IRS Updates Specifications for Filing Form 8955-SSA

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released the 2025 tax year Publication 4810, Specifications for Electronic Filing of Form 8955-SSA, Annual Registration Statement Identifying Separated Participants with Deferred Vested Benefits. The purpose of this publication is to provide specifications for electronically filing Form 8955-SSA, Annual Registration Statement Identifying Separated Participants with Deferred Vested Benefits. This publication must be used to prepare current and prior year Form 8955 SSAs. Retirement plan sponsors use this form to notify the Social Security Administration (SSA) if a former employee has vested benefits remaining in the plan. 

The publication notes that due to the planned retirement of the Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE) System, the IRS will no longer accept new Information Returns (IR) Applications for Transmitter Control Codes (TCCs) beginning July 21, 2026. Existing applicants can continue to update their applications through December 2026, after which they will become read-only and retained for historical reference. Additionally, current FIRE users must complete an Information Returns Intake System (IRIS) Application for TCC and transition to IRIS for electronic filing beginning with the 2027 filing season. IRIS will be the only information returns electronic filing system, including current year, prior year, or correction.