Publication 590 Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)

What's New for 2013

Traditional IRA contribution and deduction limit. The contribution limit to your traditional IRA for 2013 will be increased to the smaller of the following amounts:

Roth IRA contribution limit. If contributions on your behalf are made only to Roth IRAs, your contribution limit for 2013 will generally be the lesser of:

For more information, see How Much Can Be Contributed? under Can You Contribute to a Roth IRA? in chapter 2.

Modified AGI limit for traditional IRA contributions increased. For 2013, if you were covered by a retirement plan at work, your deduction for contributions to a traditional IRA is reduced (phased out) if your modified AGI is:

Modified AGI limit for Roth IRA contributions increased. For 2013, your Roth IRA contribution limit is reduced (phased out) in the following situations.

Net Investment Income Tax. For purposes of the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT), net investment income does not include distributions from a qualified retirement plan (for example, 401(a), 403(a), 403(b), 457(b) plans, and IRAs). However, these distributions are taken into account when determining the modified adjusted gross income threshold. Distributions from a nonqualified retirement plan are included in net investment income. See Form 8960, Net Investment Income Tax--Individuals, Estates, and Trusts, and its instructions for more information.

Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA. In 2013, spousal IRAs were renamed to Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRAs. There are no changes to the rules regarding these IRAs. See Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA Limit in chapter 1 for more information.

What's New for 2014

Modified AGI limit for traditional IRA contributions increased. For 2014, if you are covered by a retirement plan at work, your deduction for contributions to a traditional IRA is reduced (phased out) if your modified AGI is:

Modified AGI limit for Roth IRA contributions increased. For 2014, your Roth IRA contribution limit is reduced (phased out) in the following situations.

Future developments. For the latest information about developments related to Publication 590, such as legislation enacted after it was published, go to http://www.irs.gov/pub590.

Simplified employee pension (SEP). SEP IRAs are not covered in this publication. They are covered in Publication 560, Retirement Plans for Small Business.

Deemed IRAs. A qualified employer plan (retirement plan) can maintain a separate account or annuity under the plan (a deemed IRA) to receive voluntary employee contributions. If the separate account or annuity otherwise meets the requirements of an IRA, it will be subject only to IRA rules. An employee's account can be treated as a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA.

For this purpose, a "qualified employer plan" includes:

Statement of required minimum distribution (RMD). If an RMD is required from your IRA, the trustee, custodian, or issuer that held the IRA at the end of the preceding year must either report the amount of the RMD to you, or offer to calculate it for you. The report or offer must include the date by which the amount must be distributed. The report is due January 31 of the year in which the minimum distribution is required. It can be provided with the year-end fair market value statement that you normally get each year. No report is required for section 403(b) contracts (generally tax-sheltered annuities) or for IRAs of owners who have died.

IRA interest. Although interest earned from your IRA is generally not taxed in the year earned, it is not tax-exempt interest. Tax on your traditional IRA is generally deferred until you take a distribution. Do not report this interest on your return as tax-exempt interest. For more information on tax-exempt interest, see the instructions for your tax return.

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Introduction

This publication discusses individual retirement arrangements (IRAs). An IRA is a personal savings plan that gives you tax advantages for setting aside money for retirement.

What are some tax advantages of an IRA? Two tax advantages of an IRA are that:

How to use this publication. The rules that you must follow depend on which type of IRA you have. Use Table I-1 to help you determine which parts of this publication to read. Also use Table I-1 if you were referred to this publication from instructions to a form.

Comments and suggestions. We welcome your comments about this publication and your suggestions for future editions.

You can write to us at the following address:

Internal Revenue Service Tax Forms and Publications Division 1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526 Washington, DC 20224

We respond to many letters by telephone. Therefore, it would be helpful if you would include your daytime phone number, including the area code, in your correspondence.

You can send your comments from http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/. Click on "More Information" and then on "Comment on Tax Forms and Publications".

Although we cannot respond individually to each comment received, we do appreciate your feedback and will consider your comments as we revise our tax products.

Ordering forms and publications. Visit http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/ to download forms and publications, call 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676), or write to the address below and receive a response within 10 days after your request is received.

Internal Revenue Service 1201 N. Mitsubishi Motorway Bloomington, IL 61705-6613

Tax questions. If you have a tax question, check the information available on IRS.gov or call 1-800-829-1040. We cannot answer tax questions sent to either of the above addresses.

Useful Items

You may want to see:

Publications

Table I-1. Using This Publication

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 This table shows the differences between traditional and Roth IRAs.

What's New for 2013

Traditional IRA contribution and deduction limit. The contribution limit to your traditional IRA for 2013 will be increased to the smaller of the following amounts:

Modified AGI limit for traditional IRA contributions increased. For 2013, if you were covered by a retirement plan at work, your deduction for contributions to a traditional IRA is reduced (phased out) if your modified AGI is:

Net Investment Income Tax. For purposes of the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT), net investment income does not include distributions from a qualified retirement plan (for example, 401(a), 403(a), 403(b), 457(b) plans, and IRAs). However, these distributions are taken into account when determining the modified adjusted gross income threshold. Distributions from a nonqualified retirement plan are included in net investment income. See Form 8960, Net Investment Income Tax--Individuals, Estates, and Trusts, and its instructions for more information.

What's New for 2014

Modified AGI limit for traditional IRA contributions increased. For 2014, if you are covered by a retirement plan at work, your deduction for contributions to a traditional IRA is reduced (phased out) if your modified AGI is:

Introduction

This chapter discusses the original IRA. In this publication the original IRA (sometimes called an ordinary or regular IRA) is referred to as a "traditional IRA." A traditional IRA is any IRA that is not a Roth IRA or a SIMPLE IRA. The following are two advantages of a traditional IRA:

You can open and make contributions to a traditional IRA if:

Both spouses have compensation. If both you and your spouse have compensation and are under age 70 1/2, each of you can open an IRA. You cannot both participate in the same IRA. If you file a joint return, only one of you needs to have compensation.

What Is Compensation?

Generally, compensation is what you earn from working. For a summary of what compensation does and does not include, see Table 1-1. Compensation includes all of the items discussed next (even if you have more than one type).

Table 1-1. Compensation for Purposes of an IRA

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Commissions. An amount you receive that is a percentage of profits or sales price is compensation.

Self-employment income. If you are self-employed (a sole proprietor or a partner), compensation is the net earnings from your trade or business (provided your personal services are a material income-producing factor) reduced by the total of:

Self-employment loss. If you have a net loss from self-employment, do not subtract the loss from your salaries or wages when figuring your total compensation.

Alimony and separate maintenance. For IRA purposes, compensation includes any taxable alimony and separate maintenance payments you receive under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance.

Nontaxable combat pay. If you were a member of the U.S. Armed Forces, compensation includes any nontaxable combat pay you received. This amount should be reported in box 12 of your 2013 Form W-2 with code Q.

What Is Not Compensation?

Compensation does not include any of the following items.

You can open a traditional IRA at any time. However, the time for making contributions for any year is limited. See When Can Contributions Be Made, later.

How Can a Traditional IRA Be Opened?

You can open different kinds of IRAs with a variety of organizations. You can open an IRA at a bank or other financial institution or with a mutual fund or life insurance company. You can also open an IRA through your stockbroker. Any IRA must meet Internal Revenue Code requirements. The requirements for the various arrangements are discussed below.

Kinds of traditional IRAs. Your traditional IRA can be an individual retirement account or annuity. It can be part of either a simplified employee pension (SEP) or an employer or employee association trust account.

Individual Retirement Account

An individual retirement account is a trust or custodial account set up in the United States for the exclusive benefit of you or your beneficiaries. The account is created by a written document. The document must show that the account meets all of the following requirements.

You can open an individual retirement annuity by purchasing an annuity contract or an endowment contract from a life insurance company.

An individual retirement annuity must be issued in your name as the owner, and either you or your beneficiaries who survive you are the only ones who can receive the benefits or payments.

An individual retirement annuity must meet all the following requirements.

The sale of individual retirement bonds issued by the federal government was suspended after April 30, 1982. The bonds have the following features.

Simplified Employee Pension (SEP)

A simplified employee pension (SEP) is a written arrangement that allows your employer to make deductible contributions to a traditional IRA (a SEP IRA) set up for you to receive such contributions. Generally, distributions from SEP IRAs are subject to the withdrawal and tax rules that apply to traditional IRAs. See Publication 560 for more information about SEPs.

Employer and Employee Association Trust Accounts

Your employer or your labor union or other employee association can set up a trust to provide individual retirement accounts for employees or members. The requirements for individual retirement accounts apply to these traditional IRAs.

Required Disclosures

The trustee or issuer (sometimes called the sponsor) of your traditional IRA generally must give you a disclosure statement at least 7 days before you open your IRA. However, the sponsor does not have to give you the statement until the date you open (or purchase, if earlier) your IRA, provided you are given at least 7 days from that date to revoke the IRA.

The disclosure statement must explain certain items in plain language. For example, the statement should explain when and how you can revoke the IRA, and include the name, address, and telephone number of the person to receive the notice of cancellation. This explanation must appear at the beginning of the disclosure statement.

If you revoke your IRA within the revocation period, the sponsor must return to you the entire amount you paid. The sponsor must report on the appropriate IRS forms both your contribution to the IRA (unless it was made by a trustee-to-trustee transfer) and the amount returned to you. These requirements apply to all sponsors.

How Much Can Be Contributed?

There are limits and other rules that affect the amount that can be contributed to a traditional IRA. These limits and rules are explained below.

Community property laws. Except as discussed later under Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA Limit, each spouse figures his or her limit separately, using his or her own compensation. This is the rule even in states with community property laws.

Brokers' commissions. Brokers' commissions paid in connection with your traditional IRA are subject to the contribution limit. For information about whether you can deduct brokers' commissions, see Brokers' commissions, later, under How Much Can You Deduct.

Trustees' fees. Trustees' administrative fees are not subject to the contribution limit. For information about whether you can deduct trustees' fees, see Trustees' fees, later, under How Much Can You Deduct.

Qualified reservist repayments. If you were a member of a reserve component and you were ordered or called to active duty after September 11, 2001, you may be able to contribute (repay) to an IRA amounts equal to any qualified reservist distributions (defined later under Early Distributions) you received. You can make these repayment contributions even if they would cause your total contributions to the IRA to be more than the general limit on contributions. To be eligible to make these repayment contributions, you must have received a qualified reservist distribution from an IRA or from a section 401(k) or 403(b) plan or a similar arrangement.

Limit. Your qualified reservist repayments cannot be more than your qualified reservist distributions, explained under Early Distributions, later.

When repayment contributions can be made. You cannot make these repayment contributions later than the date that is 2 years after your active duty period ends.

No deduction. You cannot deduct qualified reservist repayments.

Reserve component. The term "reserve component" means the:

Reporting the repayment. If you repay a qualified reservist distribution, include the amount of the repayment with nondeductible contributions on line 1 of Form 8606.

Example. In 2013, your IRA contribution limit is $5,500. However, because of your filing status and AGI, the limit on the amount you can deduct is $3,500. You can make a nondeductible contribution of $2,000 ($5,500 - $3,500). In an earlier year you received a $3,000 qualified reservist distribution, which you would like to repay this year.

For 2013, you can contribute a total of $8,500 to your IRA. This is made up of the maximum deductible contribution of $3,500; a nondeductible contribution of $2,000; and a $3,000 qualified reservist repayment. You contribute the maximum allowable for the year. Since you are making a nondeductible contribution ($2,000) and a qualified reservist repayment ($3,000), you must file Form 8606 with your return and include $5,000 ($2,000 + $3,000) on line 1 of Form 8606. The qualified reservist repayment is not deductible.

CAUTION: Contributions on your behalf to a traditional IRA reduce your limit for contributions to a Roth IRA. See chapter 2 for information about Roth IRAs.

General Limit

For 2013, the most that can be contributed to your traditional IRA generally is the smaller of the following amounts:

This is the most that can be contributed regardless of whether the contributions are to one or more traditional IRAs or whether all or part of the contributions are nondeductible. (See Nondeductible Contributions, later.) Qualified reservist repayments do not affect this limit.

Examples. George, who is 34 years old and single, earns $24,000 in 2013. His IRA contributions for 2013 are limited to $5,500.

Danny, an unmarried college student working part time, earns $3,500 in 2013. His IRA contributions for 2013 are limited to $3,500, the amount of his compensation.

More than one IRA. If you have more than one IRA, the limit applies to the total contributions made on your behalf to all your traditional IRAs for the year.

Annuity or endowment contracts. If you invest in an annuity or endowment contract under an individual retirement annuity, no more than $5,500 ($6,500 if you are age 50 or older) can be contributed toward its cost for the tax year, including the cost of life insurance coverage. If more than this amount is contributed, the annuity or endowment contract is disqualified.

Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA Limit

For 2013, if you file a joint return and your taxable compensation is less than that of your spouse, the most that can be contributed for the year to your IRA is the smaller of the following two amounts:

Note. This traditional IRA limit is reduced by any contributions to a section 501(c)(18) plan (generally, a pension plan created before June 25, 1959, that is funded entirely by employee contributions).

Example. Kristin, a full-time student with no taxable compensation, marries Carl during the year. Neither of them was age 50 by the end of 2013. For the year, Carl has taxable compensation of $30,000. He plans to contribute (and deduct) $5,500 to a traditional IRA. If he and Kristin file a joint return, each can contribute $5,500 to a traditional IRA. This is because Kristin, who has no compensation, can add Carl's compensation, reduced by the amount of his IRA contribution ($30,000 - $5,500 = $24,500), to her own compensation (-0-) to figure her maximum contribution to a traditional IRA. In her case, $5,500 is her contribution limit, because $5,500 is less than $24,500 (her compensation for purposes of figuring her contribution limit).

Filing Status

Generally, except as discussed earlier under Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA Limit, your filing status has no effect on the amount of allowable contributions to your traditional IRA. However, if during the year either you or your spouse was covered by a retirement plan at work, your deduction may be reduced or eliminated, depending on your filing status and income. See How Much Can You Deduct, later.

Example. Tom and Darcy are married and both are 53. They both work and each has a traditional IRA. Tom earned $3,800 and Darcy earned $48,000 in 2013. Because of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA limit rule, even though Tom earned less than $6,500, they can contribute up to $6,500 to his IRA for 2013 if they file a joint return. They can contribute up to $6,500 to Darcy's IRA. If they file separate returns, the amount that can be contributed to Tom's IRA is limited by his earned income, $3,800.

Less Than Maximum Contributions

If contributions to your traditional IRA for a year were less than the limit, you cannot contribute more after the due date of your return for that year to make up the difference.

Example. Rafael, who is 40, earns $30,000 in 2013. Although he can contribute up to $5,500 for 2013, he contributes only $3,000. After April 15, 2014, Rafael cannot make up the difference between his actual contributions for 2013 ($3,000) and his 2013 limit ($5,500). He cannot contribute $2,500 more than the limit for any later year.

More Than Maximum Contributions

If contributions to your IRA for a year were more than the limit, you can apply the excess contribution in one year to a later year if the contributions for that later year are less than the maximum allowed for that year. However, a penalty or additional tax may apply. See Excess Contributions, later, under What Acts Result in Penalties or Additional Taxes.

When Can Contributions Be Made?

As soon as you open your traditional IRA, contributions can be made to it through your chosen sponsor (trustee or other administrator). Contributions must be in the form of money (cash, check, or money order). Property cannot be contributed.

Although property cannot be contributed, your IRA may invest in certain property. For example, your IRA may purchase shares of stock. For other restrictions on the use of funds in your IRA, see Prohibited Transactions, later in this chapter. You may be able to transfer or roll over certain property from one retirement plan to another. See the discussion of rollovers and other transfers later in this chapter under Can You Move Retirement Plan Assets.

TIP: You can make a contribution to your IRA by having your income tax refund (or a portion of your refund), if any, paid directly to your traditional IRA, Roth IRA, or SEP IRA. For details, see the instructions for your income tax return or Form 8888, Allocation of Refund (Including Savings Bond Purchases).

Contributions can be made to your traditional IRA for each year that you receive compensation and have not reached age 70 1/2. For any year in which you do not work, contributions cannot be made to your IRA unless you receive alimony, nontaxable combat pay, military differential pay, or file a joint return with a spouse who has compensation. See Who Can Open a Traditional IRA, earlier. Even if contributions cannot be made for the current year, the amounts contributed for years in which you did qualify can remain in your IRA. Contributions can resume for any years that you qualify.

Contributions must be made by due date. Contributions can be made to your traditional IRA for a year at any time during the year or by the due date for filing your return for that year, not including extensions. For most people, this means that contributions for 2013 must be made by April 15, 2014, and contributions for 2014 must be made by April 15, 2015.

Age 70 1/2 rule. Contributions cannot be made to your traditional IRA for the year in which you reach age 70 1/2 or for any later year.

You attain age 70 1/2 on the date that is 6 calendar months after the 70th anniversary of your birth. If you were born on or before June 30, 1943, you cannot contribute for 2013 or any later year.

Designating year for which contribution is made. If an amount is contributed to your traditional IRA between January 1 and April 15, you should tell the sponsor which year (the current year or the previous year) the contribution is for. If you do not tell the sponsor which year it is for, the sponsor can assume, and report to the IRS, that the contribution is for the current year (the year the sponsor received it).

Filing before a contribution is made. You can file your return claiming a traditional IRA contribution before the contribution is actually made. Generally, the contribution must be made by the due date of your return, not including extensions.

Contributions not required. You do not have to contribute to your traditional IRA for every tax year, even if you can.

How Much Can You Deduct?

Generally, you can deduct the lesser of:

TIP: You may be able to claim a credit for contributions to your traditional IRA. For more information, see chapter 4.

Trustees' fees. Trustees' administrative fees that are billed separately and paid in connection with your traditional IRA are not deductible as IRA contributions. However, they may be deductible as a miscellaneous itemized deduction on Schedule A (Form 1040). For information about miscellaneous itemized deductions, see Publication 529, Miscellaneous Deductions.

Brokers' commissions. These commissions are part of your IRA contribution and, as such, are deductible subject to the limits.

Full deduction. If neither you nor your spouse was covered for any part of the year by an employer retirement plan, you can take a deduction for total contributions to one or more of your traditional IRAs of up to the lesser of:

Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA. In the case of a married couple with unequal compensation who file a joint return, the deduction for contributions to the traditional IRA of the spouse with less compensation is limited to the lesser of:

Note. If you were divorced or legally separated (and did not remarry) before the end of the year, you cannot deduct any contributions to your spouse's IRA. After a divorce or legal separation, you can deduct only the contributions to your own IRA. Your deductions are subject to the rules for single individuals.

Covered by an employer retirement plan. If you or your spouse was covered by an employer retirement plan at any time during the year for which contributions were made, your deduction may be further limited. This is discussed later under Limit if Covered by Employer Plan. Limits on the amount you can deduct do not affect the amount that can be contributed.

Are You Covered by an Employer Plan?

The Form W-2 you receive from your employer has a box used to indicate whether you were covered for the year. The "Retirement Plan" box should be checked if you were covered.

Reservists and volunteer firefighters should also see Situations in Which You Are Not Covered, later.

If you are not certain whether you were covered by your employer's retirement plan, you should ask your employer.

Federal judges. For purposes of the IRA deduction, federal judges are covered by an employer plan.

For Which Year(s) Are You Covered?

Special rules apply to determine the tax years for which you are covered by an employer plan. These rules differ depending on whether the plan is a defined contribution plan or a defined benefit plan.

Tax year. Your tax year is the annual accounting period you use to keep records and report income and expenses on your income tax return. For almost all people, the tax year is the calendar year.

Defined contribution plan. Generally, you are covered by a defined contribution plan for a tax year if amounts are contributed or allocated to your account for the plan year that ends with or within that tax year. However, also see Situations in Which You Are Not Covered, later.

