Brief Case
Pension Resource

Form 5558 extension service: terms

Version 2026-11-08b · Authorization text version 2026-11-08

What the service does

Pension Resource offers three ways to extend the due date of a plan's Form 5500 series return (and, when marked, Form 8955-SSA) with Form 5558:

  • Download it and file it yourself, free, no account needed. Fill in Form 5558 on our page, validate it (the EFAST2 edit tests plus our own checks) and download a PDF (to file on paper or type into EFAST2) or an EFAST2 XML file to use elsewhere. You file it yourself; the plan details aren't stored.
  • File it now, $5.00 per filing. Signed in with a verified email, you authorize us to file this Form 5558 with EFAST2 right away. We email you the EFAST2 confirmation.
  • Annual Auto-Filing, $5.00 per filing, prepaid. We prepare and file Form 5558 with EFAST2 for each plan with Annual Auto-Filing on, every year, 30 days before the Form 5500 due date, until you skip a year, turn Annual Auto-Filing off or remove the plan. Right before filing we search EFAST2 for that plan year's Form 5500; if it is already filed we don't file Form 5558 (and no prepaid filing is used) unless you chose "File even if a Form 5500 is detected". If the search is unavailable we file. You can turn it on before or after filing through us.
  • Filing through the API. Your own software or an AI assistant can file with an API key you allowed to file, paid with your account prepaid filings.

Validation, downloads, saved plans and share links run in your browser or are not kept: we store plan details only when you have us file.

Form 5558 must be filed by the return's normal due date (the last day of the 7th month after the plan year ends) and extends it by 2½ months. It does not extend the deadline for contributions or for paying any tax. Dates we show are calendar due dates; when one falls on a weekend or federal holiday the deadline moves to the next business day, but we still file 30 days ahead.

Terminating plans: a terminated plan's final plan year ends on the date its last assets are paid out, and that year's Form 5500 is due the last day of the 7th month after that month. We ask you for that date by email; we don't file the final Form 5558 until you give it, and the date you give is used as the end of the final plan year.

Change of plan year: when a plan changes its plan year, the plan year of the change is a short plan year that ends the day before the new plan year begins, and its Form 5500 is due the last day of the 7th month after it ends. Record the change on My Plans; we file for the short year on that schedule and use the new plan year end afterwards. If the plan's latest public Form 5500 looks like a final return (no assets at year end), we don't file later years automatically unless you chose "File even if a Form 5500 is detected".

Your authorization

Before we file for a plan, the person signing up gives us written permission to file for it. We record who gave it (typed name, capacity, firm and account), when, the text version they agreed to and the IP address and browser used. It covers each filing you ask for and, while Annual Auto-Filing is on, each year’s filing. Turning Annual Auto-Filing off stops the yearly filings; removing the plan ends the permission.

A third-party administrator, recordkeeper, accountant, attorney, actuary or other service provider who signs up plans (one at a time or by uploading a list) confirms that the plan administrator of each plan has authorized it in writing to have Form 5558 filed, and agrees to give us a copy of that authorization on request.

Authorization (one plan): I am the plan administrator or employer of this plan, or a service provider the plan administrator has authorized in writing to act for it. I authorize Pension Resource to prepare and file Form 5558 with EFAST2 for this plan, using the information I provided, to extend the due date of the plan's Form 5500 series return (and Form 8955-SSA where marked) by 2 1/2 months: each time I ask it to file, and every year while automatic filing is on, until I turn automatic filing off, skip a year or remove the plan. I will keep the information current and keep a copy of the plan administrator's authorization for each plan. I understand that each filing uses one prepaid filing ($5.00), that the extension does not extend the deadline for contributions or for paying any tax, that the plan can file Form 5558 itself instead (the form and the EFAST2 file are free to download), and that unused prepaid filings can be refunded on request.
Authorization (plan list): I am the plan administrator or employer of each plan in the list I uploaded, or a service provider the plan administrator has authorized in writing to act for it. I authorize Pension Resource to prepare and file Form 5558 with EFAST2 for each plan in the list I uploaded, using the information I provided, to extend the due date of the plan's Form 5500 series return (and Form 8955-SSA where marked) by 2 1/2 months: each time I ask it to file, and every year while automatic filing is on, until I turn automatic filing off, skip a year or remove the plan. I will keep the information current and keep a copy of the plan administrator's authorization for each plan. I understand that each filing uses one prepaid filing ($5.00), that the extension does not extend the deadline for contributions or for paying any tax, that the plan can file Form 5558 itself instead (the form and the EFAST2 file are free to download), and that unused prepaid filings can be refunded on request.
Authorization (API key that can file): I authorize Pension Resource to file Form 5558 with EFAST2 whenever a request made with this API key asks it to, for the plan and plan year in that request, using the information in the request and paying with my account prepaid filings ($5.00 each). I am the plan administrator or employer of each plan I file for, or a service provider the plan administrator has authorized in writing, and I will keep a copy of that authorization. Each request names the person authorizing it and their capacity, and is recorded. I am responsible for keeping this key secret; I can revoke it at any time on the Form 5558 page. The extension does not extend the deadline for contributions or for paying any tax.

