News

"When the RMD is an annual obligation, the Single Life Expectancy Table must be used to identify the denominator for the RMD calculation. In some cases, adjustments must be made to determine the life expectancy factor for a year. Beneficiaries must know when adjustments are required and ensure they are applied.... These rules also apply to employer plans."

68 pages. "Rollover advice is explicitly included in the regulation as a form of fiduciary advice.... PTE 2020-02  ... would be the flagship DOL exemption providing relief for conflicted investment advice ... Compliance with other 'best interest' and conflict mitigation regulations [does] not suffice under PTE 2020-02.... [T]he application of the Final Rule to insurance distribution remains complex.... [E]lements of the Final Rule create the predicate for a potential private right of action by IRA owners."

"This fact sheet issues frequently asked questions about SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0) that provides for special rules for distributions from retirement plans and individual retirement arrangements (IRAs) and for retirement plan loans, for certain individuals impacted by federally declared major disasters.... [These FAQs] will not be relied on or used by the IRS to resolve a case.... [A] taxpayer who reasonably and in good faith relies on these FAQs will not be subject to a penalty that provides a reasonable cause standard for relief, including a negligence penalty or other accuracy-related penalty, to the extent that reliance results in an underpayment of tax.'

18 Q&As divided into [1] General information; [2] Taxation and reporting of qualified disaster recovery distributions; [3] Repayment of qualified distributions taken for the purpose of purchasing or constructing a principal residence in a qualified disaster area; and [4] Loans from certain qualified plans.

"Consistent with the proposal, the term ' IRA' includes health savings accounts (HSA) and certain other tax-advantaged trusts and plans. The final regulation includes owners of HSAs in the definition of ' retirement investor.' "

"This report provides [IRS] data on contributions to IRAs in 2020. Congress has an interest in contribution data because tax expenditures for retirement plans (estimated to be $25.0 billion for IRAs and $117.8 billion for DC plans in FY2024) are one of the largest categories of revenue losses attributable to provisions in the tax code." [R48051 Apr. 25, 2024]

"Under the final rulemaking , trusted advisers will have to: [1] Meet a professional standard of care when making recommendations (give prudent advice); [2] Never put their financial interests ahead of the retirement investor's when making recommendations (give loyal advice); [3] Avoid misleading statements about conflicts of interest, fees, and investments; [4] Charge no more than what is reasonable for their services; and [5] Give the retirement investor basic information about the adviser's conflicts of interest.... The rule and exemptions are carefully designed to honor retirement investors' legitimate expectation of advice that is in their best interest."

DOL comprehensive web pages that describe and publish the final regulations and associated PTEs, as well as public comments and hearing.

"[The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)] has issued a final rule to protect workers' retirement savings by updating the regulation defining a fiduciary under [ERISA]. The 'Retirement Security Rule: Definition of an Investment Advice Fiduciary' affects how investors get advice on their job-based retirement accounts and other retirement savings plans and how trusted investment advice providers must act if they have a conflict of interest."

476 pages. "The [DOL] is adopting a final rule defining when a person renders 'investment advice for a fee or other compensation, direct or indirect' with respect to any moneys or other property of an employee benefit plan, for purposes of the definition of a 'fiduciary' in [Title I of ERISA]. The final rule also applies for purposes of Title II of ERISA to the definition of a fiduciary of a plan defined in Internal Revenue Code, including an individual retirement account or other plan identified in the Code. The Department also is publishing ... amendments to Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02 (Improving Investment Advice for Workers & Retirees) and to several other existing administrative exemptions from the prohibited transaction rules applicable to fiduciaries under Title I and Title II of ERISA."

139 pages. "This document contains a notice of amendment to class prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) 2020-02, which provides relief for investment advice fiduciaries to receive certain compensation that otherwise would be prohibited. The amendment affects participants and beneficiaries of employee benefit plans, individual retirement account (IRA) owners, and fiduciaries with respect to such plans and IRAs."

159 pages. "This document contains a notice of amendment to Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 84-24, an exemption from certain prohibited transaction provisions of [ERISA] and the Internal Revenue Code ... The amendment affects participants and beneficiaries of plans, individual retirement account (IRA) owners, and certain fiduciaries of plans and IRAs."

52 pages. "This document contains a notice of amendments to Prohibited Transaction Exemptions (PTEs) 75-1, 77-4, 80-83, 83-1, and 86-128, which are class exemptions from certain prohibited transaction provisions of [ERISA] and the Internal Revenue Code ... The amendments affect participants and beneficiaries of plans, individual retirement account (IRA) owners, and certain fiduciaries of plans and IRAs."

