by Mat Sorensen | Nov 17, 2015 | News
Distributions from a 401(k) to its owner are subject to a 20% withholding tax whereas distributions from an IRA are not subject to a withholding tax. As a result, any amounts distributed from a 401(k) to its owner will be reduced by 20% and that 20% will be sent to the IRS in expectation of the taxes that will be due from the account owner for the distribution. Any amounts distributed from an IRA, however, are not subject to the 20% withholding as the IRA owner can elect out of withholding. The discrepancy in the rules is one advantage of using an IRA in retirement as opposed to a 401(k) since the amounts distributed from the IRA can be received in their entirely. Keep in mind, the tax owed on a distribution from an IRA or 401(k) is the exact same. The difference is when you are required to pay it. In both instances you will receive a 1099-R from your custodian/administrator but in the 401(k) distribution you are required to set aside and effectively pre-pay the taxes owed.
The 401(k) Withholding Rule in Practice
Let’s walk though a common situation that outlines the issue. Sarah is 64 and has a 401(k). She would like to distribute $100,000 from the 401(k). She contacts her 401(k) administrator and is told that on a $100,000 distribution they will send her $80,000 and that $20,000 will be sent to the IRS for her to cover the 20% withholding requirement. Since this 20% withholding requirement does not apply to IRAs, Sarah decides to roll/transfer the $100,000 from her 401(k) directly to an IRA. Once the funds arrive at the IRA, Sarah takes the $100,000 distribution from the IRA and there is no mandatory 20% withholding so she actually receives $100,000 in total. Keep in mind, Sarah will still owe taxes on the $100,000 distribution from the IRA and she will receive a 1099-R to include on her tax return. That being said. Sarah has given herself the ability to access all of the amounts distributed for her retirement account without the need for sending withholding to the IRS at the time of distribution.
It’s that simple. Don’t take distributions from a 401(k) and subject yourself to the 20% withholding tax when you can roll/transfer those 401(k) funds to an IRA and receive the entire distribution desired without a 20% withholding.
by Mat Sorensen | Jan 27, 2015 | UBIT & UDFI Tax
Self-Directed IRA investors should be aware of the following IRA tax reporting responsibilities. Some of these items are completed by your custodian and some of them are the IRA owner’s sole responsibility. Here’s a quick summary of what should be reported to the IRS each year for your IRA.
IRA Custodian Files
Your IRA Custodian will file the following forms to the IRS annually:
| IRS FORM |
PURPOSE |
WHAT DOES IT REPORT |
|
|
|
| Form 5498 |
Filed to the IRS by your custodian. No taxes are due or paid as a result of Form 5498. |
IRA contributions, roth conversions, the accounts fair market value as of 12/31/14, and required minimum distributions taken. |
| Form 1099-R |
Filed to the IRS by your custodian to report any distributions or Roth conversions. The amounts distributed or converted are generally subject to tax and are claimed on your personal tax return. |
IRA distributions for the year, Roth IRA conversions, and also rollovers that are not direct IRA trustee to IRA trustee. |
IRA Owner’s Responsibility
Depending on your self-directed IRA investments, you may be required to file the following tax return(s) with the IRS for your IRA’s investments/income:
| IRS FORM |
DOES MY IRA NEED TO FILE THIS? |
DUE DATE |
|
|
|
| 1065 Partnership Tax Return |
If your IRA is an owner in an LLC, LP, or other partnership, then the Partnership should file a 1065 Tax Return for the company to the IRS and should issue a K-1 to your IRA for its share of income or loss. Make sure the account preparing the company return knows to use your custodian’s tax ID for your IRA’s K-1’s and not your personal SSN. If your IRA owns an LLC 100%, then it is disregarded (single member LLC) and the LLC does not need to file a tax return to the IRS. |
April 15th, 6 month extension available |
| 990-T IRA Tax Return (UBIT) |
If your IRA incurs unrelated business income tax (UBIT), then it is required to file a tax return. The IRA files a tax return and any taxes due are paid from the IRA. Most self-directed IRAs don’t need to file a 990-T for their IRA, but you may be required to file for your IRA if your IRA obtained a non-recourse loan to buy a property (UDFI tax), or if your IRA participates in non-passive real estate investments such as construction, development, or on-going short-term flips. You may also have UBIT if your IRA has received income from an active trade or business (c-corp dividends exempt). Rental income (no debt leverage), interest income, capital gain income, and dividend income are exempt from UBIT tax. |
April 15th, 3 month extension available |
Frequently Asked Questions
I’ve answered the most frequently asked questions below as they relate to your IRA’s tax reporting responsibilities.
Q: My IRA is a member of an LLC with other investors. What should I tell the accountant preparing the tax return about reporting profit/loss for my IRA?
A: Let your accountant know that the IRA should receive the K-1 (e.g. ABC Trust Company FBO John Doe IRA) and that they should use the Tax-ID of your custodian and not your personal SSN. Contact your custodian to obtain their Tax ID. Most custodians are familiar with this process so it should be readily available.
Q: Why do I need to provide an annual valuation to my custodian for the LLC (or other company) my IRA owns?