A defined contribution plan is a plan that provides for a separate account for each person covered by the plan. In a defined contribution plan, the amount to be contributed to each participant's account is spelled out in the plan. The level of benefits actually provided to a participant depends on the total amount contributed to that participant's account and any earnings and losses on those contributions. Types of defined contribution plans include profit-sharing plans, stock bonus plans, and money purchase pension plans.

Example. Company A has a money purchase pension plan. Its plan year is from July 1 to June 30. The plan provides that contributions must be allocated as of June 30. Bob, an employee, leaves Company A on December 31, 2012. The contribution for the plan year ending on June 30, 2013, is made February 15, 2014. Because an amount is contributed to Bob's account for the plan year, Bob is covered by the plan for his 2013 tax year.

A special rule applies to certain plans in which it is not possible to determine if an amount will be contributed to your account for a given plan year. If, for a plan year, no amounts have been allocated to your account that are attributable to employer contributions, employee contributions, or forfeitures, by the last day of the plan year, and contributions are discretionary for the plan year, you are not covered for the tax year in which the plan year ends. If, after the plan year ends, the employer makes a contribution for that plan year, you are covered for the tax year in which the contribution is made.

Example. Mickey was covered by a profit-sharing plan and left the company on December 31, 2012. The plan year runs from July 1 to June 30. Under the terms of the plan, employer contributions do not have to be made, but if they are made, they are contributed to the plan before the due date for filing the company's tax return. Such contributions are allocated as of the last day of the plan year, and allocations are made to the accounts of individuals who have any service during the plan year. As of June 30, 2013, no contributions were made that were allocated to the June 30, 2013, plan year, and no forfeitures had been allocated within the plan year. In addition, as of that date, the company was not obligated to make a contribution for such plan year and it was impossible to determine whether or not a contribution would be made for the plan year. On December 31, 2013, the company decided to contribute to the plan for the plan year ending June 30, 2013. That contribution was made on February 15, 2014. Mickey is an active participant in the plan for his 2014 tax year but not for his 2013 tax year.

No vested interest. If an amount is allocated to your account for a plan year, you are covered by that plan even if you have no vested interest in (legal right to) the account.

Defined benefit plan. If you are eligible to participate in your employer's defined benefit plan for the plan year that ends within your tax year, you are covered by the plan. This rule applies even if you:

Example. Nick, an employee of Company B, is eligible to participate in Company B's defined benefit plan, which has a July 1 to June 30 plan year. Nick leaves Company B on December 31, 2012. Because Nick is eligible to participate in the plan for its year ending June 30, 2013, he is covered by the plan for his 2013 tax year.

No vested interest. If you accrue a benefit for a plan year, you are covered by that plan even if you have no vested interest in (legal right to) the accrual.

Situations in Which You Are Not Covered

Unless you are covered by another employer plan, you are not covered by an employer plan if you are in one of the situations described below.

Social security or railroad retirement. Coverage under social security or railroad retirement is not coverage under an employer retirement plan.

Benefits from previous employer's plan. If you receive retirement benefits from a previous employer's plan, you are not covered by that plan.

Reservists. If the only reason you participate in a plan is because you are a member of a reserve unit of the Armed Forces, you may not be covered by the plan. You are not covered by the plan if both of the following conditions are met.

As discussed earlier, the deduction you can take for contributions made to your traditional IRA depends on whether you or your spouse was covered for any part of the year by an employer retirement plan. Your deduction is also affected by how much income you had and by your filing status. Your deduction may also be affected by social security benefits you received.

Reduced or no deduction. If either you or your spouse was covered by an employer retirement plan, you may be entitled to only a partial (reduced) deduction or no deduction at all, depending on your income and your filing status.

Your deduction begins to decrease (phase out) when your income rises above a certain amount and is eliminated altogether when it reaches a higher amount. These amounts vary depending on your filing status.

To determine if your deduction is subject to the phaseout, you must determine your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) and your filing status, as explained later under Deduction Phaseout. Once you have determined your modified AGI and your filing status, you can use Table 1-2 or Table 1-3 to determine if the phaseout applies.

Social Security Recipients

Instead of using Table 1-2 or Table 1-3 and Worksheet 1-2, Figuring Your Reduced IRA Deduction for 2013, later, complete the worksheets in Appendix B of this publication if, for the year, all of the following apply.

Table 1-2. Effect of Modified AGI¹ on Deduction if You Are Covered by a Retirement Plan at Work

 If you are covered by a retirement plan at work, use this table to

 If you are not covered by a retirement plan at work, use this table to

Deduction Phaseout

The amount of any reduction in the limit on your IRA deduction (phaseout) depends on whether you or your spouse was covered by an employer retirement plan.

Covered by a retirement plan. If you are covered by an employer retirement plan and you did not receive any social security retirement benefits, your IRA deduction may be reduced or eliminated depending on your filing status and modified AGI, as shown in Table 1-2.

TIP: For 2014, if you are covered by a retirement plan at work, your IRA deduction will not be reduced (phased out) unless your modified AGI is:

Filing status. Your filing status depends primarily on your marital status. For this purpose, you need to know if your filing status is single or head of household, married filing jointly or qualifying widow(er), or married filing separately. If you need more information on filing status, see Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.

Lived apart from spouse. If you did not live with your spouse at any time during the year and you file a separate return, your filing status, for this purpose, is single.

Modified adjusted gross income (AGI). You can use Worksheet 1-1 to figure your modified AGI. If you made contributions to your IRA for 2013 and received a distribution from your IRA in 2013, see Both contributions for 2013 and distributions in 2013, later.

CAUTION: Do not assume that your modified AGI is the same as your compensation. Your modified AGI may include income in addition to your compensation (discussed earlier) such as interest, dividends, and income from IRA distributions.

Form 1040. If you file Form 1040, refigure the amount on the page 1 "adjusted gross income" line without taking into account any of the following amounts.

Form 1040A. If you file Form 1040A, refigure the amount on the page 1 "adjusted gross income" line without taking into account any of the following amounts.

Form 1040NR. If you file Form 1040NR, refigure the amount on the page 1 "adjusted gross income" line without taking into account any of the following amounts.

Income from IRA distributions. If you received distributions in 2013 from one or more traditional IRAs and your traditional IRAs include only deductible contributions, the distributions are fully taxable and are included in your modified AGI.

Both contributions for 2013 and distributions in 2013. If all three of the following apply, any IRA distributions you received in 2013 may be partly tax free and partly taxable.

If at least one of the above does not apply, figure your modified AGI using Worksheet 1-1, later.

How To Figure Your Reduced IRA Deduction

If you or your spouse is covered by an employer retirement plan and you did not receive any social security benefits, you can figure your reduced IRA deduction by using Worksheet 1-2. Figuring Your Reduced IRA Deduction for 2013. The Instructions for Form 1040A, and Form 1040NR include similar worksheets that you can use instead of the worksheet in this publication.

If you or your spouse is covered by an employer retirement plan, and you received any social security benefits, see Social Security Recipients, earlier.

Note. If you were married and both you and your spouse contributed to IRAs, figure your deduction and your spouse's deduction separately.

Worksheet 1-1. Figuring Your Modified AGI

 Keep for Your Records

Self-employed. If you are self-employed (a sole proprietor or partner) and have a SIMPLE IRA, enter your deduction for allowable plan contributions on Form 1040, line 28. If you file Form 1040NR, enter your deduction on line 28 of that form.

Nondeductible Contributions

Although your deduction for IRA contributions may be reduced or eliminated, contributions can be made to your IRA of up to the general limit or, if it applies, the Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA limit. The difference between your total permitted contributions and your IRA deduction, if any, is your nondeductible contribution.

Example. Tony is 29 years old and single. In 2013, he was covered by a retirement plan at work. His salary is $62,000. His modified AGI is $70,000. Tony makes a $5,500 IRA contribution for 2013. Because he was covered by a retirement plan and his modified AGI is above $69,000, he cannot deduct his $5,500 IRA contribution. He must designate this contribution as a nondeductible contribution by reporting it on Form 8606.

Repayment of reservist distributions. Nondeductible contributions may include repayments of qualified reservist distributions. For more information, see Qualified reservist repayments under How Much Can Be Contributed, earlier.

Form 8606. To designate contributions as nondeductible, you must file Form 8606. (See the filled-in Forms 8606 in this chapter.)

You do not have to designate a contribution as nondeductible until you file your tax return. When you file, you can even designate otherwise deductible contributions as nondeductible contributions.

You must file Form 8606 to report nondeductible contributions even if you do not have to file a tax return for the year.

CAUTION: A Form 8606 is not used for the year that you make a rollover from a qualified retirement plan to a traditional IRA and the rollover includes nontaxable amounts. In those situations, a Form 8606 is completed for the year you take a distribution from that IRA. See Form 8606 under Distributions Fully or Partly Taxable, later.

Failure to report nondeductible contributions. If you do not report nondeductible contributions, all of the contributions to your traditional IRA will be treated like deductible contributions when withdrawn. All distributions from your IRA will be taxed unless you can show, with satisfactory evidence, that nondeductible contributions were made.

Penalty for overstatement. If you overstate the amount of nondeductible contributions on your Form 8606 for any tax year, you must pay a penalty of $100 for each overstatement, unless it was due to reasonable cause.

Penalty for failure to file Form 8606. You will have to pay a $50 penalty if you do not file a required Form 8606, unless you can prove that the failure was due to reasonable cause.

Tax on earnings on nondeductible contributions. As long as contributions are within the contribution limits, none of the earnings or gains on contributions (deductible or nondeductible) will be taxed until they are distributed.

Cost basis. You will have a cost basis in your traditional IRA if you made any nondeductible contributions. Your cost basis is the sum of the nondeductible contributions to your IRA minus any withdrawals or distributions of nondeductible contributions.

CAUTION: Commonly, distributions from your traditional IRAs will include both taxable and nontaxable (cost basis) amounts. See Are Distributions Taxable, later, for more information.

RECORDS: Recordkeeping. There is a recordkeeping worksheet, Appendix A. Summary Record of Traditional IRA(s) for 2013, that you can use to keep a record of deductible and nondeductible IRA contributions.

Examples--Worksheet for Reduced IRA Deduction for 2013

The following examples illustrate the use of Worksheet 1-2, Figuring Your Reduced IRA Deduction for 2013.

Example 1. For 2013, Tom and Betty file a joint return on Form 1040. They are both 39 years old. They are both employed and Tom is covered by his employer's retirement plan. Tom's salary is $59,000 and Betty's is $32,555. They each have a traditional IRA and their combined modified AGI, which includes $5,000 interest and dividend income, is $96,555. Because their modified AGI is between $95,000 and $115,000 and Tom is covered by an employer plan, Tom is subject to the deduction phaseout discussed earlier under Limit if Covered by Employer Plan.

For 2013, Tom contributed $5,500 to his IRA and Betty contributed $5,500 to hers. Even though they file a joint return, they must use separate worksheets to figure the IRA deduction for each of them.

Tom can take a deduction of only $5,080.

He can choose to treat the $5,080 as either deductible or nondeductible contributions. He can either leave the $420 ($5,500 - $5,080) of nondeductible contributions in his IRA or withdraw them by April 15, 2014. He decides to treat the $5,080 as deductible contributions and leave the $420 of nondeductible contributions in his IRA.

Using Worksheet 1-2, Figuring Your Reduced IRA Deduction for 2013, Tom figures his deductible and nondeductible amounts as shown on Worksheet 1-2. Figuring Your Reduced IRA Deduction for 2013--Example 1 Illustrated.

Betty figures her IRA deduction as follows. Betty can treat all or part of her contributions as either deductible or nondeductible. This is because her $5,500 contribution for 2013 is not subject to the deduction phaseout discussed earlier under Limit if Covered by Employer Plan. She does not need to use Worksheet 1-2, Figuring Your Reduced IRA Deduction for 2013, because their modified AGI is not within the phaseout range that applies. Betty decides to treat her $5,500 IRA contributions as deductible.

The IRA deductions of $5,080 and $5,500 on the joint return for Tom and Betty total $10,580.

Example 2. For 2013, Ed and Sue file a joint return on Form 1040. They are both 39 years old. Ed is covered by his employer's retirement plan. Ed's salary is $45,000. Sue had no compensation for the year and did not contribute to an IRA. Sue is not covered by an employer plan. Ed contributed $5,500 to his traditional IRA and $5,500 to a traditional IRA for Sue (a Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA). Their combined modified AGI, which includes $2,000 interest and dividend income and a large capital gain from the sale of stock, is $180,555.

Because the combined modified AGI is $115,000 or more, Ed cannot deduct any of the contribution to his traditional IRA. He can either leave the $5,500 of nondeductible contributions in his IRA or withdraw them by April 15, 2014.

Sue figures her IRA deduction as shown on Worksheet 1-2. Figuring Your Reduced IRA Deduction for 2013--Example 2 Illustrated.

What if You Inherit an IRA?

If you inherit a traditional IRA, you are called a beneficiary. A beneficiary can be any person or entity the owner chooses to receive the benefits of the IRA after he or she dies. Beneficiaries of a traditional IRA must include in their gross income any taxable distributions they receive.

Inherited from spouse. If you inherit a traditional IRA from your spouse, you generally have the following three choices. You can:

 Keep for Your Records

 (Use only if you or your spouse is covered by an employer plan and

 (Use only if you or your spouse is covered by an employer plan and

Inherited from someone other than spouse. If you inherit a traditional IRA from anyone other than your deceased spouse, you cannot treat the inherited IRA as your own. This means that you cannot make any contributions to the IRA. It also means you cannot roll over any amounts into or out of the inherited IRA. However, you can make a trustee-to-trustee transfer as long as the IRA into which amounts are being moved is set up and maintained in the name of the deceased IRA owner for the benefit of you as beneficiary.

Like the original owner, you generally will not owe tax on the assets in the IRA until you receive distributions from it. You must begin receiving distributions from the IRA under the rules for distributions that apply to beneficiaries.

IRA with basis. If you inherit a traditional IRA from a person who had a basis in the IRA because of nondeductible contributions, that basis remains with the IRA. Unless you are the decedent's spouse and choose to treat the IRA as your own, you cannot combine this basis with any basis you have in your own traditional IRA(s) or any basis in traditional IRA(s) you inherited from other decedents. If you take distributions from both an inherited IRA and your IRA, and each has basis, you must complete separate Forms 8606 to determine the taxable and nontaxable portions of those distributions.

Federal estate tax deduction. A beneficiary may be able to claim a deduction for estate tax resulting from certain distributions from a traditional IRA. The beneficiary can deduct the estate tax paid on any part of a distribution that is income in respect of a decedent. He or she can take the deduction for the tax year the income is reported. For information on claiming this deduction, see Estate Tax Deduction under Other Tax Information in Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators.

Any taxable part of a distribution that is not income in respect of a decedent is a payment the beneficiary must include in income. However, the beneficiary cannot take any estate tax deduction for this part.

A surviving spouse can roll over the distribution to another traditional IRA and avoid including it in income for the year received.

More information. For more information about rollovers, required distributions, and inherited IRAs, see:

You can transfer, tax free, assets (money or property) from other retirement programs (including traditional IRAs) to a traditional IRA. You can make the following kinds of transfers.

Transfers to Roth IRAs. Under certain conditions, you can move assets from a traditional IRA or from a designated Roth account to a Roth IRA. For more information about these transfers, see Converting From Any Traditional IRA Into a Roth IRA, later in this chapter, and Can You Move Amounts Into a Roth IRA? in chapter 2.

Transfers to Roth IRAs from other retirement plans. Under certain conditions, you can move assets from a qualified retirement plan to a Roth IRA. For more information, see Can You Move Amounts Into a Roth IRA? in chapter 2.

Trustee-to-Trustee Transfer

A transfer of funds in your traditional IRA from one trustee directly to another, either at your request or at the trustee's request, is not a rollover. Because there is no distribution to you, the transfer is tax free. Because it is not a rollover, it is not affected by the 1-year waiting period required between rollovers. This waiting period is discussed later under Rollover From One IRA Into Another.

For information about direct transfers from retirement programs other than traditional IRAs, see Direct rollover option, later.

Rollovers

Generally, a rollover is a tax-free distribution to you of cash or other assets from one retirement plan that you contribute to another retirement plan. The contribution to the second retirement plan is called a "rollover contribution."

Note. An amount rolled over tax free from one retirement plan to another is generally includible in income when it is distributed from the second plan.

Kinds of rollovers to a traditional IRA. You can roll over amounts from the following plans into a traditional IRA:

Table 1-4. Rollover Chart

 The following chart indicates the rollovers that are permitted between

Rollover notice. A written explanation of rollover treatment must be given to you by the plan (other than an IRA) making the distribution. See Written explanation to recipients, later, for more details.

Kinds of rollovers from a traditional IRA. You may be able to roll over, tax free, a distribution from your traditional IRA into a qualified plan. These plans include the Federal Thrift Savings Fund (for federal employees), deferred compensation plans of state or local governments (section 457 plans), and tax-sheltered annuity plans (section 403(b) plans). The part of the distribution that you can roll over is the part that would otherwise be taxable (includible in your income). Qualified plans may, but are not required to, accept such rollovers.

Tax treatment of a rollover from a traditional IRA to an eligible retirement plan other than an IRA. Ordinarily, when you have basis in your IRAs, any distribution is considered to include both nontaxable and taxable amounts. Without a special rule, the nontaxable portion of such a distribution could not be rolled over. However, a special rule treats a distribution you roll over into an eligible retirement plan as including only otherwise taxable amounts if the amount you either leave in your IRAs or do not roll over is at least equal to your basis. The effect of this special rule is to make the amount in your traditional IRAs that you can roll over to an eligible retirement plan as large as possible.

Eligible retirement plans. The following are considered eligible retirement plans.

You generally must make the rollover contribution by the 60th day after the day you receive the distribution from your traditional IRA or your employer's plan.

Example. You received an eligible rollover distribution from your traditional IRA on June 30, 2013, that you intend to roll over to your 403(b) plan. To postpone including the distribution in your income, you must complete the rollover by August 29, 2013, the 60th day following June 30.

The IRS may waive the 60-day requirement where the failure to do so would be against equity or good conscience, such as in the event of a casualty, disaster, or other event beyond your reasonable control. For exceptions to the 60-day period, see Automatic waiver, Other waivers, and Extension of rollover period, later.

Rollovers completed after the 60-day period. In the absence of a waiver, amounts not rolled over within the 60-day period do not qualify for tax-free rollover treatment. You must treat them as a taxable distribution from either your IRA or your employer's plan. These amounts are taxable in the year distributed, even if the 60-day period expires in the next year. You may also have to pay a 10% additional tax on early distributions as discussed later under Early Distributions.

Unless there is a waiver or an extension of the 60-day rollover period, any contribution you make to your IRA more than 60 days after the distribution is a regular contribution, not a rollover contribution.

Example. You received a distribution in late December 2013 from a traditional IRA that you do not roll over into another traditional IRA within the 60-day limit. You do not qualify for a waiver. This distribution is taxable in 2013 even though the 60-day limit was not up until 2014.

Automatic waiver. The 60-day rollover requirement is waived automatically only if all of the following apply.

In determining whether to grant a waiver, the IRS will consider all relevant facts and circumstances, including:

Extension of rollover period. If an amount distributed to you from a traditional IRA or a qualified employer retirement plan is a frozen deposit at any time during the 60-day period allowed for a rollover, two special rules extend the rollover period.

You can withdraw, tax free, all or part of the assets from one traditional IRA if you reinvest them within 60 days in the same or another traditional IRA. Because this is a rollover, you cannot deduct the amount that you reinvest in an IRA.

TIP: You may be able to treat a contribution made to one type of IRA as having been made to a different type of IRA. This is called recharacterizing the contribution. See Recharacterizations in this chapter for more information.

