Tax rules prevent you from stashing away your pre-tax retirement money indefinitely to avoid paying taxes. Some of the rules about pre-tax retirement accounts have changed multiple times, making it a real challenge to keep up. Age and distribution rule changes for annual Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and other pre-tax retirement plan distributions are particularly head-spinning.
An RMD is just what it sounds like – a required distribution that is calculated and paid annually based on the taxpayer’s age and pre-tax retirement plan balances. The RMD amount is included in taxable income. The good news – there are online tables to help to calculate the RMD amount that must be taken every year. The bad news – a 50% penalty is assessed by the IRS if the minimum RMD is not taken by the deadline (e.g., April 1, 2020, for tax year 2019). Quite a strong incentive to follow the RMD rules.
Back in December 2019, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (aka “SECURE Act”) was signed into law. The SECURE Act changed several important aspects of distributions from traditional (pre-tax) IRAs, 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, and other pre-tax retirement plans. For example, the age when RMDs must start increased from 70½ to 72. See my December 11, 2019, blog post https://www.searlebzllc.com/2019/12/ for details about SECURE Act changes.
Well, because of COVID-19, portions of the December 2019, the law related to RMDs didn’t stand for long. On June 23, 2020, the IRS announced that, per the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, known as the CARES Act, the RMD is waived for 2020. Taxpayers over 72 who had already taken her or his RMD for 2020 from a pre-tax retirement account has until August 31, 2020, to roll the funds back into the account. Ordinarily, RMD rollbacks need to be done within 60 days of the distribution.
The IRS is also giving taxpayers a couple of other breaks by not counting the RMD repayment toward the rule that prohibits more than one rollover per 12-month period and the restriction on rollovers for inherited IRAs. Nice breaks but more to track.
Some of the rules about pre-tax retirement accounts have changed multiple times, like RMDs from pre-tax retirement plans that changed twice in less than a year! Keeping up can be hard. Sure, you can hire a tax professional to help you out, but you don’t have to. The best place for all the latest tax information is free and always available – www.irs.gov!