PBGC premium filings
A defined benefit plan owes the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation a premium every year, on top of its Form 5500. Prepare it here from the same plan record, with PBGC’s published rates applied and the file checked before you upload it.
$79 per filing, paid by card when it goes. Preparing and checking it is free. All prices
The essentials
Who files it
Every PBGC-covered defined benefit plan — single-employer or multiemployer — for every plan year, whether or not a premium is actually due.
When
The 15th day of the tenth full month of the plan year: 15 October for a calendar-year plan. Plan years beginning in 2025 were pulled forward a month, to 15 September.
What it costs
A flat rate per participant plus, for single-employer plans, a variable rate per $1,000 of unfunded vested benefits, capped per participant. We apply PBGC’s published rates for the year and show the arithmetic.
How it is filed
Through PBGC’s My PAA, by uploading the XML we produce. PBGC has no submission interface for software, so the upload — and the payment — are always yours.
How it works here
- Start from a plan you already file a Form 5500 for — the EIN, plan number, sponsor and administrator come across.
- Enter the participant counts and the actuary’s unfunded vested benefits. The flat-rate premium, the variable-rate premium, both caps on it (the per-participant cap and, if the employer qualifies, the small-employer cap), the total and the net amount due are worked out from PBGC’s published rates and the premium instructions, with the rate shown beside each figure.
- The file is checked against PBGC’s schema and the business rules PBGC gave us — the same checks My PAA runs — before you can download it.
- Download the XML, carrying our vendor code CLDK251, and upload it to My PAA.
- Pay PBGC by ACH or wire with the remittance line PBGC requires, generated for the plan:
EIN/PN: XX-XXXXXXX/XXX PYC: MM/DD/YYYY. PBGC does not process paper checks, so we never suggest one.
Premium rates and payment details are quoted from PBGC’s own pages, and the page you pay from shows the date they were read. This page explains the filing in general terms; it is not actuarial, tax or legal advice, and the plan administrator remains responsible for what is filed and paid.
Questions
When is the PBGC premium due?
Generally the 15th day of the tenth full calendar month of the plan year: 15 October for a calendar-year plan. For plan years beginning in 2025 only, the law moved it to the 15th day of the ninth month, so a calendar-year plan's 2025 premium was due 15 September 2025. From 2026 the usual rule applies again.
Does a Form 5558 extension move the PBGC due date?
No. A Form 5558 extends the Form 5500 series return only. The premium filing keeps PBGC's own due date.
Do we have to file if no premium is owed?
Yes. Every PBGC-covered defined benefit plan files every year, whether or not a premium is actually due.
Can software send the filing to PBGC for us?
No. PBGC accepts the comprehensive premium filing through My PAA and has no submission interface for software. We produce the XML, checked against PBGC's schema, and you upload it in My PAA.
How is the premium paid?
To PBGC directly, by ACH or wire, with the remittance line PBGC requires. PBGC does not process paper checks. Nothing about the premium is paid to us.
How is the premium worked out?
A flat rate per participant and, for a single-employer plan, a variable rate per $1,000 of unfunded vested benefits, capped per participant. We apply PBGC's published rates for the plan year and show the rate beside every figure.
Official sources
- PBGC: Premium filing due dates
- PBGC: Premium rates
- PBGC: Comprehensive premium filing instructions
- PBGC: 2025 due date change
Rules change. These are the government pages the answers above come from.