IRS Notice 2014-54 opens up new Roth IRA planning
opportunities for taxpayers who have made after-tax contributions to their
employer’s retirement plan. This issue
does not involve 401(k) deferrals, either pre-tax or designated Roth 401(k)
contributions, but rather additional after-tax savings that some qualified plans
permit. Taxpayers having after-tax
savings in qualified plans have long sought a means of directly rolling over (“trustee to
trustee”) the taxable portion of a qualified plan distribution to a traditional
IRA and the nontaxable portion (or “basis”) to a Roth IRA. Previously the IRS announced in Notice
2009-68 that it was not possible to isolate the basis as a separate distribution
amount, but that each rollover consisted of a proportionate amount of
basis. Thus, if a taxpayer had $100,000
in his or her 401(k) account to be directly rolled over, and $30,000 of that
amount consisted of after-tax (non-Roth) savings, it was not possible to direct
only the $30,000 basis tax-free to a Roth IRA.
Instead, $21,000 of the $30,000 rolled over to the Roth IRA would be
taxable ($30,000 X $70,000/$100,000).
Taxpayers devised means around this restriction, but it was uncertain
whether the strategies would be respected by the IRS, and the strategies were
complicated. The IRS has now responded
to taxpayer feedback and has issued this favorable notice. The notice requires that the taxpayer inform
the qualified plan administrator of how to allocate the basis to the rollover
IRAs. The plan administrator is then
required to prepare the Form 1099-R’s accordingly. The new notice is effective beginning in
2015, but it indicates that it is reasonable to rely upon it for distributions
made on or after September 18, 2014.
Under Notice 2014-54, the taxpayer in our example would not have any
taxable income upon directing the $100,000 rollover distribution as $30,000 of
basis to a Roth IRA and as $70,000 of pre-tax amounts to a traditional IRA.
The notice opens up a new tax planning opportunity for
individuals who already contribute the maximum permitted to their 401(k). If the employer retirement plan permits
after-tax voluntary employee contributions, then the individual may save
additional money in the plan up to the maximum contribution limit of $52,000
for 2014, after taking into account the 401(k) deferrals, employer matching,
and other contributions and forfeitures.
Note that so-called “catch-up” contributions (limited to $5,500 in 2014)
for those age 50 or older do not count towards the contribution limit. These additional after-tax contributions are
then positioned for a Roth IRA rollover when the employee leaves employment. This planning opportunity can be viewed as a
“back-door” means of contributing to a Roth IRA in the future, and the amounts
saved may go well beyond the normal Roth IRA contribution limits. If your employer 401(k) plan does not permit
voluntary employee after-tax contributions, the plan must first be amended. Depending upon your position in the company
and upon the type of qualified plan, there could be non-discrimination testing
restrictions on how much can be saved.
Notice 2014-54 does not deal with isolating basis of
non-deductible IRA contributions. Making
a Roth IRA conversion of a traditional IRA having tax basis will still be taxable
according to the proportionate basis allocation rule. Therefore, saving after-tax money in a 401(k)
plan is a better choice than saving money as a non-deductible IRA contribution
when looking forward to a future Roth IRA conversion.
No comments:
Post a Comment