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Common IRA Rollover Mistakes
The 60-Day Rule
After you receive the funds from your IRA, you have 60 days to complete the rollover to another IRA. If you do not complete the rollover within the time allowed, or receive a waiver, or extension, of the 60-day period from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the amount will be treated as ordinary income in the IRS's eyes.
That means you must include the amount as income on your tax return, where any taxable amounts will be taxed at your current, ordinary income tax rate. Plus, if you did not reach age 59.5 when the distribution occurred, you'll face a 10% penalty on the withdrawal.
One-Year Waiting Rule
Within one year, after you distribute assets from your IRA and roll over any part of that amount, you cannot make another tax-free rollover of any IRA. This law changed due to a 2014 Tax Court decision.
Previously, the one-year rule only applied to making additional rollovers from the same IRA to another (or the same) IRA. Here's how it used to work: Imagine that you have two IRAs - IRA-1 and IRA-2 – and you make a tax-free rollover from IRA-1 into a new IRA (IRA-3). Within one year of the distribution from IRA-1, you cannot make another tax-free rollover from IRA-1 or from IRA-3 into another IRA. However, you could roll funds out of IRA-2 into any other IRA, because you did not roll money into or out of that account within the previous year.
Under the new rules, you can't roll funds out of IRA-2 either, until the one-year time period has passed. The once-a-year limit on IRA-to-IRA rollovers does not apply to eligible rollover distributions from an employer plan. Therefore, you can roll over more than one distribution from the same qualified plan, 403(b) or 457(b) account within a year. (Note: This one-year limit also does not apply to rollovers from Traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs, i.e. Roth conversions.)
RMDs Not Eligible for Rollover
You are allowed to make tax-free rollovers from your IRAs at any age, but if you are 70.5 or older, you cannot roll over your annual required minimum distribution (RMD), as a rollover of a RMD would be considered an excess contribution.
If you are required to make a RMD each year, be sure to remove the current year's RMD amount from your IRA before implementing the rollover.
Same Property Rule
Your rollover, from one IRA or to another IRA, must consist of the same property. This means that you cannot take cash distributions from your IRA, purchase other assets with the cash and then roll over those assets into a new (or the same) IRA. Should this occur, the IRS would consider the cash distribution from the IRA as ordinary income.
Caution: When Not to Use a Rollover
If you are simply moving your IRA from one financial institution to another and you do not need to use the funds, then you should consider using the transfer method, instead of a rollover. A transfer is non-reportable, and can be done for an unlimited number of times during any period. A rollover leaves room for errors, including missing the 60-day deadline, losing the check and you are limited to the once per 12-month rule, discussed earlier.
Additional Points
You can roll over funds from any of your own traditional IRAs, but you can also roll over funds to your traditional IRA from the following retirement plans:
- A traditional IRA you inherit from your deceased spouse
- A qualified plan
- A tax-sheltered annuity plan (section 403(b) plan)
- A government deferred-compensation plan (section 457 plan)
Note that if rollover eligible amounts, from qualified plans, 403(b) plans or governmental 457 plans, are paid to you instead of processed as a direct rollover to an eligible retirement plan, the payor must withhold 20% of the amount distributed to you. Of course, you will receive credit for the taxes that were withheld. However, if you decide to roll over the total distribution, you will need to make up the 20%, out of pocket.
If you want to avoid the withholding and the associated reporting requirements, a direct rollover is the method that should be used to effectuate your rollover from your qualified plan, 403(b) plan or governmental 457 plan account. A direct rollover is reportable, but not taxable. Plus, there is no 60-day window to worry about. Be sure to check with your plan administrator and IRA custodian regarding their documentation and operational requirements for processing a direct rollover on your behalf.
You might be able to move funds the other direction, too. That is, you may be able to take a distribution from your IRA, and then roll it into a qualified plan. Note, however, that your employer is not required to accept such rollovers, so check with your plan's administrator before you distribute the assets from your IRA. Further, certain amounts, such as nontaxable amounts and RMDs, cannot be rolled from an IRA to a qualified plan
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Written by: George D. Lambert