Waiting period between rollovers. Generally, if you make a tax-free rollover of any part of a distribution from a traditional IRA, you cannot, within a 1-year period, make a tax-free rollover of any later distribution from that same IRA. You also cannot make a tax-free rollover of any amount distributed, within the same 1-year period, from the IRA into which you made the tax-free rollover.

The 1-year period begins on the date you receive the IRA distribution, not on the date you roll it over into an IRA.

Example. You have two traditional IRAs, IRA-1 and IRA-2. You make a tax-free rollover of a distribution from IRA-1 into a new traditional IRA (IRA-3). You cannot, within 1 year of the distribution from IRA-1, make a tax-free rollover of any distribution from either IRA-1 or IRA-3 into another traditional IRA.

However, the rollover from IRA-1 into IRA-3 does not prevent you from making a tax-free rollover from IRA-2 into any other traditional IRA. This is because you have not, within the last year, rolled over, tax free, any distribution from IRA-2 or made a tax-free rollover into IRA-2.

Exception. There is an exception to the rule that amounts rolled over tax free into an IRA cannot be rolled over tax free again within the 1-year period beginning on the date of the original distribution. The exception applies to a distribution that meets all three of the following requirements.

Partial rollovers. If you withdraw assets from a traditional IRA, you can roll over part of the withdrawal tax free and keep the rest of it. The amount you keep will generally be taxable (except for the part that is a return of nondeductible contributions). The amount you keep may be subject to the 10% additional tax on early distributions discussed later under What Acts Result in Penalties or Additional Taxes.

Required distributions. Amounts that must be distributed during a particular year under the required distribution rules (discussed later) are not eligible for rollover treatment.

Inherited IRAs. If you inherit a traditional IRA from your spouse, you generally can roll it over, or you can choose to make the inherited IRA your own as discussed earlier under What if You Inherit an IRA.

Not inherited from spouse. If you inherit a traditional IRA from someone other than your spouse, you cannot roll it over or allow it to receive a rollover contribution. You must withdraw the IRA assets within a certain period. For more information, see When Must You Withdraw Assets? (Required Minimum Distributions), later.

Rollover of required distributions not allowed. If the owner had a required distribution in the year of his or her death, you cannot roll over such distribution. If you do not treat the IRA as your own, you cannot roll over any of the required distributions in years after your deceased spouse's death. Any rollover contributions you make to your own IRA of these required distributions are subject to the 6% tax discussed in Tax on Excess Contributions, later.

For more information on distribution rules after the owner's death, see IRA Beneficiaries, later.

Reporting rollovers from IRAs. Report any rollover from one traditional IRA to the same or another traditional IRA on Form 1040A, lines 11a and 11b; or Form 1040NR, lines 16a and 16b.

Enter the total amount of the distribution on Form 1040, line 15a; Form 1040A, line 11a; or Form 1040NR, line 16a. If the total amount on Form 1040, line 15a; Form 1040A, line 11a; or Form 1040NR, line 16a, was rolled over, enter zero on Form 1040, line 15b; Form 1040A, line 11b; or Form 1040NR, line 16b. If the total distribution was not rolled over, enter the taxable portion of the part that was not rolled over on Form 1040, line 15b; Form 1040A, line 11b; or Form 1040NR, line 16b. Put "Rollover" next to line 15b, Form 1040; line 11b, Form 1040A; or line 16b, Form 1040NR. See your tax return instructions.

If you rolled over the distribution into a qualified plan (other than an IRA) or you make the rollover in 2014, attach a statement explaining what you did.

For information on how to figure the taxable portion, see Are Distributions Taxable, later.

Rollover From Employer's Plan Into an IRA

You can roll over into a traditional IRA all or part of an eligible rollover distribution you receive from your (or your deceased spouse's):

Eligible rollover distribution. Generally, an eligible rollover distribution is any distribution of all or part of the balance to your credit in a qualified retirement plan except the following.

TIP: Any nontaxable amounts that you roll over into your traditional IRA become part of your basis (cost) in your IRAs. To recover your basis when you take distributions from your IRA, you must complete Form 8606 for the year of the distribution. See Form 8606 under Distributions Fully or Partly Taxable, later.

Rollover by nonspouse beneficiary. If you are a designated beneficiary (other than a surviving spouse) of a deceased employee, you can roll over all or part of an eligible rollover distribution from one of the types of plans listed above into a traditional IRA. You must make the rollover by a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer into an inherited IRA.

You will determine your required minimum distributions in years after you make the rollover based on whether the employee died before his or her required beginning date for taking distributions from the plan. For more information, see Distributions after the employee's death under Tax on Excess Accumulation in Publication 575.

Written explanation to recipients. Before making an eligible rollover distribution, the administrator of a qualified retirement plan must provide you with a written explanation. It must tell you about all of the following.

However, you can choose to have a distribution made less than 30 days after the explanation is provided as long as both of the following requirements are met.

Withholding requirement. Generally, if an eligible rollover distribution is paid directly to you, the payer must withhold 20% of it. This applies even if you plan to roll over the distribution to a traditional IRA. You can avoid withholding by choosing the direct rollover option, discussed later.

Exceptions. The payer does not have to withhold from an eligible rollover distribution paid to you if either of the following conditions apply.

Other withholding rules. The 20% withholding requirement does not apply to distributions that are not eligible rollover distributions. However, other withholding rules apply to these distributions. The rules that apply depend on whether the distribution is a periodic distribution or a nonperiodic distribution. For either of these types of distributions, you can still choose not to have tax withheld. For more information, see Publication 575.

Direct rollover option. Your employer's qualified plan must give you the option to have any part of an eligible rollover distribution paid directly to a traditional IRA. The plan is not required to give you this option if your eligible rollover distributions are expected to total less than $200 for the year.

Withholding. If you choose the direct rollover option, no tax is withheld from any part of the designated distribution that is directly paid to the trustee of the traditional IRA.

If any part is paid to you, the payer must withhold 20% of that part's taxable amount.

Choosing an option. Table 1-5 next may help you decide which distribution option to choose. Carefully compare the effects of each option.

Table 1-5. Comparison of Payment to You Versus Direct Rollover

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If you have a lump-sum distribution and do not plan to roll over any part of it, the distribution may be eligible for special tax treatment that could lower your tax for the distribution year. In that case, you may want to see Form 4972, Tax on Lump-Sum Distributions, and its instructions to determine whether your distribution qualifies for special tax treatment and, if so, to figure your tax under the special methods.

You can then compare any advantages from using Form 4972 to figure your tax on the lump-sum distribution with any advantages from rolling over all or part of the distribution. However, if you roll over any part of the lump-sum distribution, you cannot use the Form 4972 special tax treatment for any part of the distribution.

Contributions you made to your employer's plan. You can roll over a distribution of voluntary deductible employee contributions (DECs) you made to your employer's plan. Prior to January 1, 1987, employees could make and deduct these contributions to certain qualified employers' plans and government plans. These are not the same as an employee's elective contributions to a 401(k) plan, which are not deductible by the employee.

If you receive a distribution from your employer's qualified plan of any part of the balance of your DECs and the earnings from them, you can roll over any part of the distribution.

No waiting period between rollovers. The once-a-year limit on IRA-to-IRA rollovers does not apply to eligible rollover distributions from an employer plan. You can roll over more than one distribution from the same employer plan within a year.

IRA as a holding account (conduit IRA) for rollovers to other eligible plans. If you receive an eligible rollover distribution from your employer's plan, you can roll over part or all of it into one or more conduit IRAs. You can later roll over those assets into a new employer's plan. You can use a traditional IRA as a conduit IRA. You can roll over part or all of the conduit IRA to a qualified plan, even if you make regular contributions to it or add funds from sources other than your employer's plan. However, if you make regular contributions to the conduit IRA or add funds from other sources, the qualified plan into which you move funds will not be eligible for any optional tax treatment for which it might have otherwise qualified.

Property and cash received in a distribution. If you receive both property and cash in an eligible rollover distribution, you can roll over part or all of the property, part or all of the cash, or any combination of the two that you choose.

The same property (or sales proceeds) must be rolled over. If you receive property in an eligible rollover distribution from a qualified retirement plan, you cannot keep the property and contribute cash to a traditional IRA in place of the property. You must either roll over the property or sell it and roll over the proceeds, as explained next.

Sale of property received in a distribution from a qualified plan. Instead of rolling over a distribution of property other than cash, you can sell all or part of the property and roll over the amount you receive from the sale (the proceeds) into a traditional IRA. You cannot keep the property and substitute your own funds for property you received.

Example. You receive a total distribution from your employer's plan consisting of $10,000 cash and $15,000 worth of property. You decide to keep the property. You can roll over to a traditional IRA the $10,000 cash received, but you cannot roll over an additional $15,000 representing the value of the property you choose not to sell.

Treatment of gain or loss. If you sell the distributed property and roll over all the proceeds into a traditional IRA, no gain or loss is recognized. The sale proceeds (including any increase in value) are treated as part of the distribution and are not included in your gross income.

Example. On September 6, Mike received a lump-sum distribution from his employer's retirement plan of $50,000 in cash and $50,000 in stock. The stock was not stock of his employer. On September 24, he sold the stock for $60,000. On October 6, he rolled over $110,000 in cash ($50,000 from the original distribution and $60,000 from the sale of stock). Mike does not include the $10,000 gain from the sale of stock as part of his income because he rolled over the entire amount into a traditional IRA.

Note. Special rules may apply to distributions of employer securities. For more information, see Figuring the Taxable Amount under Taxation of Nonperiodic Payments in Publication 575.

Partial rollover. If you received both cash and property, or just property, but did not roll over the entire distribution, see Rollovers in Publication 575.

Life insurance contract. You cannot roll over a life insurance contract from a qualified plan into a traditional IRA.

Distributions received by a surviving spouse. If you receive an eligible rollover distribution (defined earlier) from your deceased spouse's eligible retirement plan (defined earlier), you can roll over part or all of it into a traditional IRA. You can also roll over all or any part of a distribution of deductible employee contributions (DECs).

Distributions under divorce or similar proceedings (alternate payees). If you are the spouse or former spouse of an employee and you receive a distribution from a qualified retirement plan as a result of divorce or similar proceedings, you may be able to roll over all or part of it into a traditional IRA. To qualify, the distribution must be:

Tax treatment if all of an eligible distribution is not rolled over. Any part of an eligible rollover distribution that you keep is taxable in the year you receive it. If you do not roll over any of it, special rules for lump-sum distributions may apply. See Lump-Sum Distributions under Taxation of Nonperiodic Payments in Publication 575. The 10% additional tax on early distributions, discussed later under What Acts Result in Penalties or Additional Taxes, does not apply.

Keogh plans and rollovers. If you are self-employed, you are generally treated as an employee for rollover purposes. Consequently, if you receive an eligible rollover distribution from a Keogh plan (a qualified plan with at least one self-employed participant), you can roll over all or part of the distribution (including a lump-sum distribution) into a traditional IRA. For information on lump-sum distributions, see Lump-Sum Distributions under Taxation of Nonperiodic Payments in Publication 575.

More information. For more information about Keogh plans, see chapter 4 of Publication 560.

Distribution from a tax-sheltered annuity. If you receive an eligible rollover distribution from a tax-sheltered annuity plan (section 403(b) plan), you can roll it over into a traditional IRA.

Receipt of property other than money. If you receive property other than money, you can sell the property and roll over the proceeds as discussed earlier.

Rollover from bond purchase plan. If you redeem retirement bonds that were distributed to you under a qualified bond purchase plan, you can roll over tax free into a traditional IRA the part of the amount you receive that is more than your basis in the retirement bonds.

Reporting rollovers from employer plans. Enter the total distribution (before income tax or other deductions were withheld) on Form 1040A, line 12a; or Form 1040NR, line 17a. This amount should be shown in box 1 of Form 1099-R. From this amount, subtract any contributions (usually shown in box 5 of Form 1099-R) that were taxable to you when made. From that result, subtract the amount that was rolled over either directly or within 60 days of receiving the distribution. Enter the remaining amount, even if zero, on Form 1040, line 16b; Form 1040A, line 12b; or Form 1040NR, line 17b. Also, enter "Rollover" next to line 16b on Form 1040; line 12b of Form 1040A; or line 17b of Form 1040NR.

Rollover of Exxon Valdez Settlement Income

If you are a qualified taxpayer (defined next) and you received qualified settlement income (defined below), you can contribute all or part of the amount received to an eligible retirement plan which includes a traditional IRA. The amount contributed cannot exceed $100,000 (reduced by the amount of qualified settlement income contributed to an eligible retirement plan in prior tax years) or the amount of qualified settlement income received during the tax year. Contributions for the year can be made until the due date for filing your return, not including extensions.

Qualified settlement income that you contribute to a traditional IRA will be treated as having been rolled over in a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer within 60 days of the distribution. The amount contributed is not included in your income at the time of the contributions and is not considered to be investment in the contract. Also, the 1-year waiting period between rollovers does not apply.

Qualified taxpayer. You are a qualified taxpayer if you are:

Transfers Incident To Divorce

If an interest in a traditional IRA is transferred from your spouse or former spouse to you by a divorce or separate maintenance decree or a written document related to such a decree, the interest in the IRA, starting from the date of the transfer, is treated as your IRA. The transfer is tax free. For information about transfers of interests in employer plans, see Distributions under divorce or similar proceedings (alternate payees) under Rollover From Employer's Plan Into an IRA, earlier.

Transfer methods. There are two commonly used methods of transferring IRA assets to a spouse or former spouse. The methods are:

Direct transfer. Under this method, you direct the trustee of the traditional IRA to transfer the affected assets directly to the trustee of a new or existing traditional IRA set up in the name of your spouse or former spouse.

If your spouse or former spouse is allowed to keep his or her portion of the IRA assets in your existing IRA, you can direct the trustee to transfer the assets you are permitted to keep directly to a new or existing traditional IRA set up in your name. The name on the IRA containing your spouse's or former spouse's portion of the assets would then be changed to show his or her ownership.

CAUTION: If the transfer results in a change in the basis of the traditional IRA of either spouse, both spouses must file Form 8606 and follow the directions in the instructions for that form.

Converting From Any Traditional IRA Into a Roth IRA

Allowable conversions. You can withdraw all or part of the assets from a traditional IRA and reinvest them (within 60 days) in a Roth IRA. The amount that you withdraw and timely contribute (convert) to the Roth IRA is called a conversion contribution. If properly (and timely) rolled over, the 10% additional tax on early distributions will not apply. However, a part or all of the distribution from your traditional IRA may be included in gross income and subjected to ordinary income tax.

You must roll over into the Roth IRA the same property you received from the traditional IRA. You can roll over part of the withdrawal into a Roth IRA and keep the rest of it. The amount you keep will generally be taxable (except for the part that is a return of nondeductible contributions) and may be subject to the 10% additional tax on early distributions. See When Can You Withdraw or Use Assets, later, for more information on distributions from traditional IRAs and Early Distributions, later, for more information on the tax on early distributions.

Periodic distributions. If you started taking substantially equal periodic payments from a traditional IRA, you can convert the amounts in the traditional IRA to a Roth IRA and then continue the periodic payments. The 10% additional tax on early distributions will not apply even if the distributions are not qualified distributions (as long as they are part of a series of substantially equal periodic payments).

Required distributions. You cannot convert amounts that must be distributed from your traditional IRA for a particular year (including the calendar year in which you reach age 70 1/2) under the required distribution rules (discussed later in this chapter).

Income. You must include in your gross income distributions from a traditional IRA that you would have had to include in income if you had not converted them into a Roth IRA. These amounts are normally included in income on your return for the year that you converted them from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.

You do not include in gross income any part of a distribution from a traditional IRA that is a return of your basis, as discussed under Are Distributions Taxable, later in this chapter.

CAUTION: If you must include any amount in your gross income, you may have to increase your withholding or make estimated tax payments. See Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax.

Recharacterizations

You may be able to treat a contribution made to one type of IRA as having been made to a different type of IRA. This is called recharacterizing the contribution.

To recharacterize a contribution, you generally must have the contribution transferred from the first IRA (the one to which it was made) to the second IRA in a trustee-to-trustee transfer. If the transfer is made by the due date (including extensions) for your tax return for the tax year during which the contribution was made, you can elect to treat the contribution as having been originally made to the second IRA instead of to the first IRA. If you recharacterize your contribution, you must do all three of the following.

Conversion by rollover from traditional to Roth IRA. For recharacterization purposes, if you receive a distribution from a traditional IRA in one tax year and roll it over into a Roth IRA in the next year, but still within 60 days of the distribution from the traditional IRA, treat it as a contribution to the Roth IRA in the year of the distribution from the traditional IRA.

Effect of previous tax-free transfers. If an amount has been moved from one IRA to another in a tax-free transfer, such as a rollover, you generally cannot recharacterize the amount that was transferred. However, see Traditional IRA mistakenly moved to SIMPLE IRA below.

Recharacterizing to a SEP IRA or SIMPLE IRA. Roth IRA conversion contributions from a SEP IRA or SIMPLE IRA can be recharacterized to a SEP IRA or SIMPLE IRA (including the original SEP IRA or SIMPLE IRA).

Traditional IRA mistakenly moved to SIMPLE IRA. If you mistakenly roll over or transfer an amount from a traditional IRA to a SIMPLE IRA, you can later recharacterize the amount as a contribution to another traditional IRA.

Recharacterizing excess contributions. You can recharacterize only actual contributions. If you are applying excess contributions for prior years as current contributions, you can recharacterize them only if the recharacterization would still be timely with respect to the tax year for which the applied contributions were actually made.

Example. You contributed more than you were entitled to in 2013. You cannot recharacterize the excess contributions you made in 2013 after April 15, 2014, because contributions after that date are no longer timely for 2013.

Recharacterizing employer contributions. You cannot recharacterize employer contributions (including elective deferrals) under a SEP or SIMPLE plan as contributions to another IRA. SEPs are discussed in chapter 2 of Publication 560. SIMPLE plans are discussed in chapter 3.

Worksheet 1-3. Determining the Amount of Net Income Due To an IRA Contribution and Total Amount To Be Recharacterized

 Keep for Your Records

Reconversions

You cannot convert and reconvert an amount during the same tax year or, if later, during the 30-day period following a recharacterization. If you reconvert during either of these periods, it will be a failed conversion.

Example. If you convert an amount from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA and then transfer that amount back to a traditional IRA in a recharacterization in the same year, you may not reconvert that amount from the traditional IRA to a Roth IRA before:

To recharacterize a contribution, you must notify both the trustee of the first IRA (the one to which the contribution was actually made) and the trustee of the second IRA (the one to which the contribution is being moved) that you have elected to treat the contribution as having been made to the second IRA rather than the first. You must make the notifications by the date of the transfer. Only one notification is required if both IRAs are maintained by the same trustee. The notification(s) must include all of the following information.

Example. On April 1, 2014, when her Roth IRA is worth $80,000, Allison makes a $160,000 conversion contribution to the Roth IRA. Subsequently, Allison requests that the $160,000 be recharacterized to a traditional IRA. Pursuant to this request, on April 1, 2015, when the IRA is worth $225,000, the Roth IRA trustee transfers to a traditional IRA the $160,000 plus allocable net income. No other contributions have been made to the Roth IRA and no distributions have been made.

The adjusted opening balance is $240,000 ($80,000 + $160,000) and the adjusted closing balance is $225,000. Thus the net income allocable to the $160,000 is ($10,000). See lines 1 through 6 of Worksheet 1-3. Example--Illustrated, later, for the calculation. Therefore, in order to recharacterize the April 1, 2014, $160,000 conversion contribution on April 1, 2015, the Roth IRA trustee must transfer from Allison's Roth IRA to her traditional IRA $150,000 ($160,000 - $10,000). This is shown on line 7 of Worksheet 1-3. Example--Illustrated, later.

