500-EZ with the IRS or electronically file Form 5500-EZ using the EFAST2 Filing System". irs.gov adds that a filer required to file at least 10 returns in the calendar year must file Form 5500-EZ electronically, and that the IRS may waive that on a year-by-year basis for undue economic hardship. EFAST2 is run through the Department of Labor website, efast.dol.gov. RepeatForm does not file anything: it prepares the PDF.

Using the same details on a new copy

Upload a Form 5500-EZ you completed and this year's blank; RepeatForm carries the matching answers across; you review them, then preview the PDF before you export. Advisers who prepare the form for several plans can do the same for each plan's own prior-year copy.

What carries over

✓The plan name, plan number and the date the plan first became effective, where they match in both copies
✓The employer's name, trade name, address, employer identification number, telephone number and business code, where they match in both copies
✓The plan administrator's details, where they match in both copies
✓The name of the individual signing for the employer or plan administrator, where it matches in both copies
✓Anything else that matches in both copies. Check it yourself; the plan year and every count and amount are different each time

What to check before you rely on it

✓The plan-year dates at the top of the form and the type-of-return boxes. The dates describe one plan year, so set them for this year's return. If the plan year, the employer's name or EIN or the plan name has changed, line 4 of the form asks for the previous details.
✓The date the plan first became effective (line 1c) should stay the same each year; check it.
✓The name of the individual signing. It can carry, but check it is the right person for this return.

What never carries over

✓The plan year and everything that depends on it: participant counts, plan assets and liabilities, contributions, loans, the funding questions and every amount. Enter those again from this year's plan records.
✓The first-return, amended-return, final-return and short-plan-year boxes, the extension boxes and the late-filer box. They describe this one return, so set them yourself.
✓Anything the IRS prints and locks on the form, and anything in your completed copy that does not appear in the blank form.
✓A signature. The form is signed by the employer or plan administrator, and the PDF carries only the printed name, so sign by hand. The IRS says to sign and date the form before mailing a paper return.
✓A filing. A completed form is not a filing: the IRS describes how to file.

If the IRS has a new edition

The IRS publishes a Form 5500-EZ for each plan year. Carrying a prior year's copy into the new one works for many answers, but some fields are renamed or moved and match only partly, so check every line on the new year's form in Review before you export.

Get the current form from irs.gov

How it works

Move matching answers into the new form, then check the PDF.

Upload the two versions, check what matched, then inspect the finished PDF before paying.

Upload two PDFs

Start with last year's Form 5500-EZ for the plan and this year's blank.

Check matching answers

Review what RepeatForm found before creating Preview.

Preview the result

Inspect the exact completed PDF before paying.

Free to upload, review and preview. Pay $6.99 USD once to download the PDF you checked. No subscription.

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Good to know

✓You review every carried-over answer. RepeatForm does not guarantee the form is correct and cannot promise the IRS will accept it.
✓RepeatForm does not give tax, legal or retirement-plan advice. It cannot tell you whether your plan must file, and it does not work out assets, contributions or any amount. Use the IRS instructions or a qualified adviser.
✓RepeatForm does not file anything with the IRS or the Department of Labor.
✓It works with digital, text-selectable PDFs only. Scans, photos and handwriting are not supported.
✓Same or recent editions work best. If the form changed you may get fewer matches, so check the preview carefully and get the current form from irs.gov.

Not sure whether your form is supported? See the list on supported PDFs.

Want to know how reuse works with any PDF form? Read how to copy PDF form fields.

FAQ

Who needs to file Form 5500-EZ?+

The IRS instructions say you must file Form 5500-EZ for a retirement plan "if the plan is a one-participant plan or a foreign plan that is required to file an annual return under section 6058(a)", and they define a one-participant plan as one that covers only you (or you and your spouse) in a business you own, or only partners (or partners and their spouses). Read the full definition and the exceptions in the instructions. RepeatForm does not decide for you.

What are the filing requirements for a solo 401(k) plan?+

The IRS instructions do not use the term "solo 401(k)". They describe one-participant plans: those must file annually unless the plan meets the conditions for not filing, which include a total-asset threshold quoted in the instructions ("does not exceed $250,000" for the 2025 plan year, unless it is the final plan year). Check whether your plan fits the definition and read the exceptions. RepeatForm does not give plan advice.

Do I file Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF instead?+

For a one-participant plan, no. The instructions say such a plan "cannot file an annual return on Form 5500, Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan, or Form 5500-SF, Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan", and must either file paper Form 5500-EZ with the IRS or file it electronically using EFAST2.

When is Form 5500-EZ due?+

The 2025 instructions say "Form 5500-EZ must be filed by the last day of the 7th calendar month after the end of the plan year that began in 2025 (not to exceed 12 months in length)." If the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the return may be filed on the next day that is not. The instructions also describe an extension request on Form 5558. Check the instructions for the year you are filing.

Can I file Form 5500-EZ electronically?+

Yes. irs.gov says "You can file Form 5500-EZ electronically through ERISA Filing Acceptance System (EFAST2)", and the instructions say a one-participant plan must either file on paper with the IRS or electronically through EFAST2. irs.gov also says a filer required to file at least 10 returns in a calendar year must file Form 5500-EZ electronically. RepeatForm does not file for you.

Is there a penalty for filing late?+

The form carries this caution: "A penalty for the late or incomplete filing of this return will be assessed unless reasonable cause is established." The instructions have a Penalties section, and the form has a box for the IRS Late Filer Penalty Relief Program. Read the instructions for your case. RepeatForm does not give advice on penalties.

Can I reuse last year's Form 5500-EZ?+

You can reuse the plan and sponsor details that stay the same, such as the plan name and number, the employer and administrator details and the date the plan first became effective. The plan year, counts and amounts are different each time, so enter them again and check every line in Review. Sign it by hand.