#10482NR-BD (5/2008)
B.DIRECT ROLLOVER TO A ROTH IRA
For distributions taken after December 31, 2007, you can open a Roth IRA to receive a rollover from your employer’s plan if your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is not more than $100,000 and you are not married filing a separate income tax return. The amount of the rollover from your employer plan to the Roth IRA will be treated as a distribution for income tax purposes and is includible in your gross income. Beginning in 2010, the $100,000 MAGI limit and the married filing separate tax filing restriction will be eliminated for rollover eligibility. Although the rollover amount is generally included in income, the 10 percent early distribution penalty will not apply, regardless if you qualify for any exceptions to the 10 percent penalty. If you choose to have your payment made directly to a Roth IRA, contact a Roth IRA sponsor (usually a financial institution) to find out how to have your payment made as a rollover to a Roth IRA.
C.DIRECT ROLLOVER TO A PLAN
If you are employed by a new employer that has an eligible employer plan, and you want a payment from your previous employer’s plan directly rolled over to your new employer’s plan, ask the plan administrator of that plan whether it will accept your rollover. An eligible employer plan is not legally required to accept a rollover. Even if your new employer’s plan does not accept a rollover, you can choose a direct rollover to a Traditional IRA. If your new employer’s plan accepts your rollover, the plan may provide restrictions on the circumstances under which you may later receive a distribution of the rollover amount or may require spousal consent to any subsequent distribution. Check with the plan administrator of the receiving plan before making your decision.
D.DIRECT ROLLOVER OF A SERIES OF PAYMENTS
If you receive a payment that can be rolled over to a Traditional IRA or an eligible employer plan, and it is paid in a series of payments for less than ten years, your choice to make or not make a direct rollover of the first payment will apply to all later payments in the series until you change your election. You are free to change your election for any later payment in the series.
E.CHANGE IN TAX TREATMENT RESULTING FROM A DIRECT ROLLOVER
The tax treatment of any payment from the eligible employer plan or Traditional IRA receiving your direct rollover might be different than if you received your benefit in a taxable distribution directly from the plan. For example, if you were born before January 1, 1936, you might be entitled to ten-year averaging or capital gain treatment, as explained below. However, if you have your benefit rolled over to a tax-sheltered annuity described under Section 403(b) of the Code, a deferred compensation plan described under Section 457(b) of the Code, or a Traditional IRA in a direct rollover, your benefit will no longer be eligible for that special treatment. See the sections below entitled “Additional 10 percent Tax If You Are Under Age 591⁄2” and “Special Tax Treatment If You Were Born Before January 1, 1936.”
III.PAYMENT PAID TO YOU
If your payment can be rolled over (see Part I above) and the payment is made to you in cash, it is subject to 20 percent federal income tax withholding on the taxable portion (state tax withholding may also apply). The payment is taxed in the year you receive it unless, within 60 days, you roll it over to an IRA or an eligible employer plan. If you do not roll it over, special tax rules may apply.
A.INCOME TAX WITHHOLDING
1.Mandatory Withholding
If any portion of your payment can be rolled over under Part I above and you do not elect to make a direct rollover, the plan is required by law to withhold 20 percent of the taxable amount. This amount is sent to the IRS as income tax withholding. For example, if you can roll over a taxable payment of $10,000, only $8,000 will be paid to you because the plan must withhold $2,000 as income tax. However, when you prepare your income tax return for the year, unless you make a rollover within 60 days (see “Sixty-Day Rollover Option” below) you must report the full $10,000 as a payment from the plan. You must report the $2,000 as tax withheld, and it will be credited against any income tax you owe for the year. There will be no income tax withholding if your payments for the year are less than $200. If a portion of your payment consists of Roth elective deferrals (as described in Part Four below), the Plan will treat the Roth account portion of your payment as a separate distribution for purposes of the $200 rule to determine amounts that are not rollover eligible.
2.Voluntary Withholding
If any portion of your payment is taxable but cannot be rolled over under Part I above, the mandatory withholding rules described above do not apply. In this case, you may elect not to have withholding apply to that portion. If you do nothing, an amount will be taken out of this portion of your payment for federal income tax withholding. To elect out of withholding, ask the plan administrator for the election form and related information.
3.Sixty-Day Rollover Option
If you receive a payment that can be rolled over under Part I above, you can still decide to roll over all or part of it to a Traditional IRA or an eligible employer plan. If you decide to roll over, you must contribute the amount of the payment you received to a Traditional IRA or eligible employer plan within 60 days after you receive the payment. The portion of your payment that is rolled over will not be taxed until you take it out of the Traditional IRA or the eligible employer plan.
If you receive a payment after December 31, 2007 that can be rolled over under Part I above, you can still decide to roll over all or part of it to a Roth IRA. If you choose to roll it over, you must contribute the amount of the payment you received to a Roth IRA within 60 days after you receive the payment. The portion of your payment that is rolled over will be taxed at the time it is distributed, but will not be subject to the 10 percent early distribution penalty.
You can roll over up to 100 percent of your payment that can be rolled over under Part I above, including an amount equal to the 20 percent of the taxable portion that was withheld. If you choose to roll over 100 percent, you must find other money within the 60-day period to contribute to the Traditional IRA or the eligible employer plan, to replace the 20 percent that was withheld. On the other hand, if you roll over only the 80 percent of the taxable portion that you received, you will be taxed on the 20 percent that was withheld.
Example: The taxable portion of your payment that can be rolled over under Part I above is $10,000, and you choose to have it paid to you. You will receive $8,000, and $2,000 will be sent to the IRS as income tax withholding. Within 60 days after receiving the $8,000, you may roll over the entire $10,000 to a Traditional IRA or eligible employer plan. To do this, you roll over the $8,000 you received from the plan, and you will have to find $2,000 from other sources (your savings, a loan, etc.). In this case, the entire $10,000 is not taxed until you take it out of the Traditional IRA or an eligible employer plan. If you roll over the entire $10,000, when you file your income tax return you may get a refund of part or all of the $2,000 withheld.
If, on the other hand, you roll over only $8,000, the $2,000 you did not roll over is taxed in the year it was withheld. When you file your income tax return you may get a refund of part of the $2,000 withheld. (However, any refund is likely to be larger if you roll over the entire $10,000.)