Worksheet 1-3. Example -- Illustrated

 Keep for Your Records

Extension. Ordinarily you must choose to recharacterize a contribution by the due date of the return or the due date plus extensions. However, if you miss this deadline, you can still recharacterize a contribution if:

Decedent. The election to recharacterize can be made on behalf of a deceased IRA owner by the executor, administrator, or other person responsible for filing the decedent's final income tax return.

Election cannot be changed. After the transfer has taken place, you cannot change your election to recharacterize.

Same trustee. Recharacterizations made with the same trustee can be made by redesignating the first IRA as the second IRA, rather than transferring the account balance.

Reporting a Recharacterization

If you elect to recharacterize a contribution to one IRA as a contribution to another IRA, you must report the recharacterization on your tax return as directed by Form 8606 and its instructions. You must treat the contribution as having been made to the second IRA.

Example. On June 1, 2013, Christine properly and timely converted her traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. In December, Christine decided to recharacterize the conversion and move the funds to a traditional IRA. In January 2014, to make the necessary adjustment to remove the conversion, Christine opened a traditional IRA with the same trustee. Also in January 2014, she instructed the trustee of the Roth IRA to make a trustee-to-trustee transfer of the conversion contribution made to the Roth IRA (including net income allocable to it since the conversion) to the new traditional IRA. She also notified the trustee that she was electing to recharacterize the contribution to the Roth IRA and treat it as if it had been contributed to the new traditional IRA. Because of the recharacterization, Christine has no taxable income from the conversion to report for 2013, and the resulting rollover to a traditional IRA is not treated as a rollover for purposes of the one-rollover-per-year rule.

More than one IRA. If you have more than one IRA, figure the amount to be recharacterized only on the account from which you withdraw the contribution.

When Can You Withdraw or Use Assets?

You can withdraw or use your traditional IRA assets at any time. However, a 10% additional tax generally applies if you withdraw or use IRA assets before you are age 59 1/2. This is explained under Age 59 1/2 Rule under Early Distributions, later.

You generally can make a tax-free withdrawal of contributions if you do it before the due date for filing your tax return for the year in which you made them. This means that, even if you are under age 59 1/2, the 10% additional tax may not apply. These withdrawals are explained next.

Contributions Returned Before Due Date of Return

If you made IRA contributions in 2013, you can withdraw them tax free by the due date of your return. If you have an extension of time to file your return, you can withdraw them tax free by the extended due date. You can do this if, for each contribution you withdraw, both of the following conditions apply.

In most cases, the net income you must withdraw is determined by the IRA trustee or custodian. If you need to determine the applicable net income on IRA contributions made after 2013 that are returned to you, use Worksheet 1-4 above. See Regulations section 1.408-11 for more information.

Worksheet 1-4. Determining the Amount of Net Income Due To an IRA Contribution and Total Amount To Be Withdrawn From the IRA

 Keep for Your Records

The adjusted opening balance is $6,400 ($4,800 + $1,600) and the adjusted closing balance is $7,600. The net income due to the May 2, 2014, contribution is $75 ($400 × ($7,600 - $6,400) ÷ $6,400). Therefore, the total to be distributed on February 2, 2015, is $475. This is shown on Worksheet 1-4. Example--Illustrated, later.

Worksheet 1-4. Example -- Illustrated

 Keep for Your Records

Earnings Includible in Income

You must include in income any earnings on the contributions you withdraw. Include the earnings in income for the year in which you made the contributions, not the year in which you withdraw them.

CAUTION: Generally, except for any part of a withdrawal that is a return of nondeductible contributions (basis), any withdrawal of your contributions after the due date (or extended due date) of your return will be treated as a taxable distribution. Excess contributions can also be recovered tax free as discussed under What Acts Result in Penalties or Additional Taxes, later.

Early Distributions Tax

The 10% additional tax on distributions made before you reach age 59 1/2 does not apply to these tax-free withdrawals of your contributions. However, the distribution of interest or other income must be reported on Form 5329 and, unless the distribution qualifies as an exception to the age 59 1/2 rule, it will be subject to this tax. See Early Distributions under What Acts Result in Penalties or Additional Taxes, later.

Excess Contributions Tax

If any part of these contributions is an excess contribution for 2012, it is subject to a 6% excise tax. You will not have to pay the 6% tax if any 2012 excess contribution was withdrawn by April 15, 2013 (plus extensions), and if any 2013 excess contribution is withdrawn by April 15, 2014 (plus extensions). See Excess Contributions under What Acts Result in Penalties or Additional Taxes, later.

TIP: You may be able to treat a contribution made to one type of IRA as having been made to a different type of IRA. This is called recharacterizing the contribution. See Recharacterizations, earlier, for more information.

When Must You Withdraw Assets? (Required Minimum Distributions)

You cannot keep funds in a traditional IRA indefinitely. Eventually they must be distributed. If there are no distributions, or if the distributions are not large enough, you may have to pay a 50% excise tax on the amount not distributed as required. See Excess Accumulations (Insufficient Distributions), later under What Acts Result in Penalties or Additional Taxes. The requirements for distributing IRA funds differ, depending on whether you are the IRA owner or the beneficiary of a decedent's IRA.

Required minimum distribution. The amount that must be distributed each year is referred to as the required minimum distribution.

Distributions not eligible for rollover. Amounts that must be distributed (required minimum distributions) during a particular year are not eligible for rollover treatment.

Note. A qualified charitable distribution will count towards your required minimum distribution. See Qualified charitable distributions under Are Distributions Taxable, later.

IRA Owners

If you are the owner of a traditional IRA, you must generally start receiving distributions from your IRA by April 1 of the year following the year in which you reach age 70 1/2. April 1 of the year following the year in which you reach age 70 1/2 is referred to as the required beginning date.

Distributions by the required beginning date. You must receive at least a minimum amount for each year starting with the year you reach age 70 1/2 (your 70 1/2 year). If you do not (or did not) receive that minimum amount in your 70 1/2 year, then you must receive distributions for your 70 1/2 year by April 1 of the next year.

If an IRA owner dies after reaching age 70 1/2, but before April 1 of the next year, no minimum distribution is required because death occurred before the required beginning date.

CAUTION: Even if you begin receiving distributions before you reach age 70 1/2, you must begin calculating and receiving required minimum distributions by your required beginning date.

More than minimum received. If, in any year, you receive more than the required minimum distribution for that year, you will not receive credit for the additional amount when determining the minimum required distributions for future years. This does not mean that you do not reduce your IRA account balance. It means that if you receive more than your required minimum distribution in one year, you cannot treat the excess (the amount that is more than the required minimum distribution) as part of your required minimum distribution for any later year. However, any amount distributed in your 70 1/2 year will be credited toward the amount that must be distributed by April 1 of the following year.

Distributions after the required beginning date. The required minimum distribution for any year after the year you turn 70 1/2 must be made by December 31 of that later year.

Example. You reach age 70 1/2 on August 20, 2013. For 2013, you must receive the required minimum distribution from your IRA by April 1, 2014. You must receive the required minimum distribution for 2014 by December 31, 2014.

CAUTION: If you do not receive your required minimum distribution for 2013 until 2014, both your 2013 and your 2014 distributions will be included in income on your 2014 return.

Distributions from individual retirement account. If you are the owner of a traditional IRA that is an individual retirement account, you or your trustee must figure the required minimum distribution for each year. See Figuring the Owner's Required Minimum Distribution below.

Distributions from individual retirement annuities. If your traditional IRA is an individual retirement annuity, special rules apply to figuring the required minimum distribution. For more information on rules for annuities, see Regulations section 1.401(a)(9)-6. These regulations can be read in many libraries, IRS offices, and online at IRS.gov.

Change in marital status. For purposes of figuring your required minimum distribution, your marital status is determined as of January 1 of each year. If your spouse is a beneficiary of your IRA on January 1, he or she remains a beneficiary for the entire year even if you get divorced or your spouse dies during the year. For purposes of determining your distribution period, a change in beneficiary is effective in the year following the year of death or divorce.

Change of beneficiary. If your spouse is the sole beneficiary of your IRA, and he or she dies before you, your spouse will not fail to be your sole beneficiary for the year that he or she died solely because someone other than your spouse is named a beneficiary for the rest of that year. However, if you get divorced during the year and change the beneficiary designation on the IRA during that same year, your former spouse will not be treated as the sole beneficiary for that year.

Figuring the Owner's Required Minimum Distribution

Figure your required minimum distribution for each year by dividing the IRA account balance (defined next) as of the close of business on December 31 of the preceding year by the applicable distribution period or life expectancy. Tables showing distribution periods and life expectancies are found in Appendix C and are discussed later.

IRA account balance. The IRA account balance is the amount in the IRA at the end of the year preceding the year for which the required minimum distribution is being figured.

Contributions. Contributions increase the account balance in the year they are made. If a contribution for last year is not made until after December 31 of last year, it increases the account balance for this year, but not for last year. Disregard contributions made after December 31 of last year in determining your required minimum distribution for this year.

Outstanding rollovers and recharacterizations. The IRA account balance is adjusted by outstanding rollovers and recharacterizations of Roth IRA conversions that are not in any account at the end of the preceding year.

For a rollover from a qualified plan or another IRA that was not in any account at the end of the preceding year, increase the account balance of the receiving IRA by the rollover amount valued as of the date of receipt.

If a conversion contribution is contributed to a Roth IRA and that amount (plus net income allocable to it) is transferred to another IRA in a subsequent year as a recharacterized contribution, increase the account balance of the receiving IRA by the recharacterized contribution (plus allocable net income) for the year in which the conversion occurred.

Distributions. Distributions reduce the account balance in the year they are made. A distribution for last year made after December 31 of last year reduces the account balance for this year, but not for last year. Disregard distributions made after December 31 of last year in determining your required minimum distribution for this year.

Example 1. Laura was born on October 1, 1942. She reaches age 70 1/2 in 2013. Her required beginning date is April 1, 2014. As of December 31, 2012, her IRA account balance was $26,500. No rollover or recharacterization amounts were outstanding. Using Table III in Appendix C, the applicable distribution period for someone her age (71) is 26.5 years. Her required minimum distribution for 2013 is $1,000 ($26,500 ÷ 26.5). That amount is distributed to her on April 1, 2014.

Example 2. Joe, born October 1, 1942, reached 70 1/2 in 2013. His wife (his beneficiary) turned 56 in September 2013. He must begin receiving distributions by April 1, 2014. Joe's IRA account balance as of December 31, 2012, is $30,100. Because Joe's wife is more than 10 years younger than Joe and is the sole beneficiary of his IRA, Joe uses Table II in Appendix C. Based on their ages at year end (December 31, 2013), the joint life expectancy for Joe (age 71) and his wife (age 56) is 30.1 years. The required minimum distribution for 2013, Joe's first distribution year, is $1,000 ($30,100 ÷ 30.1). This amount is distributed to Joe on April 1, 2014.

Distribution period. This is the maximum number of years over which you are allowed to take distributions from the IRA. The period to use for 2013 is listed next to your age as of your birthday in 2013 in Table III in Appendix C.

Life expectancy. If you must use Table I, your life expectancy for 2014 is listed in the table next to your age as of your birthday in 2014. If you use Table II, your life expectancy is listed where the row or column containing your age as of your birthday in 2014 intersects with the row or column containing your spouse's age as of his or her birthday in 2014. Both Table I and Table II are in Appendix C.

Distributions during your lifetime. Required minimum distributions during your lifetime are based on a distribution period that generally is determined using Table III (Uniform Lifetime) in Appendix C. However, if the sole beneficiary of your IRA is your spouse who is more than 10 years younger than you, see Sole beneficiary spouse who is more than 10 years younger below.

To figure the required minimum distribution for 2014, divide your account balance at the end of 2013 by the distribution period from the table. This is the distribution period listed next to your age (as of your birthday in 2014) in Table III in Appendix C, unless the sole beneficiary of your IRA is your spouse who is more than 10 years younger than you.

Example. You own a traditional IRA. Your account balance at the end of 2013 was $100,000. You are married and your spouse, who is the sole beneficiary of your IRA, is 6 years younger than you. You turn 75 years old in 2014. You use Table III. Your distribution period is 22.9. Your required minimum distribution for 2014 would be $4,367 ($100,000 ÷ 22.9).

Sole beneficiary spouse who is more than 10 years younger. If the sole beneficiary of your IRA is your spouse and your spouse is more than 10 years younger than you, use the life expectancy from Table II (Joint Life and Last Survivor Expectancy) in Appendix C.

The life expectancy to use is the joint life and last survivor expectancy listed where the row or column containing your age as of your birthday in 2014 intersects with the row or column containing your spouse's age as of his or her birthday in 2014.

You figure your required minimum distribution for 2014 by dividing your account balance at the end of 2013 by the life expectancy from Table II (Joint Life and Last Survivor Expectancy) in Appendix C.

Example. You own a traditional IRA. Your account balance at the end of 2013 was $100,000. You are married and your spouse, who is the sole beneficiary of your IRA, is 11 years younger than you. You turn 75 in 2014 and your spouse turns 64. You use Table II. Your joint life and last survivor expectancy is 23.6. Your required minimum distribution for 2014 would be $4,237 ($100,000 ÷ 23.6).

Distributions in the year of the owner's death. The required minimum distribution for the year of the owner's death depends on whether the owner died before the required beginning date, defined earlier.

If the owner died before the required beginning date, there is no required minimum distribution in the year of the owner's death. For years after the year of the owner's death, see Owner Died Before Required Beginning Date, later, under IRA Beneficiaries.

If the owner died on or after the required beginning date, the IRA beneficiaries are responsible for figuring and distributing the owner's required minimum distribution in the year of death. The owner's required minimum distribution for the year of death generally is based on Table III (Uniform Lifetime) in Appendix C. However, if the sole beneficiary of the IRA is the owner's spouse who is more than 10 years younger than the owner, use the life expectancy from Table II (Joint Life and Last Survivor Expectancy).

Note. You figure the required minimum distribution for the year in which an IRA owner dies as if the owner lived for the entire year.

IRA Beneficiaries

The rules for determining required minimum distributions for beneficiaries depend on the following.

CAUTION: If distributions to the beneficiary from an inherited traditional IRA are less than the required minimum distribution for the year, discussed in this chapter under When Must You Withdraw Assets? (Required Minimum Distributions), you may have to pay a 50% excise tax for that year on the amount not distributed as required. For details, see Excess Accumulations (Insufficient Distributions) under What Acts Result in Penalties or Additional Taxes? later in this chapter.

Surviving spouse. If you are the surviving spouse who is the sole beneficiary of your deceased spouse's IRA, you may elect to be treated as the owner and not as the beneficiary. If you elect to be treated as the owner, you determine the required minimum distribution (if any) as if you were the owner beginning with the year you elect or are deemed to be the owner. For details, see Inherited from spouse under What if You Inherit an IRA, earlier in this chapter.

Note. If you become the owner in the year your deceased spouse died, do not determine the required minimum distribution for that year using your life; rather, you must take the deceased owner's required minimum distribution for that year (to the extent it was not already distributed to the owner before his or her death).

CAUTION: You can never make a rollover contribution of a required minimum distribution. Any rollover contribution is subject to the 6% tax on excess contributions, as discussed in Rollover of required distributions not allowed, earlier.

TIP: For any year after the owner's death, where a surviving spouse is the sole designated beneficiary of the account and he or she fails to take a required minimum distribution (if one is required) by December 31 under the rules discussed below for beneficiaries, he or she will be deemed the owner of the IRA. For details, see Inherited from spouse under What if You Inherit an IRA, earlier in this chapter.

Date the designated beneficiary is determined. Generally, the designated beneficiary is determined on September 30 of the calendar year following the calendar year of the IRA owner's death. In order to be a designated beneficiary, an individual must be a beneficiary as of the date of death. Any person who was a beneficiary on the date of the owner's death, but is not a beneficiary on September 30 of the calendar year following the calendar year of the owner's death (because, for example, he or she disclaimed entitlement or received his or her entire benefit), will not be taken into account in determining the designated beneficiary. An individual may be designated as a beneficiary either by the terms of the plan or, if the plan permits, by affirmative election by the employee specifying the beneficiary.

Note. If a person who is a beneficiary as of the owner's date of death dies before September 30 of the year following the year of the owner's death without disclaiming entitlement to benefits, that individual, rather than his or her successor beneficiary, continues to be treated as a beneficiary for determining the distribution period.

For the exception to this rule, see Death of surviving spouse prior to date distributions begin, later.

Death of a beneficiary. In general, the beneficiaries of a deceased beneficiary must continue to take the required minimum distributions after the deceased beneficiary's death, based on the distribution schedule established by that beneficiary under the rules in the following paragraphs. The beneficiaries of a deceased beneficiary do not calculate required minimum distributions using their own life expectancies.

For the exception to this rule, see Death of surviving spouse prior to date distributions begin, later.

More than one beneficiary. If an IRA has more than one beneficiary or a trust is named as beneficiary, see Miscellaneous Rules for Required Minimum Distributions, later.

Owner Died On or After Required Beginning Date

If the owner died on or after his or her required beginning date (defined earlier), and you are the designated beneficiary, you must base required minimum distributions for years after the year of the owner's death on the longer of:

Owner Died Before Required Beginning Date

If the owner died before his or her required beginning date (defined earlier), and you are the designated beneficiary, you generally must base required minimum distributions for years after the year of the owner's death using your single life expectancy shown on Table I in Appendix C as determined under Beneficiary an individual, later.

See 5-year rule, later, for situations where an individual designated beneficiary may be required to take the entire account by the end of the fifth year following the year of the owner's death.

If the owner's beneficiary is not an individual (for example, if the beneficiary is the owner's estate), the 5-year rule (discussed later) applies.

Special rules for surviving spouse. If the owner died before his or her required beginning date and the surviving spouse is the sole designated beneficiary, the following rules apply.

Year of first required distribution. If the owner died before the year in which he or she reached age 70 1/2, distributions to the spouse do not need to begin until the year in which the owner would have reached age 70 1/2.

Death of surviving spouse prior to date distributions begin. If the surviving spouse dies before December 31 of the year he or she must begin receiving required minimum distributions, the surviving spouse will be treated as if he or she were the owner of the IRA.

This rule does not apply to the surviving spouse of a surviving spouse.

Example 1. Your spouse died in 2011, at age 65 1/2. You are the sole designated beneficiary of your spouse's traditional IRA. You do not need to take any required minimum distribution until December 31 of 2016, the year your spouse would have reached age 70 1/2. If you die prior to that date, you will be treated as the owner of the IRA for purposes of determining the required distributions to your beneficiaries. For example, if you die in 2013, your beneficiaries will not have any required minimum distribution for 2013 (because you, treated as the owner, died prior to your required beginning date). They must start taking distributions under the general rules for an owner who died prior to the required beginning date.

Example 2. Same as Example 1, except your sole beneficiary upon your death in 2013 is your surviving spouse. Your surviving spouse cannot wait until the year you would have turned 70 1/2 to take distributions using his or her life expectancy. Also, if your surviving spouse dies prior to the date he or she is required to take a distribution, he or she is not treated as the owner of the account. Just like any other individual beneficiary of an owner who dies before the required beginning date, your surviving spouse must start taking distributions in 2014 based on his or her life expectancy (or elect to fully distribute the account under the 5-year rule by the end of 2018).

5-year rule. The 5-year rule requires the IRA beneficiaries to withdraw 100% of the IRA by December 31 of the year containing the fifth anniversary of the owner's death. For example, if the owner died in 2013, the beneficiary would have to fully distribute the plan by December 31, 2018. The beneficiary is allowed, but not required, to take distributions prior to that date. The 5-year rule never applies if the owner died on or after his or her required beginning date.

Individual designated beneficiaries. The terms of most IRA plans require individual designated beneficiaries to take required minimum distributions using the life expectancy rules (explained earlier) unless such beneficiaries elect to take distributions using the 5-year rule. The deadline for making this election is December 31 of the year the beneficiary must take the first required distribution using his or her life expectancy (or December 31 of the year containing the fifth anniversary of the owner's death, if earlier).

