Posts in IRA
IRA Compliance — Are You Prepared for an IRS Audit?

Compliance is a critical concern for financial organizations that serve as IRA trustees, custodians, and issuers—and for good reason. IRS penalties for noncompliance and violation of IRA rules can be costly. If the IRS finds compliance issues with your IRA program, it could lead to further scrutiny of your organization.

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Now is the Perfect Time to Review Your Record Retention Procedures

Summer is typically a slower part of the year for most financial organizations, so organizations often use this “downtime” to review their operational policies and procedures. During this time of the year, our consultants on the Ascensus 800 Consulting Lines receive frequent calls about IRA record retention—including “How long should our financial organization keep IRA documents?”

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Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan Rollovers: What Are My Client’s Options?

When individuals retire or leave their employer, they must decide what to do with the accumulated savings in their retirement plan. Typically, they will roll over the assets to another qualified retirement plan or an IRA in order to keep the assets in a tax-deferred account. If they decide to withdraw the assets, they may end up having to include the distribution amount in their taxable income for the year.

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IRS Provides Additional RMD Transition Relief Under SECURE/SECURE 2.0

The IRS on July 14, 2023, issued Notice 2023-54 to provide transition relief for required minimum distributions (RMDs) in connection with the change in required beginning date (RBD) to age 73 under SECURE 2.0, and guidance for certain specified RMDs for 2023.

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IRS Issues Interim Guidance on Plan Corrections Under SECURE 2.0 Act

The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0) provisions affecting the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) support the IRS trend toward shifting certain types of retirement account corrections to the Self Correction Program (SCP).

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Proposed Regulations Govern Making Participant Elections and Spousal Consents Electronically

The coronavirus pandemic resulted in restrictions on where and how people could meet. These limitations—including remote work requirements—made it harder for some participants to take distributions from employer-sponsored retirement plans. In response, the IRS issued temporary relief allowing spousal consent to be obtained using remote notary services.

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Our Client Says That We’ve Incorrectly Reported His SEP Contribution—What Do We Do?

There can be confusion surrounding how to report SEP contributions. Our ERISA consultants receive frequent calls about this topic on our 800 Consulting lines. A common scenario involves a self-employed business owner receiving a Form 5498, IRA Contribution Information, and noticing that the SEP contribution that he made wasn’t reported for the tax year in which he reported the contribution on his federal tax return.

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