The arrival of fall means that it’s back to school time! This also means it is time for new school supplies and other bigger expenses. Are you thinking about using your IRA to pay that large tuition bill? The rules can be complicated. Here are 10 things you will want to know.
Many IRA owners invest in assets other than the usual stocks, bonds, cash, and mutual funds. In fact, the tax code allows for IRAs to invest in just about anything out there except for collectibles, life insurance, and S-corporation stock. But when you invest in those “other assets,” what are they really worth?
Most IRA accounts hold pre-tax contributions and rollover amounts from employer plans. For purposes of this blog, I am going to assume that there are no after-tax amounts held in any IRA, including SEP and SIMPLE IRAs.
A holiday weekend version of The Slott Report Mailbag features questions concerning a 1099-R filing error, the possibility of converting an annuity to a Roth IRA and the viability of the often discussed (at least in this space) back-door Roth IRA.
We still get many questions on how a taxpayer should report a QCD (qualified charitable distribution) on their tax return. Jeffrey Levine takes you through the IRS Forms to use and what you should write on certain key lines.
Asset valuation is coming under greater scrutiny. It started with valuations used for calculating estate tax. IRS questioned valuation discounts used in many estates and was successful in many of these challenges.Then came the housing crash, the market crash and the mortgage security problems in 2006 and beyond. As a result, the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) is now looking harder at how illiquid investments in alternative funds are being valued.
When individuals take withdrawals from their IRAs, it's usually a cash withdrawal. By cash, we don't mean dollar bills; instead it's usually done by issuing a check. But it's possible to take a non-cash withdrawal from certain IRAs. These non-cash distributions are known as property distributions or “in-kind” distributions. Click to learn more about these distributions.
Most tax returns are done, 1099-Rs have been received, 2011 contributions have been made, and 5498s will be out by the end of next month (May). What's left to be done? Only the double (and triple) checking. Did you make a contribution in 2012 for 2011? Double check now to be sure the IRA custodian coded it as a 2011 contribution. Also double check that it went into the correct account, IRA or Roth IRA, your account or your spouse’s account, IRA or non-IRA account. Now is the time to fix any mistakes, not next year.
So you did your recharacterization from the Roth IRA back to the traditional IRA and now you are wondering how you put this on your tax return so you don’t have to pay tax on the conversion.You can find some guidance from IRS on the instructions for Form 8606 - which in most cases you don’t have to file when you do a recharacterization. You can find these instructions at www.irs.gov.