With an API key that can file, each filing request names the person authorizing it and their capacity; we record that with the key, the time and the IP address, the same as a filing made on our page. You are responsible for everything filed with your keys until you revoke them. Keys can't buy filings, remove plans or get refunds.

Filing from a shared link: whoever signs in and files gives the authorization, not the person who shared the link.

Prices, payments and refunds

  • Every Form 5558 we file, whether you click File it now, it is filed by Annual Auto-Filing or through the API, uses one prepaid filing ($5.00). Prepaid filings belong to your account, not to one plan, and work for any of your plans; for example $15.00 prepays 3 filings. To limit fraud, you can hold up to 3 prepaid filings for each plan on My Plans (three years at a time). Payments are by card through Stripe; we never see or store your card number.
  • Filings bought for the plans in an uploaded plan list stay with those plans and are used first.
  • A prepaid filing is used only when EFAST2 accepts (or, for Form 5558, receives) the filing. If a filing fails, it is released.
  • Refund your unused account prepaid filings any time from My Plans, to the card used, at the price paid. Remove a plan any time; filings bought for it in a plan list are refunded then. Filings already made are not refunded. Turning Annual Auto-Filing off keeps the plan.
  • You can add a plan without prepaying. If a plan has no prepaid filings left when its Annual Auto-Filing is due, we email you and do not file until you pay. Downloading Form 5558 to file it yourself is always free.

Your responsibilities

  • Give accurate plan details (sponsor name and address, EIN, plan number, plan name, plan year end) and keep them current. Form 5558 is filed with the details on file when it is sent.
  • Watch for our emails. With Annual Auto-Filing on, we send a heads-up two weeks before we file (44 days before the due date), the EFAST2 confirmation after filing, or a notice that the Form 5500 was found and no Form 5558 was filed.
  • Tell us whether to file Form 5558 even when a Form 5500 is detected, and check that a Form 5500 we report as found is the right plan year's return. Form 5500-EZ returns are not in the public EFAST2 search.
  • For a terminating plan, give us the termination date and, once the last assets are paid out, the final distribution date.
  • Keep the EFAST2 confirmation with the plan's records, and file the Form 5500 series return by the extended due date.
  • If we tell you a filing could not be made, file Form 5558 yourself before the due date. A late Form 5558 does not extend anything.

What we keep

Only the business details printed on Form 5558, the email addresses you give for notices, the filing history and EFAST2 acknowledgment IDs, payment records (without card numbers) and the authorization log. No participant data is collected. For visitors who download without an account we keep only a hashed IP address for rate limiting.

“Save Locally” keeps plan details in your browser's local storage on that device only. Share links carry the plan details encrypted in the part of the link after the #, which browsers don't send to our server; anyone with the link (and passcode, if you set one) can read them, so share it like the form itself.

Limits

We are not a law firm or a tax adviser and this service is not legal or tax advice. We file through EFAST2 and are not responsible for EFAST2 outages, rejections caused by incorrect plan details, or deadlines missed because a plan had no prepaid filings, was skipped, had Annual Auto-Filing off or was removed, because a Form 5500 found on EFAST2 led us not to file, because the public EFAST2 search was wrong or incomplete, because a final distribution date was not given or was wrong, or because our emails were not read. Our liability for any filing is limited to the fees paid for that plan.

Hold harmless and indemnification

To the fullest extent the law allows, you agree to hold harmless, defend and indemnify Pension Resource and its owners, employees and contractors from and against any claims, penalties, interest, losses, damages, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from or related to: (a) plan details, dates, authorizations or other information you or anyone using your account or API keys gave us; (b) any filing you asked for or allowed, or chose not to have made (including skipped years, a Form 5500 detected on EFAST2 with "File even if a Form 5500 is detected" off, or Annual Auto-Filing turned off); (c) a claim by a plan, plan sponsor, plan administrator, participant or other person that you lacked authority to have Form 5558 filed for a plan; (d) your failure to file the Form 5500 series return, Form 8955-SSA or Form 5558 on time; and (e) your breach of these terms. This doesn't apply to losses caused by our own gross negligence or willful misconduct.

These terms work together with the site's Terms of Use. Questions: support@pensionresource.website.

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