Beneficiary not an individual. The 5-year rule applies in all cases where there is no individual designated beneficiary by September 30 of the year following the year of the owner's death or where any beneficiary is not an individual (for example, the owner named his or her estate as the beneficiary).

TIP: Review the IRA plan documents or consult with the IRA custodian or trustee for specifics on the 5-year rule provisions of any particular plan.

CAUTION: If the 5-year rule applies, the amount remaining in the IRA, if any, after December 31 of the year containing the fifth anniversary of the owner's death is subject to the 50% excise tax detailed in Excess Accumulations (Insufficient Distributions), later.

Figuring the Beneficiary's Required Minimum Distribution

How you figure the required minimum distribution depends on whether the beneficiary is an individual or some other entity, such as a trust or estate.

Beneficiary an individual. If the beneficiary is an individual, to figure the required minimum distribution for 2014, divide the account balance at the end of 2013 by the appropriate life expectancy from Table I (Single Life Expectancy) in Appendix C. Determine the appropriate life expectancy as follows.

Spouse as sole designated beneficiary. Use the life expectancy listed in the table next to the spouse's age (as of the spouse's birthday in 2014). Use this life expectancy even if the spouse died in 2014.

If the spouse died in 2013 or a prior year, use the life expectancy listed in the table next to the spouse's age as of his or her birthday in the year he or she died. Reduce the life expectancy by one for each year since the year following the spouse's death.

CAUTION: You cannot make a rollover contribution of your required minimum distributions in years after the owner's death. Such contribution is subject to the 6% tax on excess contributions, as discussed in Rollover of required distributions not allowed, earlier.

Other designated beneficiary. Use the life expectancy listed in the table next to the beneficiary's age as of his or her birthday in the year following the year of the owner's death. Reduce the life expectancy by one for each year since the year following the owner's death. As discussed in Death of a beneficiary, earlier, if the designated beneficiary dies before his or her portion of the account is fully distributed, continue to use the designated beneficiary's remaining life expectancy to determine the distribution period; do not use the life expectancy of any subsequent beneficiary.

Example. Your father died in 2013. You are the designated beneficiary of your father's traditional IRA. You are 53 years old in 2014, which is the year following your father's death. You use Table I and see that your life expectancy in 2014 is 31.4. If the IRA was worth $100,000 at the end of 2013, your required minimum distribution for 2014 would be $3,185 ($100,000 ÷ 31.4). If the value of the IRA at the end of 2014 was again $100,000, your required minimum distribution for 2015 would be $3,289 ($100,000 ÷ 30.4 (31.4 reduced by 1, which is the number of years following the year after your father's death in 2013)).

Beneficiary not an individual. If the beneficiary is not an individual, determine the required minimum distribution for 2014 as follows.

Death on or after required beginning date. Divide the account balance at the end of 2013 by the appropriate life expectancy from Table I (Single Life Expectancy) in Appendix C. Use the life expectancy listed next to the owner's age as of his or her birthday in the year of death. Reduce the life expectancy by one for each year after the year of death. (Note. Also figure the required minimum distribution for an individual beneficiary using this method if it results in a longer life expectancy where the owner died on or after the required beginning date.)

Death before required beginning date. The 5-year rule (discussed earlier) applies. The entire account must be distributed by the end of the fifth year following the year of the owner's death. No distribution is required for any year before that fifth year.

Note. The required beginning date was defined earlier under Distributions by the required beginning date.

Example. The owner died in 2013 at the age of 80. The owner's traditional IRA went to his estate. The account balance at the end of 2013 was $100,000. In 2014, the required minimum distribution would be $10,870 ($100,000 ÷ 9.2). (The owner's life expectancy in the year of death, 10.2, reduced by one.) If the owner had died in 2013 at the age of 70, the entire account would have to be distributed by the end of 2018. See Death before required beginning date under Beneficiary not an individual above.

Which Table Do You Use To Determine Your Required Minimum Distribution?

There are three different life expectancy tables. The tables are found in Appendix C of this publication. You use only one of them to determine your required minimum distribution for each traditional IRA. Determine which one to use as follows.

Reminder. In using the tables for lifetime distributions, marital status is determined as of January 1 each year. Divorce or death after January 1 is generally disregarded until the next year. However, if you divorce and change the beneficiary designation in the same year, your former spouse cannot be considered your sole beneficiary for that year.

Table I (Single Life Expectancy). Use Table I for years after the year of the owner's death if either of the following applies.

Table II (Joint Life and Last Survivor Expectancy). Use Table II if you are the IRA owner and your spouse is both your sole designated beneficiary and more than 10 years younger than you.

Note. Use this table in the year of the owner's death if the owner died after the required beginning date and this is the table that would have been used had he or she not died.

Table III (Uniform Lifetime). Use Table III if you are the IRA owner and your spouse is not both the sole designated beneficiary of your IRA and more than 10 years younger than you.

Note. Use this table in the year of the owner's death if the owner died after the required beginning date and this is the table that would have been used had he or she not died.

No table. Do not use any of the tables if the 5-year rule (discussed earlier) applies.

What Age(s) Do You Use With the Table(s)?

The age or ages to use with each table are explained below.

Table I (Single Life Expectancy). If you are a designated beneficiary figuring your first distribution, use your age as of your birthday in the year distributions must begin. This is usually the calendar year immediately following the calendar year of the owner's death. After the first distribution year, reduce your life expectancy by one for each subsequent year. If you are the owner's surviving spouse and the sole designated beneficiary, this is generally the year in which the owner would have reached age 70 1/2. After the first distribution year, use your age as of your birthday in each subsequent year.

Example 1. You are the owner's designated beneficiary figuring your first required minimum distribution. Distributions must begin in 2014. You become 57 years old in 2014. You use Table I. Your distribution period for 2015 is 26.9 (27.9 - 1) years. Your distribution period for 2016 is 25.9 (27.9 - 2). Note that the life expectancy was reduced by one for each year after the first distribution year, which was 2014.

Example 2. You are the owner's surviving spouse and the sole designated beneficiary. The owner would have turned age 70 1/2 in 2014. Distributions begin in 2014. You become 69 years old in 2014. You use Table 1. Your distribution period for 2014 is 17.8. For 2015, when you are 70 years old, your distribution period is 17.0. For 2016, when you are 71 years old, your distribution period is 16.3.

Owner's life expectancy. In two cases where the owner dies on or after the required beginning date, you need to use the owner's life expectancy. First, you need to use it when the owner dies on or after the required beginning date and there is no designated beneficiary as of September 30 of the year following the year of the owner's death. In this case, use the owner's life expectancy for his or her age as of the owner's birthday in the year of death and reduce it by one for each subsequent year. Second, use the owner's life expectancy in the year of death (reduced by one for each subsequent year) if it results in a longer distribution period than using your life expectancy as detailed in Table I (Single Life Expectancy) above.

Table II (Joint Life and Last Survivor Expectancy). For your first distribution by the required beginning date, use your age and the age of your designated beneficiary as of your birthdays in the year you become age 70 1/2. Your combined life expectancy is at the intersection of your ages.

If you are figuring your required minimum distribution for 2014, use your ages as of your birthdays in 2014. For each subsequent year, use your and your spouse's ages as of your birthdays in the subsequent year.

Table III (Uniform Lifetime). For your first distribution by your required beginning date, use your age as of your birthday in the year you become age 70 1/2.

If you are figuring your required minimum distribution for 2014, use your age as of your birthday in 2014. For each subsequent year, use your age as of your birthday in the subsequent year.

Miscellaneous Rules for Required Minimum Distributions

The following rules may apply to you.

Installments allowed. The yearly required minimum distribution can be taken in a series of installments (monthly, quarterly, etc.) as long as the total distributions for the year are at least as much as the minimum required amount.

More than one IRA. If you have more than one traditional IRA, you must determine a separate required minimum distribution for each IRA. However, you can total these minimum amounts and take the total from any one or more of the IRAs.

Example. Sara, born August 1, 1942, became 70 1/2 on February 1, 2013. She has two traditional IRAs. She must begin receiving her IRA distributions by April 1, 2014. On December 31, 2012, Sara's account balance from IRA A was $10,000; her account balance from IRA B was $20,000. Sara's brother, age 64 as of his birthday in 2013, is the beneficiary of IRA A. Her husband, age 78 as of his birthday in 2013, is the beneficiary of IRA B.

Sara's required minimum distribution from IRA A is $377 ($10,000 ÷ 26.5 (the distribution period for age 71 per Table III)). The amount of the required minimum distribution from IRA B is $755 ($20,000 ÷ 26.5). The amount that must be withdrawn by Sara from her IRA accounts by April 1, 2014, is $1,132 ($377 + $755).

More than minimum received. If, in any year, you receive more than the required minimum amount for that year, you will not receive credit for the additional amount when determining the minimum required amounts for future years. This does not mean that you do not reduce your IRA account balance. It means that if you receive more than your required minimum distribution in one year, you cannot treat the excess (the amount that is more than the required minimum distribution) as part of your required minimum distribution for any later year. However, any amount distributed in your 70 1/2 year will be credited toward the amount that must be distributed by April 1 of the following year.

Example. Justin became 70 1/2 on December 15, 2013. Justin's IRA account balance on December 31, 2012, was $38,400. He figured his required minimum distribution for 2013 was $1,401 ($38,400 ÷ 27.4 (the distribution period for age 70 per Table III)). By December 31, 2013, he had actually received distributions totaling $3,600, $2,199 more than was required. Justin cannot use that $2,199 to reduce the amount he is required to withdraw for 2014, but his IRA account balance is reduced by the full $3,600 to figure his required minimum distribution for 2014. Justin's reduced IRA account balance on December 31, 2013, was $34,800. Justin figured his required minimum distribution for 2014 is $1,313 ($34,800 ÷ 26.5 (the distribution period for age 71 per Table III)). During 2014, he must receive distributions of at least that amount.

Multiple individual beneficiaries. If as of September 30 of the year following the year in which the owner dies there is more than one beneficiary, the beneficiary with the shortest life expectancy will be the designated beneficiary if both of the following apply.

The separate account rules cannot be used by beneficiaries of a trust.

Trust as beneficiary. A trust cannot be a designated beneficiary even if it is a named beneficiary. However, the beneficiaries of a trust will be treated as having been designated beneficiaries for purposes of determining required minimum distributions after the owner's death (or after the death of the owner's surviving spouse described in Death of surviving spouse prior to date distributions begin, earlier) if all of the following are true:

Trust beneficiary is another trust. If the beneficiary of the trust (which is the beneficiary of the IRA) is another trust and both trusts meet the above requirements, the beneficiaries of the other trust will be treated as having been designated as beneficiaries for purposes of determining the distribution period.

Note. The separate account rules, discussed earlier, cannot be used by beneficiaries of a trust.

TIP: You may want to contact a tax advisor to comply with this complicated area of the tax law.

Annuity distributions from an insurance company. Special rules apply if you receive distributions from your traditional IRA as an annuity purchased from an insurance company. See Regulations sections 1.401(a)(9)-6 and 54.4974-2. These regulations can be found in many libraries, IRS offices, and online at IRS.gov.

Are Distributions Taxable?

In general, distributions from a traditional IRA are taxable in the year you receive them.

Failed financial institutions. Distributions from a traditional IRA are taxable in the year you receive them even if they are made without your consent by a state agency as receiver of an insolvent savings institution. This means you must include such distributions in your gross income unless you roll them over. For an exception to the 1-year waiting period rule for rollovers of certain distributions from failed financial institutions, see Exception under Rollover From One IRA Into Another, earlier.

Exceptions. Exceptions to distributions from traditional IRAs being taxable in the year you receive them are:

Qualified charitable distributions. A qualified charitable distribution (QCD) is generally a nontaxable distribution made directly by the trustee of your IRA (other than a SEP or SIMPLE IRA) to an organization eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions. You must be at least age 70 1/2 when the distribution was made. Also, you must have the same type of acknowledgment of your contribution that you would need to claim a deduction for a charitable contribution. See Records To Keep in Publication 526, Charitable Contributions.

The maximum annual exclusion for QCDs is $100,000. Any QCD in excess of the $100,000 exclusion limit is included in income as any other distribution. If you file a joint return, your spouse can also have a QCD and exclude up to $100,000. The amount of the QCD is limited to the amount of the distribution that would otherwise be included in income. If your IRA includes nondeductible contributions, the distribution is first considered to be paid out of otherwise taxable income.

TIP: A QCD will count towards your required minimum distribution, discussed earlier.

CAUTION: You cannot claim a charitable contribution deduction for any QCD not included in your income.

Example. On November 1, 2013, Jeff, age 75, directed the trustee of his IRA to make a distribution of $25,000 directly to a qualified 501(c)(3) organization (a charitable organization eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions). The total value of Jeff's IRA is $30,000 and consists $20,000 of deductible contributions and earnings and $10,000 of nondeductible contributions (basis). Since Jeff is at least age 70 1/2 and the distribution is made directly by the trustee to a qualified organization, the part of the distribution that would otherwise be includible in Jeff's income ($20,000) is a QCD.

In this case, Jeff has made a QCD of $20,000 (his deductible contributions and earnings). Because Jeff made a distribution of nondeductible contributions from his IRA, he must file Form 8606, Nondeductible IRAs, with his return. Jeff includes the total distribution ($25,000) on line 15a of Form 1040. He completes Form 8606 to determine the amount to enter on line 15b of Form 1040 and the remaining basis in his IRA. Jeff enters -0- on line 15b. This is Jeff's only IRA and he took no other distributions in 2013. He also enters "QCD" next to line 15b to indicate a qualified charitable distribution.

After the distribution, his basis in his IRA is $5,000. If Jeff itemizes deductions and files Schedule A with Form 1040, the $5,000 portion of the distribution attributable to the nondeductible contributions can be deducted as a charitable contribution, subject to AGI limits. He cannot take charitable contribution deduction for the $20,000 portion of the distribution that was not included in his income.

January 2013 QCDs treated as made in 2012. If you made a QCD in January 2013, you could have elected to have it treated as made in 2012. If you made this election, the full amount of the QCD counted towards your 2012 required minimum distribution and does not count towards your 2013 required minimum distribution. Even if you made this election, you must report the QCD on your 2013 tax return, as discussed below.

2013 Reporting. If you made a QCD in 2013, include the full amount of the QCD on your 2013 Form 1040, line 15a; Form 1040A, line 11a; or Form 1040NR, line 16a. Any amount over the $100,000 limit must be included on your 2013 Form 1040, line 15b; Form 1040A, line 11b; or Form 1040NR, line 16b. Be sure to enter "QCD" next to 2013 Form 1040, line 15b; Form 1040A, line 11b; or Form 1040NR, line 16b.

Additional reporting requirements if you made the election to treat a January 2013 QCD as made in 2012. If you made a QCD in January 2013 and you elected to treat it as made in 2012, this amount will be reported to you on a 2013 Form 1099-R in 2014. You will need to include this amount with any other 2013 distributions on your 2013 Form 1040A, line 11a; or Form 1040NR, line 16a, even though you already reported it on your 2012 tax return. Report this amount on your 2013 tax return even if it is the only IRA distribution that you are reporting. See 2013 Reporting above and follow the reporting instructions there and in your 2013 tax return.

If the total of your QCDs made in 2013, including your January QCD that you elected to treat as made in 2012, exceeds $100,000, attach a statement to your return listing your QCDs for 2012 and 2013. If you are married filing a joint return, the $100,000 limit applies separately to each of you.

If you are required to file a 2013 Form 5329 because you failed to take your total required minimum distributions for 2013, do not include the amount of the January QCD that you elected to treat as made in 2012 on Form 5329, line 51.

Example. Victor has only one IRA with a total value of $250,000 as of December 31, 2012. It consists of deductible contributions and earnings, therefore he does not have to fill out a Form 8606.

On January 15, 2013, Victor, age 77, directed the trustee of his IRA to make a distribution of $25,000 directly to a qualified 501(c)(3) organization (a charitable organization eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions). This transaction meets the requirements to be considered a QCD, see discussion earlier. He elected to treat this QCD as if it was made in 2012. He reported this amount on his 2012 Form 1040, line 15a. The full amount of this QCD would count towards his 2012 required minimum distribution but would not count towards his 2013 required minimum distribution given his election.

On November 29, 2013, Victor directs the trustee of the same IRA above to make another distribution of $25,000 directly to the same organization. This qualifies as a QCD. This amount would count towards his 2013 required minimum distribution.

On January 30, 2014, he receives his 2013 Form 1099-R reporting a total distribution of $50,000 for his QCDs. The QCDs were the only distributions made from his IRA in 2013. When he fills out his 2013 Form 1040, he will enter $50,000 on line 15a, and -0- on line 15b and "QCD" next to that line.

One-time qualified HSA funding distribution. You may be able to make a qualified HSA funding distribution from your traditional IRA or Roth IRA to your Health Savings Account (HSA). You cannot make this distribution from an ongoing SEP IRA or SIMPLE IRA. For this purpose, a SEP IRA or SIMPLE IRA is ongoing if an employer contribution is made for the plan year ending with or within your tax year in which the distribution would be made. The distribution must be less than or equal to your maximum annual HSA contribution.

This distribution must be made directly by the trustee of the IRA to the trustee of the HSA. The distribution is not included in your income, is not deductible, and reduces the amount that can be contributed to your HSA. You must make the distribution by the end of the year; the special rule allowing contributions to your HSA for the previous year if made by your tax return filing deadline does not apply. The qualified HSA funding distribution is reported on Form 8889, Health Savings Accounts, for the year in which the distribution is made.

One-time transfer. Generally, only one qualified HSA funding distribution is allowed during your lifetime. If you own two or more IRAs, and want to use amounts in multiple IRAs to make a qualified HSA funding distribution, you must first make an IRA-to-IRA transfer of the amounts to be distributed into a single IRA, and then make the one-time qualified HSA funding distribution from that IRA.

Testing period rules apply. If at any time during the testing period you cease to meet all requirements to be an eligible individual, the amount of the qualified HSA funding distribution is included in your gross income. The qualified HSA funding distribution is included in gross income in the taxable year you first fail to be an eligible individual. This amount is subject to the 10 percent additional tax (unless the failure is due to disability or death).

More information. See Publication 969, Health Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Favored Health Plans, for additional information about this distribution.

Ordinary income. Distributions from traditional IRAs that you include in income are taxed as ordinary income.

No special treatment. In figuring your tax, you cannot use the 10-year tax option or capital gain treatment that applies to lump-sum distributions from qualified retirement plans.

Distributions Fully or Partly Taxable

Distributions from your traditional IRA may be fully or partly taxable, depending on whether your IRA includes any nondeductible contributions.

Fully taxable. If only deductible contributions were made to your traditional IRA (or IRAs, if you have more than one), you have no basis in your IRA. Because you have no basis in your IRA, any distributions are fully taxable when received. See Reporting and Withholding Requirements for Taxable Amounts, later.

Partly taxable. If you made nondeductible contributions or rolled over any after-tax amounts to any of your traditional IRAs, you have a cost basis (investment in the contract) equal to the amount of those contributions. These nondeductible contributions are not taxed when they are distributed to you. They are a return of your investment in your IRA.

Only the part of the distribution that represents nondeductible contributions and rolled over after-tax amounts (your cost basis) is tax free. If nondeductible contributions have been made or after-tax amounts have been rolled over to your IRA, distributions consist partly of nondeductible contributions (basis) and partly of deductible contributions, earnings, and gains (if there are any). Until all of your basis has been distributed, each distribution is partly nontaxable and partly taxable.