25 pages. "The Administration's rationale for updating the current definition of investment advice includes the following: inadequacy of the current five-part test, gaps in the current rule, a desire for a uniform standard of advice, and expectations held by retirement investors.... The 2023 proposed rule received over 20,000 comments. Stakeholders had varying opinions, ranging from requests to withdraw the proposal to suggesting changes to endorsing the proposal." [R48045 Apr. 23, 2024]

"Most people can set aside up to $23,000 in a 401(k) and $7,000 in an IRA in 2024 ($30,500 and $8,000, respectively, for adults 50-plus). But high earners may not be able to make tax-deductible IRA contributions if they have access to a 401(k) through their employer. They can make nondeductible contributions[.]"

40 pages. "This report provides an overview of pension investment issues across state and local pensions, federal pensions (with a focus on TSP), private sector pension plans, and IRAs. For each of these types of pensions or retirement accounts, this report explains relevant federal authorities (if any), relevant federal oversight (if any), and administrative issues.... This report also identifies and synthesizes key pension investment issues for Congress, many of which have received regulatory and congressional responses or have involved legislative activity in the 118th Congress." [R47996 Apr. 3, 2024]

69 pages; Mar. 12, 2024. "What's New: [1] Qualified tuition program rollover to a Roth IRA.... [2] Distributions to victims of domestic abuse.... [3] Excise tax relief for certain 2023 required minimum distributions."

70 pages; Feb. 6, 2024. "What's New: [1] Qualified tuition program rollover to a Roth IRA.... [2] Distributions to victims of domestic abuse.... [3] Excise tax relief for certain 2023 required minimum distributions."

"A redemption may be prohibitively expensive when the plan owns a large percentage of the company ... Fortunately, ROBS owners who are at least 59½ years old have another choice ... Upon reaching age 59½, a ROBS owner may elect to receive a distribution of their QES from the plan.... Like all plan distributions, this is taxable to the ROBS owner as an individual, at ordinary income tax rates. However, ... the owner may elect to be taxed only on the amount of their original QES purchase."

61 pages, Mar. 4, 2024. " What's New for 2023 : [1] IRA contribution limit increased.... [2] Increase in required minimum distribution age.... [3] Modified AGI limit for traditional IRA contributions ... [4] Modified AGI limit for Roth IRA contributions ...  What's New for 2024 : [1] IRA contribution limit increased for 2024.... [2] Modified AGI limit for traditional IRA contributions increased.... [3] Modified AGI limit for certain married individuals increased.... [4] Modified AGI limit for Roth IRA contributions increased."

"anyone thinking that they can let sleeping dogs lie, and not fix excess IRA contributions or missed RMDs from years prior to 2022, may want to reconsider. This Tax Court case is a warning that the new SECURE 2.0 SOL may not be enough to make those problems go away." [ Couturier v. Commissioner , No. 19714-16 (T.C. Feb. 28, 2024)]

"In mid-2023, more than four in 10 US households owned IRAs.... [M]ore than seven in 10 US households had retirement plans through work or IRAs ... [while] more than eight in 10 near-retiree households did.... 62 percent of traditional IRA-owning households indicated that their IRAs contained rollovers from employer-sponsored retirement plans.... The three most common primary reasons for rolling over were not wanting to leave assets behind at the former employer, wanting to consolidate assets, and wanting more investment options."

"The information on Form 5498 is submitted to the IRS by the trustee or issuer of your individual retirement arrangement (IRA) to report contributions, including any catch-up contributions, required minimum distributions (RMDs), and the fair market value (FMV) of the account."

"Generally, a distribution from an IRA is treated as income for the year the amount leaves the IRA. However, an uncashed check could cause different results, depending on who writes the check. If it is the IRA custodian, the tax impact is not affected. But if the IRA owner writes the check and it is uncashed by year-end, that would mean including the amount in income for a different year than planned."

62 pages, Feb. 13, 2024. " What's New for 2023 : [1] IRA contribution limit increased.... [2] Increase in required minimum distribution age.... [3] Modified AGI limit for traditional IRA contributions ... [4] Modified AGI limit for Roth IRA contributions ...  What's New for 2024 : [1] IRA contribution limit increased for 2024.... [2] Modified AGI limit for traditional IRA contributions increased.... [3] Modified AGI limit for certain married individuals increased.... [4] Modified AGI limit for Roth IRA contributions increased."

70 pages; Feb. 6, 2024. "What's New: [1] Certain distributions from a long-term tuition pro- gram to Roth IRAs.... [2] Distributions to victims of domestic abuse.... [3] Simplified Employee Pensions (SEP).... [4] Deemed IRAs."

"Older workers with earned income -- including those who've already started taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) at age 73 -- can make contributions to tax-deferred traditional IRAs.... [C]ontributing could make sense if you want to: [1] Lower your taxable income ... [2] Benefit from a lower tax bracket in retirement ... [3] Perform a backdoor Roth conversion "