Skip to main content

You are here

Advertisement

Retirement Plan Disbursement Rules Kicking in, IRS Reminds

All disbursements from a retirement plan scheduled to be made at the same time are treated as a single distribution even if they are sent to multiple destinations. That new rule becomes mandatory as 2015 dawns, the IRS has reminded taxpayers in the Dec. 23 issue of its e-newsletter, Employee Plans News.

When the IRS announced the new rule in Notice 2014-54 on Sept. 18, it said the rule could be applied immediately if desired. But that changes on Jan. 1, 2015, when the rule becomes mandatory.

Under the notice, taxpayers with pretax and after-tax amounts in their plan can transfer, through direct rollovers, the pretax portion of the distributions from qualified plans under Code Section 401(a) (such as profit-sharing and 401(k) plans), 403(b) plans and 457(b) plans. This includes earnings on after-tax amounts to a traditional IRA and the after-tax portion of the distribution to a Roth IRA. The guidance in Notice 2014-54 does not apply to distributions from IRAs.

The Dec. 23 issue of Employee Plans News also provides FAQs to help taxpayers apply the notice. Additionally, the IRS recently issued an updated chart on rollovers; more information about rollovers, rollover eligibility and other considerations is available online here.