Form 8606. You must complete Form 8606, and attach it to your return, if you receive a distribution from a traditional IRA and have ever made nondeductible contributions or rolled over after-tax amounts to any of your traditional IRAs. Using the form, you will figure the nontaxable distributions for 2013, and your total IRA basis for 2013 and earlier years. See the illustrated Forms 8606 in this chapter.

Note. If you are required to file Form 8606, but you are not required to file an income tax return, you still must file Form 8606. Complete Form 8606, sign it, and send it to the IRS at the time and place you would otherwise file an income tax return.

Figuring the Nontaxable and Taxable Amounts

If your traditional IRA includes nondeductible contributions and you received a distribution from it in 2013, you must use Form 8606 to figure how much of your 2013 IRA distribution is tax free.

Note. When figuring the nontaxable and taxable amounts of distributions made prior to death in the year the IRA account owner dies, the value of all traditional (including SEP) and SIMPLE IRAs should be figured as of the date of death instead of December 31.

Contribution and distribution in the same year. If you received a distribution in 2013 from a traditional IRA and you also made contributions to a traditional IRA for 2013 that may not be fully deductible because of the income limits, you can use Worksheet 1-5 to figure how much of your 2013 IRA distribution is tax free and how much is taxable. Then you can figure the amount of nondeductible contributions to report on Form 8606. Follow the instructions under Reporting your nontaxable distribution on Form 8606, next, to figure your remaining basis after the distribution.

Reporting your nontaxable distribution on Form 8606. To report your nontaxable distribution and to figure the remaining basis in your traditional IRA after distributions, you must complete Worksheet 1-5 before completing Form 8606. Then follow these steps to complete Form 8606.

 Year             Deductible        Nondeductible

The illustrated Form 8606 for Rose shows the information required when you need to use Worksheet 1-5 to figure your nontaxable distribution. Assume that the $500 entered on Form 8606, line 1, is the amount Rose figured using instructions 1 and 2 given earlier under Reporting your nontaxable distribution on Form 8606.

Worksheet 1-5. Figuring the Taxable Part of Your IRA Distribution

 Keep for Your Records

 Use only if you made contributions to a traditional IRA for 2013 that

If you have a loss on your traditional IRA investment, you can recognize (include) the loss on your income tax return, but only when all the amounts in all your traditional IRA accounts have been distributed to you and the total distributions are less than your unrecovered basis, if any.

Your basis is the total amount of the nondeductible contributions in your traditional IRAs.

You claim the loss as a miscellaneous itemized deduction, subject to the 2%-of-adjusted-gross-income limit that applies to certain miscellaneous itemized deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040). Any such losses are added back to taxable income for purposes of calculating the alternative minimum tax.

Example. Bill King has made nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA totaling $2,000, giving him a basis at the end of 2012 of $2,000. By the end of 2013, his IRA earns $400 in interest income. In that year, Bill receives a distribution of $600 ($500 basis + $100 interest), reducing the value of his IRA to $1,800 ($2,000 + $400 - $600) at year's end. Bill figures the taxable part of the distribution and his remaining basis on Form 8606 (illustrated).

In 2014, Bill's IRA has a loss of $500. At the end of that year, Bill's IRA balance is $1,300 ($1,800 - $500). Bill's remaining basis in his IRA is $1,500 ($2,000 - $500). Bill receives the $1,300 balance remaining in the IRA. He can claim a loss for 2014 of $200 (the $1,500 basis minus the $1,300 distribution of the IRA balance).

Two other special IRA distribution situations are discussed next.

Distribution of an annuity contract from your IRA account. You can tell the trustee or custodian of your traditional IRA account to use the amount in the account to buy an annuity contract for you. You are not taxed when you receive the annuity contract (unless the annuity contract is being converted to an annuity held by a Roth IRA). You are taxed when you start receiving payments under that annuity contract.

Tax treatment. If only deductible contributions were made to your traditional IRA since it was opened (this includes all your traditional IRAs, if you have more than one), the annuity payments are fully taxable.

If any of your traditional IRAs include both deductible and nondeductible contributions, the annuity payments are taxed as explained earlier under Distributions Fully or Partly Taxable.

Cashing in retirement bonds. When you cash in retirement bonds, you are taxed on the entire amount you receive. Unless you have already cashed them in, you will be taxed on the entire value of your bonds in the year in which you reach age 70 1/2. The value of the bonds is the amount you would have received if you had cashed them in at the end of that year. When you later cash in the bonds, you will not be taxed again.

Reporting and Withholding Requirements for Taxable Amounts

If you receive a distribution from your traditional IRA, you will receive Form 1099-R, or a similar statement. IRA distributions are shown in boxes 1 and 2a of Form 1099-R. A number or letter code in box 7 tells you what type of distribution you received from your IRA.

Number codes. Some of the number codes are explained below. All of the codes are explained in the instructions for recipients on Form 1099-R.

 1 -- Early distribution, no known exception.

Letter codes. Some of the letter codes are explained below. All of the codes are explained in the instructions for recipients on Form 1099-R.

 B -- Designated Roth account distribution.

CAUTION: If code J, P, or S appears on your Form 1099-R, you are probably subject to a penalty or additional tax. If code J appears, see Early Distributions, later. If code P appears, see Excess Contributions, later. If code S appears, see Additional Tax on Early Distributions in chapter 3.

Withholding. Federal income tax is withheld from distributions from traditional IRAs unless you choose not to have tax withheld.

The amount of tax withheld from an annuity or a similar periodic payment is based on your marital status and the number of withholding allowances you claim on your withholding certificate (Form W-4P). If you have not filed a certificate, tax will be withheld as if you are a married individual claiming three withholding allowances.

Generally, tax will be withheld at a 10% rate on nonperiodic distributions.

IRA distributions delivered outside the United States. In general, if you are a U.S. citizen or resident alien and your home address is outside the United States or its possessions, you cannot choose exemption from withholding on distributions from your traditional IRA.

To choose exemption from withholding, you must certify to the payer under penalties of perjury that you are not a U.S. citizen, a resident alien of the United States, or a tax-avoidance expatriate.

Even if this election is made, the payer must withhold tax at the rates prescribed for nonresident aliens.

More information. For more information on withholding on pensions and annuities, see Pensions and Annuities in chapter 1 of Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax. For more information on withholding on nonresident aliens and foreign entities, see Pensions, Annuities, and Alimony under Withholding on Specific Income in Publication 515, Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign Entities.

Reporting taxable distributions on your return. Report fully taxable distributions, including early distributions, on Form 1040, line 15b (no entry is required on line 15a); Form 1040A, line 11b (no entry is required on line 11a); or Form 1040NR, line 16b (no entry is required on line 16a). If only part of the distribution is taxable, enter the total amount on Form 1040, line 15a; Form 1040A, line 11a; or Form 1040NR, line 16a, and enter the taxable part on Form 1040, line 15b; Form 1040A, line 11b; or Form 1040NR, line 16b. You cannot report distributions on Form 1040EZ or Form 1040NR-EZ.

Estate tax. Generally, the value of an annuity or other payment receivable by any beneficiary of a decedent's traditional IRA that represents the part of the purchase price contributed by the decedent (or by his or her former employer(s)) must be included in the decedent's gross estate. For more information, see the Instructions for Schedule I, Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return.

What Acts Result in Penalties or Additional Taxes?

The tax advantages of using traditional IRAs for retirement savings can be offset by additional taxes and penalties if you do not follow the rules. There are additions to the regular tax for using your IRA funds in prohibited transactions. There are also additional taxes for the following activities.

This chapter discusses those acts that you should avoid and the additional taxes and other costs, including loss of IRA status, that apply if you do not avoid those acts.

Prohibited Transactions

Generally, a prohibited transaction is any improper use of your traditional IRA account or annuity by you, your beneficiary, or any disqualified person.

Disqualified persons include your fiduciary and members of your family (spouse, ancestor, lineal descendant, and any spouse of a lineal descendant).

The following are some examples of prohibited transactions with a traditional IRA.

Effect on you or your beneficiary. If your account stops being an IRA because you or your beneficiary engaged in a prohibited transaction, the account is treated as distributing all its assets to you at their fair market values on the first day of the year. If the total of those values is more than your basis in the IRA, you will have a taxable gain that is includible in your income. For information on figuring your gain and reporting it in income, see Are Distributions Taxable, earlier. The distribution may be subject to additional taxes or penalties.

Borrowing on an annuity contract. If you borrow money against your traditional IRA annuity contract, you must include in your gross income the fair market value of the annuity contract as of the first day of your tax year. You may have to pay the 10% additional tax on early distributions, discussed later.

Pledging an account as security. If you use a part of your traditional IRA account as security for a loan, that part is treated as a distribution and is included in your gross income. You may have to pay the 10% additional tax on early distributions, discussed later.

Trust account set up by an employer or an employee association. Your account or annuity does not lose its IRA treatment if your employer or the employee association with whom you have your traditional IRA engages in a prohibited transaction.

Owner participation. If you participate in the prohibited transaction with your employer or the association, your account is no longer treated as an IRA.

Taxes on prohibited transactions. If someone other than the owner or beneficiary of a traditional IRA engages in a prohibited transaction, that person may be liable for certain taxes. In general, there is a 15% tax on the amount of the prohibited transaction and a 100% additional tax if the transaction is not corrected.

Loss of IRA status. If the traditional IRA ceases to be an IRA because of a prohibited transaction by you or your beneficiary, you or your beneficiary are not liable for these excise taxes. However, you or your beneficiary may have to pay other taxes as discussed under Effect on you or your beneficiary, earlier.

Exempt Transactions

The following two types of transactions are not prohibited transactions if they meet the requirements that follow.

Services received at reduced or no cost. Even if a sponsor provides services at reduced or no cost, there is no prohibited transaction if all of the following requirements are met.

If your traditional IRA invests in collectibles, the amount invested is considered distributed to you in the year invested. You may have to pay the 10% additional tax on early distributions, discussed later.

Any amounts that were considered to be distributed when the investment in the collectible was made, and which were included in your income at that time, are not included in your income when the collectible is actually distributed from your IRA.

Collectibles. These include:

Excess Contributions

Generally, an excess contribution is the amount contributed to your traditional IRAs for the year that is more than the smaller of:

Contributions for the year you reach age 70 1/2 and any later year are also excess contributions.

An excess contribution could be the result of your contribution, your spouse's contribution, your employer's contribution, or an improper rollover contribution. If your employer makes contributions on your behalf to a SEP IRA, see chapter 2 of Publication 560.

Tax on Excess Contributions

In general, if the excess contributions for a year are not withdrawn by the date your return for the year is due (including extensions), you are subject to a 6% tax. You must pay the 6% tax each year on excess amounts that remain in your traditional IRA at the end of your tax year. The tax cannot be more than 6% of the combined value of all your IRAs as of the end of your tax year.

The additional tax is figured on Form 5329. For information on filing Form 5329, see Reporting Additional Taxes, later.

Example. For 2013, Paul Jones is 45 years old and single, his compensation is $31,000, and he contributed $6,000 to his traditional IRA. Paul has made an excess contribution to his IRA of $500 ($6,000 minus the $5,500 limit). The contribution earned $5 interest in 2013 and $6 interest in 2014 before the due date of the return, including extensions. He does not withdraw the $500 or the interest it earned by the due date of his return, including extensions.

Paul figures his additional tax for 2013 by multiplying the excess contribution ($500) shown on Form 5329, line 16, by .06, giving him an additional tax liability of $30. He enters the tax on Form 5329, line 17, and on Form 1040, line 58. See Paul's filled-in Form 5329, later.

Excess Contributions Withdrawn by Due Date of Return

You will not have to pay the 6% tax if you withdraw an excess contribution made during a tax year and you also withdraw any interest or other income earned on the excess contribution. You must complete your withdrawal by the date your tax return for that year is due, including extensions.

How to treat withdrawn contributions. Do not include in your gross income an excess contribution that you withdraw from your traditional IRA before your tax return is due if both of the following conditions are met.

In most cases, the net income you must transfer will be determined by your IRA trustee or custodian. If you need to determine the applicable net income you need to withdraw, you can use the same method that was used in Worksheet 1-3, earlier.

If you timely filed your 2013 tax return without withdrawing a contribution that you made in 2013, you can still have the contribution returned to you within 6 months of the due date of your 2013 tax return, excluding extensions. If you do, file an amended return with "Filed pursuant to section 301.9100-2" written at the top. Report any related earnings on the amended return and include an explanation of the withdrawal. Make any other necessary changes on the amended return (for example, if you reported the contributions as excess contributions on your original return, include an amended Form 5329 reflecting that the withdrawn contributions are no longer treated as having been contributed).

How to treat withdrawn interest or other income. You must include in your gross income the interest or other income that was earned on the excess contribution. Report it on your return for the year in which the excess contribution was made. Your withdrawal of interest or other income may be subject to an additional 10% tax on early distributions, discussed later.

Form 1099-R. You will receive Form 1099-R indicating the amount of the withdrawal. If the excess contribution was made in a previous tax year, the form will indicate the year in which the earnings are taxable.

Example. Maria, age 35, made an excess contribution in 2013 of $1,000, which she withdrew by April 15, 2014, the due date of her return. At the same time, she also withdrew the $50 income that was earned on the $1,000. She must include the $50 in her gross income for 2013 (the year in which the excess contribution was made). She must also pay an additional tax of $5 (the 10% additional tax on early distributions because she is not yet 59 1/2 years old), but she does not have to report the excess contribution as income or pay the 6% excise tax. Maria receives a Form 1099-R showing that the earnings are taxable for 2013.

In general, you must include all distributions (withdrawals) from your traditional IRA in your gross income. However, if the following conditions are met, you can withdraw excess contributions from your IRA and not include the amount withdrawn in your gross income.

Excess contribution deducted in an earlier year. If you deducted an excess contribution in an earlier year for which the total contributions were not more than the maximum deductible amount for that year (see the following table), you can still remove the excess from your traditional IRA and not include it in your gross income. To do this, file Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, for that year and do not deduct the excess contribution on the amended return. Generally, you can file an amended return within 3 years after you filed your return, or 2 years from the time the tax was paid, whichever is later.

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Deducting an Excess Contribution in a Later Year

You cannot apply an excess contribution to an earlier year even if you contributed less than the maximum amount allowable for the earlier year. However, you may be able to apply it to a later year if the contributions for that later year are less than the maximum allowed for that year.

You can deduct excess contributions for previous years that are still in your traditional IRA. The amount you can deduct this year is the lesser of the following two amounts.

To figure the amount of excess contributions for previous years that you can deduct this year, see Worksheet 1-6 next.

Worksheet 1-6. Excess Contributions Deductible This Year

 Use this worksheet to figure the amount of excess

Worksheet 1-6. Example--Illustrated

 Use this worksheet to figure the amount of excess

To figure the amount of excess contributions for previous years that you can deduct this year if you incorrectly deducted part of the excess contribution in a closed tax year, see Worksheet 1-7 next.

Worksheet 1-7. Excess Contributions Deductible This Year if Any Were Deducted in a Closed Tax Year

 Use this worksheet to figure the amount of excess

Early distributions defined. Early distributions generally are amounts distributed from your traditional IRA account or annuity before you are age 59 1/2, or amounts you receive when you cash in retirement bonds before you are age 59 1/2.

Age 59 1/2 Rule

Generally, if you are under age 59 1/2, you must pay a 10% additional tax on the distribution of any assets (money or other property) from your traditional IRA. Distributions before you are age 59 1/2 are called early distributions.

The 10% additional tax applies to the part of the distribution that you have to include in gross income. It is in addition to any regular income tax on that amount.

A number of exceptions to this rule are discussed later under Exceptions. Also see Contributions Returned Before Due Date of Return, earlier.

CAUTION: You may have to pay a 25%, rather than a 10%, additional tax if you receive distributions from a SIMPLE IRA before you are age 59 1/2. See Additional Tax on Early Distributions under When Can You Withdraw or Use Assets? in chapter 3.

After age 59 1/2 and before age 70 1/2. After you reach age 59 1/2, you can receive distributions without having to pay the 10% additional tax. Even though you can receive distributions after you reach age 59 1/2, distributions are not required until you reach age 70 1/2. See When Must You Withdraw Assets? (Required Minimum Distributions), earlier.

Exceptions

There are several exceptions to the age 59 1/2 rule. Even if you receive a distribution before you are age 59 1/2, you may not have to pay the 10% additional tax if you are in one of the following situations.

Note. Distributions that are timely and properly rolled over, as discussed earlier, are not subject to either regular income tax or the 10% additional tax. Certain withdrawals of excess contributions after the due date of your return are also tax free and therefore not subject to the 10% additional tax. (See Excess Contributions Withdrawn After Due Date of Return, earlier.) This also applies to transfers incident to divorce, as discussed earlier under Can You Move Retirement Plan Assets.

Receivership distributions. Early distributions (with or without your consent) from savings institutions placed in receivership are subject to this tax unless one of the above exceptions applies. This is true even if the distribution is from a receiver that is a state agency.

Unreimbursed medical expenses. Even if you are under age 59 1/2, you do not have to pay the 10% additional tax on distributions that are not more than:

Adjusted gross income. This is the amount on Form 1040A, line 22; or Form 1040NR, line 37.

Medical insurance. Even if you are under age 59 1/2, you may not have to pay the 10% additional tax on distributions during the year that are not more than the amount you paid during the year for medical insurance for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents. You will not have to pay the tax on these amounts if all of the following conditions apply.

You are considered disabled if you can furnish proof that you cannot do any substantial gainful activity because of your physical or mental condition. A physician must determine that your condition can be expected to result in death or to be of long, continued, and indefinite duration.

Beneficiary. If you die before reaching age 59 1/2, the assets in your traditional IRA can be distributed to your beneficiary or to your estate without either having to pay the 10% additional tax.

However, if you inherit a traditional IRA from your deceased spouse and elect to treat it as your own (as discussed under What if You Inherit an IRA, earlier), any distribution you later receive before you reach age 59 1/2 may be subject to the 10% additional tax.

Annuity. You can receive distributions from your traditional IRA that are part of a series of substantially equal payments over your life (or your life expectancy), or over the lives (or the joint life expectancies) of you and your beneficiary, without having to pay the 10% additional tax, even if you receive such distributions before you are age 59 1/2. You must use an IRS-approved distribution method and you must take at least one distribution annually for this exception to apply. The "required minimum distribution method," when used for this purpose, results in the exact amount required to be distributed, not the minimum amount.

There are two other IRS-approved distribution methods that you can use. They are generally referred to as the "fixed amortization method" and the "fixed annuitization method." These two methods are not discussed in this publication because they are more complex and generally require professional assistance. For information on these methods, see Revenue Ruling 2002-62, which is on page 710 of Internal Revenue Bulletin 2002-42 at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-irbs/irb02-42.pdf.

Recapture tax for changes in distribution method under equal payment exception. You may have to pay an early distribution recapture tax if, before you reach age 59 1/2, the distribution method under the equal periodic payment exception changes (for reasons other than your death or disability). The tax applies if the method changes from the method requiring equal payments to a method that would not have qualified for the exception to the tax. The recapture tax applies to the first tax year to which the change applies. The amount of tax is the amount that would have been imposed had the exception not applied, plus interest for the deferral period.

You may have to pay the recapture tax if you do not receive the payments for at least 5 years under a method that qualifies for the exception. You may have to pay it even if you modify your method of distribution after you reach age 59 1/2. In that case, the tax applies only to payments distributed before you reach age 59 1/2.

Report the recapture tax and interest on line 4 of Form 5329. Attach an explanation to the form. Do not write the explanation next to the line or enter any amount for the recapture on lines 1 or 3 of the form.

One-time switch. If you are receiving a series of substantially equal periodic payments, you can make a one-time switch to the required minimum distribution method at any time without incurring the additional tax. Once a change is made, you must follow the required minimum distribution method in all subsequent years.

