Retirement distribution requirement eased

The Internal Revenue Service is reminding seniors and retirees they are not required to take money out of their IRAs and workplace retirement plans this year.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, waives Required Minimum Distributions during 2020 for IRAs and retirement plans, including beneficiaries with inherited accounts. This waiver includes RMDs for individuals who turned 70 years old in 2019 and took their first RMD in 2020. Roth IRAs do not require withdrawals until after the death of the owner.

If an individual has already taken an RMD in 2020, including someone who turned 70 during 2019, the individual will have the option of returning the distribution to their account or other qualified plan.

Since the RMD rule is suspended, RMDs taken this year are considered eligible for rollover. Therefore, RMDs can be rolled over to another IRA, another qualified retirement plan, or returned to the original plan.

An IRA owner or beneficiary who has already received an RMD in 2020 can also repay the distribution to the distributing IRA no later than Aug. 31 to avoid paying taxes on that distribution. IRS Notice 2020-51 also provides that the one rollover per 12-month period limitation and the restriction on rollovers to inherited IRAs do not apply to this repayment.

The CARES Act provisions apply to most retirement plans, including traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, 457(b) plans, profit sharing plans and other defined contribution plans. The RMD suspension does not apply to qualified defined benefit plans.

More information on the CARES Act and retirement plans can be found at the IRS.gov website on the page titled Coronavirus-related relief for retirement plans and IRAs questions and answers.