IRAs and qualified retirement plans (QRPs) are intended to be used for retirement. Therefore, the tax laws and regulations encourage people to leave their money in an IRA or QRP until they retire. If distributions are taken from an IRA (including an IRA holding SEP contributions) or QRP before the account owner reaches age 59½, a 10 percent early distribution penalty tax is assessed on the taxable amount of the distribution, unless a penalty tax exception applies.
Read MorePower of attorney (POA) legal arrangements are becoming a prevalent tool that retirees use to manage their finances—including their IRA assets. Under such an arrangement, an individual—including an IRA owner—may grant to another the legal authority to act on his behalf in financial or other matters. To reduce liability, financial organizations should create a process for reviewing, accepting, and responding to a POA.
Read MoreIf a client has received an extension to file his taxes, he may believe that he has an extension to make a prior-year contribution. It is important to understand that a tax filing extension is not an extension to make a prior-year IRA contribution: it is only an extension to file the tax return. But other postponements may apply to some of your clients.
Read MoreAs you may have already guessed, this is typically the busiest time of the year for many financial institutions. During the next few months, your staff may be juggling different tasks—including preparing the 2024 IRA reporting forms and answering a higher amount of calls from clients.
Read MoreFinal federal withholding regulations were released in Treasury Decision (TD) 10008 on October 21, 2024. They address withholding requirements for payments made outside the United States.
Read MoreTraditional Individual Retirement Accounts, better known as IRAs, were created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and have revolutionized how Americans save for their golden years. They became available on January 1, 1975.
Read MoreAlthough IRAs are meant to provide individuals with a source of income during retirement, many clients may want to incorporate their IRAs into their overall estate planning. In such cases, while making clear that you are not providing tax or legal advice, you may find yourself discussing IRA beneficiary options with clients. Beneficiary options—especially for Roth IRAs—can be confusing.
Read MoreIRS final required minimum distribution (RMD) regulations were published on July 19, 2024, more than four years after enactment of relevant statutory changes in the SECURE Act of 2019. Especially noteworthy are provisions affecting those who inherit an IRA whose owner had not yet satisfied the RMD for the year in which they died. Ironically, these provisions have the potential to both simplify and to complicate the process by which beneficiaries meet year-of-death RMD obligations.
Read MoreThe Internal Revenue Service recently released Treasury Decision (TD) 10008, which provides guidance on income tax withholding requirements for certain periodic payments and nonperiodic distributions from deferred compensation plans, individual retirement arrangements (IRAs), and commercial annuities.
Read MoreThe IRS has issued Notice 2024-80, which contains the 2025 cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for IRA and employer-sponsored retirement plan dollar limitations on benefits and contributions under the Internal Revenue Code.
Read MoreIn 2019, the SECURE Act made several changes to the rules for retirement plans and IRAs, including raising the applicable RMD age from 70½ to 72. In 2022, the IRS released proposed regulations that revised long-standing RMD rules and provided guidance on certain SECURE Act provisions. Congress also passed the SECURE 2.0 Act, which increased the applicable RMD age again from age 72 to age 73 in 2023, and then to age 75 in 2033 (or the year of retirement, if later, for certain plan participants who are not five percent owners).
Read MoreAs the end of the year approaches, some of your clients may start requesting qualified charitable distributions (QCDs).
Read MoreA recharacterization is a transaction that allows an IRA owner to “undo” a regular Traditional or Roth IRA contribution and to treat it as though it had been made to the opposite type of IRA.
Read MoreHere is a refresher for IRA excess contributions and how to remove them.
Read MoreEmployers may now offer an increased SIMPLE IRA plan elective deferral limit, even though plan documents do not reflect the new provision. In fact, it may be required for some companies to allow these increased limits now, depending upon the size of the company.
Read MoreThe IRS has issued Notice 2024-55, providing guidance on emergency personal expense distributions and domestic abuse victim distributions that are effective after December 31, 2023, under SECURE 2.0.
Read MoreThe deadline to remove excess contributions and avoid the penalty—removed with the net income attributable (NIA)—is the IRA owner’s tax return due date, plus extensions.
Read MoreThe Internal Revenue Service is reminding businesses who sponsor a retirement plan that certain provisions of SECURE 2.0 that became effective in 2023 may impact their Form W-2 reporting requirements.
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