Higher education expenses. Even if you are under age 59 1/2, if you paid expenses for higher education during the year, part (or all) of any distribution may not be subject to the 10% additional tax. The part not subject to the tax is generally the amount that is not more than the qualified higher education expenses (defined next) for the year for education furnished at an eligible educational institution (defined below). The education must be for you, your spouse, or the children or grandchildren of you or your spouse.

When determining the amount of the distribution that is not subject to the 10% additional tax, include qualified higher education expenses paid with any of the following funds.

Eligible educational institution. This is any college, university, vocational school, or other postsecondary educational institution eligible to participate in the student aid programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education. It includes virtually all accredited, public, nonprofit, and proprietary (privately owned profit-making) postsecondary institutions. The educational institution should be able to tell you if it is an eligible educational institution.

For more information, see chapter 9 of Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education.

First home. Even if you are under age 59 1/2, you do not have to pay the 10% additional tax on up to $10,000 of distributions you receive to buy, build, or rebuild a first home. To qualify for treatment as a first-time homebuyer distribution, the distribution must meet all the following requirements.

Qualified acquisition costs. Qualified acquisition costs include the following items.

Date of acquisition. The date of acquisition is the date that:

Qualified reservist distributions. A qualified reservist distribution is not subject to the additional tax on early distributions.

Definition. A distribution you receive is a qualified reservist distribution if the following requirements are met.

The additional tax on early distributions is 10% of the amount of the early distribution that you must include in your gross income. This tax is in addition to any regular income tax resulting from including the distribution in income.

Use Form 5329 to figure the tax. See the discussion of Form 5329, later, under Reporting Additional Taxes for information on filing the form.

Example. Tom Jones, who is 35 years old, receives a $3,000 distribution from his traditional IRA account. Tom does not meet any of the exceptions to the 10% additional tax, so the $3,000 is an early distribution. Tom never made any nondeductible contributions to his IRA. He must include the $3,000 in his gross income for the year of the distribution and pay income tax on it. Tom must also pay an additional tax of $300 (10% × $3,000). He files Form 5329. See the filled-in Form 5329, later.

CAUTION: Early distributions of funds from a SIMPLE retirement account made within 2 years of beginning participation in the SIMPLE are subject to a 25%, rather than a 10%, early distributions tax.

Nondeductible contributions. The tax on early distributions does not apply to the part of a distribution that represents a return of your nondeductible contributions (basis).

Excess Accumulations (Insufficient Distributions)

You cannot keep amounts in your traditional IRA indefinitely. Generally, you must begin receiving distributions by April 1 of the year following the year in which you reach age 70 1/2. The required minimum distribution for any year after the year in which you reach age 70 1/2 must be made by December 31 of that later year.

Tax on excess. If distributions are less than the required minimum distribution for the year, discussed earlier under When Must You Withdraw Assets? (Required Minimum Distributions), you may have to pay a 50% excise tax for that year on the amount not distributed as required.

Reporting the tax. Use Form 5329 to report the tax on excess accumulations. See the discussion of Form 5329, later, under Reporting Additional Taxes, for more information on filing the form.

Request to waive the tax. If the excess accumulation is due to reasonable error, and you have taken, or are taking, steps to remedy the insufficient distribution, you can request that the tax be waived. If you believe you qualify for this relief, attach a statement of explanation and complete Form 5329 as instructed under Waiver of tax in the Instructions for Form 5329.

Exemption from tax. If you are unable to take required distributions because you have a traditional IRA invested in a contract issued by an insurance company that is in state insurer delinquency proceedings, the 50% excise tax does not apply if the conditions and requirements of Revenue Procedure 92-10 are satisfied. Those conditions and requirements are summarized below. Revenue Procedure 92-10 is in Cumulative Bulletin 1992-1. To obtain a copy of this revenue procedure, see Mail in chapter 5, How to Get Tax Help, later. You can also read the revenue procedure at most IRS offices, at many public libraries, and online at IRS.gov.

Conditions. To qualify for exemption from the tax, the assets in your traditional IRA must include an affected investment. Also, the amount of your required distribution must be determined as discussed earlier under When Must You Withdraw Assets? (Required Minimum Distributions).

Affected investment defined. Affected investment means an annuity contract or a guaranteed investment contract (with an insurance company) for which payments under the terms of the contract have been reduced or suspended because of state insurer delinquency proceedings against the contracting insurance company.

Requirements. If your traditional IRA (or IRAs) includes assets other than your affected investment, all traditional IRA assets, including the available portion of your affected investment, must be used to satisfy as much as possible of your IRA distribution requirement. If the affected investment is the only asset in your IRA, as much of the required distribution as possible must come from the available portion, if any, of your affected investment.

Make up of shortfall in distribution. If the payments to you under the contract increase because all or part of the reduction or suspension is canceled, you must make up the amount of any shortfall in a prior distribution because of the proceedings. You make up (reduce or eliminate) the shortfall with the increased payments you receive.

You must make up the shortfall by December 31 of the calendar year following the year that you receive increased payments.

Reporting Additional Taxes

Generally, you must use Form 5329 to report the tax on excess contributions, early distributions, and excess accumulations. If you must file Form 5329, you cannot use Form 1040EZ, or Form 1040NR-EZ.

Filing a tax return. If you must file an individual income tax return, complete Form 1040 or Form 1040NR. Enter the total additional taxes due on Form 1040, line 58, or on Form 1040NR, line 56.

Not filing a tax return. If you do not have to file a return, but do have to pay one of the additional taxes mentioned earlier, file the completed Form 5329 with the IRS at the time and place you would have filed Form 1040 or Form 1040NR. Be sure to include your address on page 1 and your signature and date on page 2. Enclose, but do not attach, a check or money order payable to the United States Treasury for the tax you owe, as shown on Form 5329. Write your social security number and "2013 Form 5329" on your check or money order.

Form 5329 not required. You do not have to use Form 5329 if either of the following situations exists.

What's New for 2013

Roth IRA contribution limit. If contributions on your behalf are made only to Roth IRAs, your contribution limit for 2013 will generally be the lesser of:

For more information, see How Much Can Be Contributed? under Can You Contribute to a Roth IRA? in this chapter.

Modified AGI limit for Roth IRA contributions increased. For 2013, your Roth IRA contribution limit is reduced (phased out) in the following situations.

Net Investment Income Tax. For purposes of the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT), net investment income does not include distributions from a qualified retirement plan (for example, 401(a), 403(a), 403(b), 457(b) plans, and IRAs). However, these distributions are taken into account when determining the modified adjusted gross income threshold. Distributions from a nonqualified retirement plan are included in net investment income. See Form 8960, Net Investment Income Tax--Individuals, Estates, and Trusts, and its instructions for more information.

What's New for 2014

Modified AGI limit for Roth IRA contributions increased. For 2014, your Roth IRA contribution limit is reduced (phased out) in the following situations.

Deemed IRAs. For plan years beginning after 2002, a qualified employer plan (retirement plan) can maintain a separate account or annuity under the plan (a deemed IRA) to receive voluntary employee contributions. If the separate account or annuity otherwise meets the requirements of an IRA, it will be subject only to IRA rules. An employee's account can be treated as a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA.

For this purpose, a "qualified employer plan" includes:

Introduction

Regardless of your age, you may be able to establish and make nondeductible contributions to an individual retirement plan called a Roth IRA.

Contributions not reported. You do not report Roth IRA contributions on your return.

What Is a Roth IRA?

A Roth IRA is an individual retirement plan that, except as explained in this chapter, is subject to the rules that apply to a traditional IRA (defined next). It can be either an account or an annuity. Individual retirement accounts and annuities are described in chapter 1 under How Can a Traditional IRA Be Opened.

To be a Roth IRA, the account or annuity must be designated as a Roth IRA when it is opened. A deemed IRA can be a Roth IRA, but neither a SEP IRA nor a SIMPLE IRA can be designated as a Roth IRA.

Unlike a traditional IRA, you cannot deduct contributions to a Roth IRA. But, if you satisfy the requirements, qualified distributions (discussed later) are tax free. Contributions can be made to your Roth IRA after you reach age 70 1/2 and you can leave amounts in your Roth IRA as long as you live.

Traditional IRA. A traditional IRA is any IRA that is not a Roth IRA or SIMPLE IRA. Traditional IRAs are discussed in chapter 1.

When Can a Roth IRA Be Opened?

You can open a Roth IRA at any time. However, the time for making contributions for any year is limited. See When Can You Make Contributions, later under Can You Contribute to a Roth IRA.

Can You Contribute to a Roth IRA?

Generally, you can contribute to a Roth IRA if you have taxable compensation (defined later) and your modified AGI (defined later) is less than:

Is there an age limit for contributions? Contributions can be made to your Roth IRA regardless of your age.

Can you contribute to a Roth IRA for your spouse? You can contribute to a Roth IRA for your spouse provided the contributions satisfy the Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA limit discussed in chapter 1 under How Much Can Be Contributed, you file jointly, and your modified AGI is less than $188,000.

Compensation. Compensation includes wages, salaries, tips, professional fees, bonuses, and other amounts received for providing personal services. It also includes commissions, self-employment income, nontaxable combat pay, military differential pay, and taxable alimony and separate maintenance payments. For more information, see What Is Compensation? under Who Can Open a Traditional IRA? in chapter 1.

Modified AGI. Your modified AGI for Roth IRA purposes is your adjusted gross income (AGI) as shown on your return with some adjustments. Use Worksheet 2-1, later, to determine your modified AGI.

CAUTION: Do not subtract conversion income when figuring your other AGI-based phaseouts and taxable income, such as your deduction for medical and dental expenses. Subtract them from AGI only for the purpose of figuring your modified AGI for Roth IRA purposes.

How Much Can Be Contributed?

The contribution limit for Roth IRAs generally depends on whether contributions are made only to Roth IRAs or to both traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs.

Roth IRAs only. If contributions are made only to Roth IRAs, your contribution limit generally is the lesser of:

Roth IRAs and traditional IRAs. If contributions are made to both Roth IRAs and traditional IRAs established for your benefit, your contribution limit for Roth IRAs generally is the same as your limit would be if contributions were made only to Roth IRAs, but then reduced by all contributions for the year to all IRAs other than Roth IRAs. Employer contributions under a SEP or SIMPLE IRA plan do not affect this limit.

This means that your contribution limit is the lesser of:

Simplified employee pensions (SEPs) are discussed in Publication 560. Savings incentive match plans for employees (SIMPLEs) are discussed in chapter 3.

Repayment of reservist distributions. You can repay qualified reservist distributions even if the repayments would cause your total contributions to the Roth IRA to be more than the general limit on contributions. However, the total repayments cannot be more than the amount of your distribution.

Note. If you make repayments of qualified reservist distributions to a Roth IRA, increase your basis in the Roth IRA by the amount of the repayment. For more information, see Qualified reservist repayments under How Much Can Be Contributed? in chapter 1.

Contribution limit reduced. If your modified AGI is above a certain amount, your contribution limit is gradually reduced. Use Table 2-1, later, to determine if this reduction applies to you.

Figuring the reduction. If the amount you can contribute must be reduced, use Worksheet 2-2, later, to figure your reduced contribution limit.

TIP: Round your reduced contribution limit up to the nearest $10. If your reduced contribution limit is more than $0, but less than $200, increase the limit to $200.

Example. You are a 45-year-old, single individual with taxable compensation of $113,000. You want to make the maximum allowable contribution to your Roth IRA for 2013. Your modified AGI for 2013 is $113,000. You have not contributed to any traditional IRA, so the maximum contribution limit before the modified AGI reduction is $5,500. You figure your reduced Roth IRA contribution of $5,140 as shown on Worksheet 2-2. Example--Illustrated, later.

When Can You Make Contributions?

You can make contributions to a Roth IRA for a year at any time during the year or by the due date of your return for that year (not including extensions).

Worksheet 2-1. Modified Adjusted Gross Income for Roth IRA Purposes

 Use this worksheet to figure your modified adjusted gross income for

 This table shows whether your contribution to a Roth IRA is affected

 Before using this worksheet, check Table 2-1, earlier, to

What if You Contribute Too Much?

A 6% excise tax applies to any excess contribution to a Roth IRA.

Excess contributions. These are the contributions to your Roth IRAs for a year that equal the total of:

Worksheet 2-2. Example--Illustrated

 Before using this worksheet, check Table 2-1, earlier, to

Applying excess contributions. If contributions to your Roth IRA for a year were more than the limit, you can apply the excess contribution in one year to a later year if the contributions for that later year are less than the maximum allowed for that year.

Can You Move Amounts Into a Roth IRA?

You may be able to convert amounts from either a traditional, SEP, or SIMPLE IRA into a Roth IRA. You may be able to roll over amounts from a qualified retirement plan to a Roth IRA. You may be able to recharacterize contributions made to one IRA as having been made directly to a different IRA. You can roll amounts over from a designated Roth account or from one Roth IRA to another Roth IRA.

Conversions

You can convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. The conversion is treated as a rollover, regardless of the conversion method used. Most of the rules for rollovers, described in chapter 1 under Rollover From One IRA Into Another, apply to these rollovers. However, the 1-year waiting period does not apply.

Conversion methods. You can convert amounts from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in any of the following three ways.

Income. You must include in your gross income distributions from a traditional IRA that you would have had to include in income if you had not converted them into a Roth IRA. These amounts are normally included in income on your return for the year that you converted them from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.

CAUTION: If you must include any amount in your gross income, you may have to increase your withholding or make estimated tax payments. See Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax.

More information. For more information on conversions, see Converting From Any Traditional IRA Into a Roth IRA in chapter 1.

Rollover From Employer's Plan Into a Roth IRA

You can roll over into a Roth IRA all or part of an eligible rollover distribution you receive from your (or your deceased spouse's):

Rollover methods. You can roll over amounts from a qualified retirement plan to a Roth IRA in one of the following ways.

You will determine your required minimum distributions in years after you make the rollover based on whether the employee died before his or her required beginning date for taking distributions from the plan. For more information, see Distributions after the employee's death under Tax on Excess Accumulation in Publication 575.

Income. You must include in your gross income distributions from a qualified retirement plan that you would have had to include in income if you had not rolled them over into a Roth IRA. You do not include in gross income any part of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan that is a return of contributions (after-tax contributions) to the plan that were taxable to you when paid. These amounts are normally included in income on your return for the year of the rollover from the qualified employer plan to a Roth IRA.

CAUTION: If you must include any amount in your gross income, you may have to increase your withholding or make estimated tax payments. See Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax.

For more information on eligible rollover distributions from qualified retirement plans and withholding, see Rollover From Employer's Plan Into an IRA in chapter 1.

Military Death Gratuities and Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) Payments

If you received a military death gratuity or SGLI payment with respect to a death from injury that occurred after October 6, 2001, you can contribute (roll over) all or part of the amount received to your Roth IRA. The contribution is treated as a qualified rollover contribution.

The amount you can roll over to your Roth IRA cannot exceed the total amount that you received reduced by any part of that amount that was contributed to a Coverdell ESA or another Roth IRA. Any military death gratuity or SGLI payment contributed to a Roth IRA is disregarded for purposes of the 1-year waiting period between rollovers.

The rollover must be completed before the end of the 1-year period beginning on the date you received the payment.

The amount contributed to your Roth IRA is treated as part of your cost basis (investment in the contract) in the Roth IRA that is not taxable when distributed.

Rollover From a Roth IRA

You can withdraw, tax free, all or part of the assets from one Roth IRA if you contribute them within 60 days to another Roth IRA. Most of the rules for rollovers, described in chapter 1 under Rollover From One IRA Into Another, apply to these rollovers. However, rollovers from retirement plans other than Roth IRAs are disregarded for purposes of the 1-year waiting period between rollovers.

A rollover from a Roth IRA to an employer retirement plan is not allowed.

A rollover from a designated Roth account can only be made to another designated Roth account or to a Roth IRA.

If you roll over an amount from one Roth IRA to another Roth IRA, the 5-year period used to determine qualified distributions does not change. The 5-year period begins with the first taxable year for which the contribution was made to the initial Roth IRA. See What are Qualified Distributions, later.

Rollover of Exxon Valdez Settlement Income

If you are a qualified taxpayer (defined in chapter 1, earlier) and you received qualified settlement income (defined in chapter 1, earlier), you can contribute all or part of the amount received to an eligible retirement plan which includes a Roth IRA. The rules for contributing qualified settlement income to a Roth IRA are the same as the rules for contributing qualified settlement income to a traditional IRA with the following exception. Qualified settlement income that is contributed to a Roth IRA, or to a designated Roth account, will be:

Rollover of Airline Payments

If you are a qualified airline employee (defined next), you may contribute any portion of an airline payment (defined below) you receive to a Roth IRA. The contribution must be made within 180 days from the date you received the payment. The contribution will be treated as a qualified rollover contribution. The rollover contribution is included in income to the extent it would be included in income if it were not part of the rollover contribution. Also, any reduction in the airline payment amount on account of employment taxes shall be disregarded when figuring the amount you can contribute to your Roth IRA.

Qualified airline employee. A current or former employee of a commercial airline carrier who was a participant in a qualified defined benefit plan maintained by the carrier which was terminated or became subject to restrictions under Section 402(b) of the Pension Protection Act of 2006. These provisions also apply to surviving spouses of qualified airline employees.

Airline payment. An airline payment is any payment of money or other property that is paid to a qualified airline employee from a commercial airline carrier. The payment also must be made both:

Are Distributions Taxable?

You do not include in your gross income qualified distributions or distributions that are a return of your regular contributions from your Roth IRA(s). You also do not include distributions from your Roth IRA that you roll over tax free into another Roth IRA. You may have to include part of other distributions in your income. See Ordering Rules for Distributions, later.

Basis of distributed property. The basis of property distributed from a Roth IRA is its fair market value (FMV) on the date of distribution, whether or not the distribution is a qualified distribution.

Withdrawals of contributions by due date. If you withdraw contributions (including any net earnings on the contributions) by the due date of your return for the year in which you made the contribution, the contributions are treated as if you never made them. If you have an extension of time to file your return, you can withdraw the contributions and earnings by the extended due date. The withdrawal of contributions is tax free, but you must include the earnings on the contributions in income for the year in which you made the contributions.

What Are Qualified Distributions?

A qualified distribution is any payment or distribution from your Roth IRA that meets the following requirements.

If you receive a distribution that is not a qualified distribution, you may have to pay the 10% additional tax on early distributions as explained in the following paragraphs.

Distributions of conversion and certain rollover contributions within 5-year period. If, within the 5-year period starting with the first day of your tax year in which you convert an amount from a traditional IRA or rollover an amount from a qualified retirement plan to a Roth IRA, you take a distribution from a Roth IRA, you may have to pay the 10% additional tax on early distributions. You generally must pay the 10% additional tax on any amount attributable to the part of the amount converted or rolled over (the conversion or rollover contribution) that you had to include in income (recapture amount). A separate 5-year period applies to each conversion and rollover. See Ordering Rules for Distributions, later, to determine the recapture amount, if any.

The 5-year period used for determining whether the 10% early distribution tax applies to a distribution from a conversion or rollover contribution is separately determined for each conversion and rollover, and is not necessarily the same as the 5-year period used for determining whether a distribution is a qualified distribution. See What Are Qualified Distributions, earlier.

For example, if a calendar-year taxpayer makes a conversion contribution on February 25, 2013, and makes a regular contribution for 2012 on the same date, the 5-year period for the conversion begins January 1, 2013, while the 5-year period for the regular contribution begins on January 1, 2012.

Unless one of the exceptions listed later applies, you must pay the additional tax on the portion of the distribution attributable to the part of the conversion or rollover contribution that you had to include in income because of the conversion or rollover.

You must pay the 10% additional tax in the year of the distribution, even if you had included the conversion or rollover contribution in an earlier year. You also must pay the additional tax on any portion of the distribution attributable to earnings on contributions.

Other early distributions. Unless one of the exceptions listed below applies, you must pay the 10% additional tax on the taxable part of any distributions that are not qualified distributions.

Exceptions. You may not have to pay the 10% additional tax in the following situations.

If you receive a distribution from your Roth IRA that is not a qualified distribution, part of it may be taxable. There is a set order in which contributions (including conversion contributions and rollover contributions from qualified retirement plans) and earnings are considered to be distributed from your Roth IRA. For these purposes, disregard the withdrawal of excess contributions and the earnings on them (discussed earlier under What if You Contribute Too Much). Order the distributions as follows.

Aggregation (grouping and adding) rules. Determine the taxable amounts distributed (withdrawn), distributions, and contributions by grouping and adding them together as follows.

Disregard any recharacterized contribution that ends up in an IRA other than a Roth IRA for the purpose of grouping (aggregating) both contributions and distributions. Also disregard any amount withdrawn to correct an excess contribution (including the earnings withdrawn) for this purpose.

Example. On October 15, 2009, Justin converted all $80,000 in his traditional IRA to his Roth IRA. His Forms 8606 from prior years show that $20,000 of the amount converted is his basis.

Justin included $60,000 ($80,000 - $20,000) in his gross income.

On February 23, 2013, Justin made a regular contribution of $5,000 to a Roth IRA. On November 8, 2013, at age 60, Justin took a $7,000 distribution from his Roth IRA.

The first $5,000 of the distribution is a return of Justin's regular contribution and is not includible in his income.

The next $2,000 of the distribution is not includible in income because it was included previously.

Figuring your recapture amount. If you had an early distribution from your Roth IRAs in 2013, you must allocate the early distribution by using the Recapture Amount--Allocation Chart, later.

Amount to include on Form 5329, line 1. Include on line 1 of your 2013 Form 5329 the following four amounts from the Recapture Amount--Allocation Chart that you filled out.

Example. Ishmael, age 32, opened a Roth IRA in 2000. He made the maximum contributions to it every year. In addition, he made the following transactions into his Roth IRA.

In August of 2013, he took a $85,500 early distribution from his Roth IRA to use as a down payment on the purchase of his first home. See his filled out Illustrated Recapture Amount--Allocation Chart, later, to see how he allocated the amounts from the above transactions. Based on his allocation, he would enter $20,000 on his 2013 Form 5329, line 1 (see Amount to include on Form 5329, line 1, above). He should also report $10,000 on his 2013 Form 5329, line 2, and enter exception 09 since that amount is not subject to the 10% additional tax on early distributions.

Recapture Amount--Allocation Chart

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Must You Withdraw or Use Assets?

You are not required to take distributions from your Roth IRA at any age. The minimum distribution rules that apply to traditional IRAs do not apply to Roth IRAs while the owner is alive. However, after the death of a Roth IRA owner, certain of the minimum distribution rules that apply to traditional IRAs also apply to Roth IRAs as explained later under Distributions After Owner's Death.

Minimum distributions. You cannot use your Roth IRA to satisfy minimum distribution requirements for your traditional IRA. Nor can you use distributions from traditional IRAs for required distributions from Roth IRAs. See Distributions to beneficiaries, later.

Recognizing Losses on Investments

If you have a loss on your Roth IRA investment, you can recognize the loss on your income tax return, but only when all the amounts in all of your Roth IRA accounts have been distributed to you and the total distributions are less than your unrecovered basis.

Your basis is the total amount of contributions in your Roth IRAs.

You claim the loss as a miscellaneous itemized deduction, subject to the 2%-of-adjusted-gross-income limit that applies to certain miscellaneous itemized deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040). Any such losses are added back to taxable income for purposes of calculating the alternative minimum tax.

Distributions After Owner's Death

If a Roth IRA owner dies, the minimum distribution rules that apply to traditional IRAs apply to Roth IRAs as though the Roth IRA owner died before his or her required beginning date. See When Can You Withdraw or Use Assets? in chapter 1.

Distributions to beneficiaries. Generally, the entire interest in the Roth IRA must be distributed by the end of the fifth calendar year after the year of the owner's death unless the interest is payable to a designated beneficiary over the life or life expectancy of the designated beneficiary. (See When Must You Withdraw Assets? (Required Minimum Distributions) in chapter 1.)

If paid as an annuity, the entire interest must be payable over a period not greater than the designated beneficiary's life expectancy and distributions must begin before the end of the calendar year following the year of death. Distributions from another Roth IRA cannot be substituted for these distributions unless the other Roth IRA was inherited from the same decedent.

If the sole beneficiary is the spouse, he or she can either delay distributions until the decedent would have reached age 70 1/2 or treat the Roth IRA as his or her own.

Combining with other Roth IRAs. A beneficiary can combine an inherited Roth IRA with another Roth IRA maintained by the beneficiary only if the beneficiary either:

If the owner of a Roth IRA dies before the end of:

Example. When Ms. Hibbard died in 2013, her Roth IRA contained regular contributions of $4,000, a conversion contribution of $10,000 that was made in 2009, and earnings of $2,000. No distributions had been made from her IRA. She had no basis in the conversion contribution in 2009.

When she established this Roth IRA (her first) in 2009, she named each of her four children as equal beneficiaries. Each child will receive one-fourth of each type of contribution and one-fourth of the earnings. An immediate distribution of $4,000 to each child will be treated as $1,000 from regular contributions, $2,500 from conversion contributions, and $500 from earnings.

In this case, because the distributions are made before the end of the applicable 5-year period for a qualified distribution, each beneficiary includes $500 in income for 2013. The 10% additional tax on early distributions does not apply because the distribution was made to the beneficiaries as a result of the death of the IRA owner.

CAUTION: If distributions from an inherited Roth IRA are less than the required minimum distribution for the year, discussed in chapter 1 under When Must You Withdraw Assets? (Required Minimum Distributions), you may have to pay a 50% excise tax for that year on the amount not distributed as required. For the tax on excess accumulations (insufficient distributions), see Excess Accumulations (Insufficient Distributions) under What Acts Result in Penalties or Additional Taxes? in chapter 1. If this applies to you, substitute "Roth IRA" for "traditional IRA" in that discussion.

3. Savings Incentive Match Plans for Employees (SIMPLE)

Introduction

This chapter is for employees who need information about savings incentive match plans for employees (SIMPLE plans). It explains what a SIMPLE plan is, contributions to a SIMPLE plan, and distributions from a SIMPLE plan.

Under a SIMPLE plan, SIMPLE retirement accounts for participating employees can be set up either as:

TIP: If your employer maintains a SIMPLE plan, you must be notified, in writing, that you can choose the financial institution that will serve as trustee for your SIMPLE IRA and that you can roll over or transfer your SIMPLE IRA to another financial institution. See Rollovers and Transfers Exception, later under When Can You Withdraw or Use Assets.

What Is a SIMPLE Plan?

A SIMPLE plan is a tax-favored retirement plan that certain small employers (including self-employed individuals) can set up for the benefit of their employees. See chapter 3 of Publication 560 for information on the requirements employers must satisfy to set up a SIMPLE plan.

A SIMPLE plan is a written agreement (salary reduction agreement) between you and your employer that allows you, if you are an eligible employee (including a self-employed individual), to choose to:

In addition to salary reduction contributions, your employer must make either matching contributions or non-elective contributions. See How Are Contributions Made, later.

TIP: You may be able to claim a credit for contributions to your SIMPLE plan. For more information, see chapter 4.

Eligible Employees

You must be allowed to participate in your employer's SIMPLE plan if you:

Excludable employees. Your employer can exclude the following employees from participating in the SIMPLE plan.

For these purposes, net earnings from self-employment include services performed while claiming exemption from self-employment tax as a member of a group conscientiously opposed to social security benefits.

How Are Contributions Made?

Contributions under a salary reduction agreement are called salary reduction contributions. They are made on your behalf by your employer. Your employer must also make either matching contributions or nonelective contributions.

Salary reduction contributions. During the 60-day period before the beginning of any year, and during the 60-day period before you are eligible, you can choose salary reduction contributions expressed either as a percentage of compensation, or as a specific dollar amount (if your employer offers this choice). You can choose to cancel the election at any time during the year.

Salary reduction contributions are also referred to as "elective deferrals."

Your employer cannot place restrictions on the contributions amount (such as by limiting the contributions percentage), except to comply with the salary reduction contributions limit, discussed under How Much Can Be Contributed on Your Behalf, later.

Matching contributions. Unless your employer chooses to make nonelective contributions, your employer must make contributions equal to the salary reduction contributions you choose (elect), but only up to certain limits. See How Much Can Be Contributed on Your Behalf below. These contributions are in addition to the salary reduction contributions and must be made to the SIMPLE IRAs of all eligible employees (defined earlier) who chose salary reductions. These contributions are referred to as matching contributions.

Matching contributions on behalf of a self-employed individual are not treated as salary reduction contributions.

Nonelective contributions. Instead of making matching contributions, your employer may be able to choose to make nonelective contributions on behalf of all eligible employees. These nonelective contributions must be made on behalf of each eligible employee who has at least $5,000 of compensation from your employer, whether or not the employee chose salary reductions.

One of the requirements your employer must satisfy is notifying the employees that the election was made. For other requirements that your employer must satisfy, see chapter 3 of Publication 560.

How Much Can Be Contributed on Your Behalf?

The limits on contributions to a SIMPLE IRA vary with the type of contribution that is made.

Salary reduction contributions limit. Salary reduction contributions (employee-chosen contributions or elective deferrals) that your employer can make on your behalf under a SIMPLE plan are limited to $12,000 for 2013. The limitation remains at $12,000 for 2014.

CAUTION: If you are a participant in any other employer plans during 2013 and you have elective salary reductions or deferred compensation under those plans, the salary reduction contributions under the SIMPLE plan also are included in the annual limit of $17,500 for 2013 on exclusions of salary reductions and other elective deferrals. You, not your employer, are responsible for monitoring compliance with these limits.

Additional elective deferrals can be contributed to your SIMPLE plan if:

Matching employer contributions limit. Generally, your employer must make matching contributions to your SIMPLE IRA in an amount equal to your salary reduction contributions. These matching contributions cannot be more than 3% of your compensation for the calendar year. See Matching contributions less than 3% below.

Example 1. In 2013, Joshua was a participant in his employer's SIMPLE plan. His compensation, before SIMPLE plan contributions, was $41,600 ($800 per week). Instead of taking it all in cash, Joshua elected to have 12.5% of his weekly pay ($100) contributed to his SIMPLE IRA. For the full year, Joshua's salary reduction contributions were $5,200, which is less than the $12,000 limit on these contributions.

Under the plan, Joshua's employer was required to make matching contributions to Joshua's SIMPLE IRA. Because his employer's matching contributions must equal Joshua's salary reductions, but cannot be more than 3% of his compensation (before salary reductions) for the year, his employer's matching contribution was limited to $1,248 (3% of $41,600).

Example 2. Assume the same facts as in Example 1, except that Joshua's compensation for the year was $408,163 and he chose to have 2.94% of his weekly pay contributed to his SIMPLE IRA.

In this example, Joshua's salary reduction contributions for the year (2.94% × $408,163) were equal to the 2013 limit for salary reduction contributions ($12,000). Because 3% of Joshua's compensation ($12,245) is more than the amount his employer was required to match ($12,000), his employer's matching contributions were limited to $12,000.

In this example, total contributions made on Joshua's behalf for the year were $24,000 ($12,000 (Joshua's contributions) + $12,000 (matching contributions)), the maximum contributions permitted under a SIMPLE IRA for 2013.

Matching contributions less than 3%. Your employer can reduce the 3% limit on matching contributions for a calendar year, but only if:

Nonelective employer contributions limit. If your employer chooses to make nonelective contributions, instead of matching contributions, to each eligible employee's SIMPLE IRA, contributions must be 2% of your compensation for the entire year. For 2013, only $255,000 of your compensation can be taken into account to figure the contribution limit.

Your employer can substitute the 2% nonelective contribution for the matching contribution for a year if both of the following requirements are met.

Traditional IRA mistakenly moved to SIMPLE IRA. If you mistakenly roll over or transfer an amount from a traditional IRA to a SIMPLE IRA, you can later recharacterize the amount as a contribution to another traditional IRA. For more information, see Recharacterizations in chapter 1.

Recharacterizing employer contributions. You cannot recharacterize employer contributions (including elective deferrals) under a SEP or SIMPLE plan as contributions to another IRA. SEPs are discussed in chapter 2 of Publication 560. SIMPLE plans are discussed in this chapter.

Converting from a SIMPLE IRA. Generally, you can convert an amount in your SIMPLE IRA to a Roth IRA under the same rules explained in chapter 1 under Converting From Any Traditional IRA Into a Roth IRA.

However, you cannot convert any amount distributed from the SIMPLE IRA during the 2-year period beginning on the date you first participated in any SIMPLE IRA plan maintained by your employer.

When Can You Withdraw or Use Assets?

Generally, the same distribution (withdrawal) rules that apply to traditional IRAs apply to SIMPLE IRAs. These rules are discussed in chapter 1.

Your employer cannot restrict you from taking distributions from a SIMPLE IRA.

Are Distributions Taxable?

Generally, distributions from a SIMPLE IRA are fully taxable as ordinary income. If the distribution is an early distribution (discussed in chapter 1), it may be subject to the additional tax on early distributions. See Additional Tax on Early Distributions, later.

Rollovers and Transfers Exception

Generally, rollovers and trustee-to-trustee transfers are not taxable distributions.

Two-year rule. To qualify as a tax-free rollover (or a tax-free trustee-to-trustee transfer), a rollover distribution (or a transfer) made from a SIMPLE IRA during the 2-year period beginning on the date on which you first participated in your employer's SIMPLE plan must be contributed (or transferred) to another SIMPLE IRA. The 2-year period begins on the first day on which contributions made by your employer are deposited in your SIMPLE IRA.

After the 2-year period, amounts in a SIMPLE IRA can be rolled over or transferred tax free to an IRA other than a SIMPLE IRA, or to a qualified plan, a tax-sheltered annuity plan (section 403(b) plan), or deferred compensation plan of a state or local government (section 457 plan).

Additional Tax on Early Distributions

The additional tax on early distributions (discussed in chapter 1) applies to SIMPLE IRAs. If a distribution is an early distribution and occurs during the 2-year period following the date on which you first participated in your employer's SIMPLE plan, the additional tax on early distributions is increased from 10% to 25%.

If a rollover distribution (or transfer) from a SIMPLE IRA does not satisfy the 2-year rule, and is otherwise an early distribution, the additional tax imposed because of the early distribution is increased from 10% to 25% of the amount distributed.

4. Retirement Savings Contributions Credit (Saver's Credit)

What's New

Modified AGI limit for retirement savings contributions credit increased. For 2013, you may be able to claim the retirement savings contributions credit if your modified AGI is not more than:

You may be able to take a tax credit if you make eligible contributions (defined later) to a qualified retirement plan, an eligible deferred compensation plan, or an individual retirement arrangement (IRA). You may be able to take a credit of up to $1,000 (up to $2,000 if filing jointly). This credit could reduce the federal income tax you pay dollar for dollar.

Can you claim the credit? If you make eligible contributions to a qualified retirement plan, an eligible deferred compensation plan, or an IRA, you can claim the credit if all of the following apply.

Adjusted gross income. This is generally the amount on line 38 of your 2013 Form 1040; line 22 of your 2013 Form 1040A; or line 37 of your 2013 Form 1040NR. However, you must add to that amount any exclusion or deduction claimed for the year for:

Reducing eligible contributions. Reduce your eligible contributions (but not below zero) by the total distributions you received during the testing period (defined later) from any IRA, plan, or annuity included above under Eligible contributions. Also reduce your eligible contributions by any distribution from a Roth IRA that is not rolled over, even if the distribution is not taxable.

Do not reduce your eligible contributions by any of the following.

Testing period. The testing period consists of the year for which you claim the credit, the period after the end of that year and before the due date (including extensions) for filing your return for that year, and the 2 tax years before that year.

Example. You and your spouse filed joint returns in 2011 and 2012, and plan to do so in 2013 and 2014. You received a taxable distribution from a qualified plan in 2011 and a taxable distribution from an eligible deferred compensation plan in 2012. Your spouse received taxable distributions from a Roth IRA in 2013 and tax-free distributions from a Roth IRA in 2014 before April 15. You made eligible contributions to an IRA in 2013 and you otherwise qualify for this credit. You must reduce the amount of your qualifying contributions in 2013 by the total of the distributions you received in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.

Maximum eligible contributions. After your contributions are reduced, the maximum annual contribution on which you can base the credit is $2,000 per person.

Effect on other credits. The amount of this credit will not change the amount of your refundable tax credits. A refundable tax credit, such as the earned income credit or the refundable amount of your child tax credit, is an amount that you would receive as a refund even if you did not otherwise owe any taxes.

Maximum credit. This is a nonrefundable credit. The amount of the credit in any year cannot be more than the amount of tax that you would otherwise pay (not counting any refundable credits) in any year. If your tax liability is reduced to zero because of other nonrefundable credits, such as the credit for child and dependent care expenses, then you will not be entitled to this credit.

How to figure and report the credit. The amount of the credit you can get is based on the contributions you make and your credit rate. Your credit rate can be as low as 10% or as high as 50%. Your credit rate depends on your income and your filing status. See Form 8880 to determine your credit rate.

The maximum contribution taken into account is $2,000 per person. On a joint return, up to $2,000 is taken into account for each spouse.

Figure the credit on Form 8880. Report the credit on line 50 of your Form 1040A; or line 47 of your Form 1040NR and attach Form 8880 to your return.

5. How To Get Tax Help

Whether it's help with a tax issue, preparing your tax return or a need for a free publication or form, get the help you need the way you want it: online, use a smart phone, call or walk in to an IRS office or volunteer site near you.

Free help with your tax return. You can get free help preparing your return nationwide from IRS-certified volunteers. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program helps low-to-moderate income, elderly, people with disabilities, and limited English proficient taxpayers. The Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) program helps taxpayers age 60 and older with their tax returns. Most VITA and TCE sites offer free electronic filing and all volunteers will let you know about credits and deductions you may be entitled to claim. In addition, some VITA and TCE sites provide taxpayers the opportunity to prepare their own return with help from an IRS-certified volunteer. To find the nearest VITA or TCE site, you can use the VITA Locator Tool on IRS.gov, download the IRS2Go app, or call 1-800-906-9887.

As part of the TCE program, AARP offers the Tax-Aide counseling program. To find the nearest AARP Tax-Aide site, visit AARP's website at http://www.aarp.org/money/taxaide or call 1-888-227-7669. For more information on these programs, go to IRS.gov and enter "VITA" in the search box.

Internet. IRS.gov and IRS2Go are ready when you are -- 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Internal Revenue Service 1201 N. Mitsubishi Motorway Bloomington, IL 61705-6613

The Taxpayer Advocate Service Is Here to Help You. The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) is your voice at the IRS. Our job is to ensure that every taxpayer is treated fairly and that you know and understand your rights.

What can TAS do for you? We can offer you free help with IRS problems that you can't resolve on your own. We know this process can be confusing, but the worst thing you can do is nothing at all! TAS can help if you can't resolve your tax problem and:

How else does TAS help taxpayers?

TAS also works to resolve large-scale, systemic problems that affect many taxpayers. If you know of one of these broad issues, please report it to us through our Systemic Advocacy Management System.

Low Income Taxpayer Clinics

Low Income Taxpayer Clinics (LITCs) serve individuals whose income is below a certain level and need to resolve tax problems such as audits, appeals and tax collection disputes. Some clinics can provide information about taxpayer rights and responsibilities in different languages for individuals who speak English as a second language. Visit Taxpayer Advocate or see IRS Publication 4134, Low Income Taxpayer Clinic List.

Appendices

To help you complete your tax return, use the following appendices that include worksheets and tables.

 Keep for Your Records

 Keep for Your Records