A: Your IRA custodian must report your IRA’s fair market value as of the end of the year (as of 12/31/14) to the IRS on Form 5498 and in order to do this they must have an accurate record of the value of your IRA’s investments. If your IRA owns an LLC, they need to know the value of that LLC. For example, let’s say you have an IRA that owns an LLC 100% and that this LLC owns a rental property and that it also has a bank account with some cash. If the value of the rental property at the end of the year was $150,000 and if the cash in the LLC bank account is $15,000, then the value of the LLC at the end of the year is $165,000.
Q: I have a property owned by my IRA and I obtained a non-recourse loan to purchase the property. Does my IRA need to file a 990-T tax return?
A: Probably. A 990-T tax return is required if your IRA has income subject to UBIT tax. There is a tax called UDFI tax (unrelated debt financed income) that is triggered when your IRA uses debt to acquire an asset. Essentially, what the IRS does in this situation is they make you apportion the percent of your investment that is the IRAs cash (tax favorable treatment) and the portion that is debt (subject to UDFI/UBIT tax) and your IRA end up paying taxes on the profits that are generated from the debt as this is non-retirement plan money. If you have rental income for the year, then you can use expenses to offset this income. However, if you have $1,000 or more of gross income subject to UBIT then you should file a 990-T tax return. In addition, if you have losses for the year you may want to file 990-T to claim those losses as they can carry-forward to be used to offset future gains (e.g. sale of the property).
Q: How do I file a 990-T tax return for my IRA?
A: This is filed by your IRA and is not part of your personal tax return. If tax is due, you will need to send the completed tax form to your IRA custodian along with an instruction to pay the tax due and your custodian will pay the taxes owed from the IRA to the IRS. Your IRA must obtain its own Tax ID to file Form 990-T. Your IRA custodian does not file this form or report UBIT tax to the IRS for your IRA. Our law firm is preparing and filing 990-T tax returns for our self-directed IRA and 401(k) clients. Contact us at the law firm if you need assistance.
Sadly, not many professionals are familiar with the rules and tax procedures for self-directed IRAs so it is important to seek out those attorneys, accountants, and CPAs who can help you understand your self-directed IRA tax reporting obligations. Our law firm routinely advises clients and their accountants on the rules and procedures that I have summarized in this article and we can also prepare and file your 990-T tax return.
by Mat Sorensen | Dec 8, 2014 | News
Do you have a solo 401(k)? Have you been filing form 5500-EZ each year for the 401(k)? Are you aware that there is a penalty up to $15,000 per year for failure to file? While many solo 401(k)s are exempt from the 5500-EZ filing requirement, we have run across many solo 401(k) owners who should have filed and who have failed to do so. If you have a solo 401(k) and have no idea what I’m talking about, stay calm, but read on.
One of the benefits of a solo 401(k) is the ease of administration and control because you can be the 401k trustee and administrator. However, as the 401(k) administrator and trustee it is your own responsibility to make the appropriate tax filings. This would include filing any required tax returns for the 401(k). In general, there is no tax return to file for a self-directed solo 401(k). However, one exception to this rule is if the plan assets exceed $250,000 at the end of the plan year, in which case, a tax return filing is required. The return the 401(k) files is called a 5500-EZ. Recently, more and more solo 401(k) owners have contacted us because they set up their solo 401(k) online or with some other company and they were never made aware that they are supposed to file a 5500-EZ when their plan assets exceed $250,000. Some of these individuals have multiple years in which they should have filed the 5500-EZ but failed to do so. The penalties for failing to file a 5500-EZ when it is required can be quite severe, with fees and penalties as high as $15,000 for each late return, plus interest.
Fortunately, the IRS has a temporary pilot program that provides automatic relief from IRS Late filing penalties on past due 5500-EZ filings. This temporary program began on June 2, 2014, and will end on June 2, 2015. The IRS has yet to decide if they will continue with this program and make it permanent after June 2, 2015, but if they do, they plan to charge a filing fee. Under this temporary program, there is no filing fee.
In order to qualify for this program, your solo 401(k) plan must not have received a CP 283 Notice for any past due 5500-EZ filings, and the only participants of your solo 401(k) plan can be you and your spouse, and your business partner(s) and their spouse. This program is available to all solo 401(k) plans, regardless of whether it is a self-directed plan.
The IRS has provided a step-by-step process that can be found at http://www.irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/New-Penalty-Relief-Program-for-Form-5500-EZ-Late-Filers and at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-14-32.pdf. In order to qualify and receive a waiver of penalties under the program, you must follow the program exactly. Basically, you must do all of the following:
- File all delinquent returns using the IRS form in the year the filing was due.
- Write in red letters at the top of the first page of each filing, “Delinquent return submitted under Rev. Proc. 2014-32, Eligible for Penalty Relief”.
- Attach a one-page transmittal schedule to the front of each filing.
- Mail all documents to the IRS.
In sum, if you have a solo 401(k) plan that should have filed a 5500-EZ for years past because the plan assets exceeded $250,000 at the end of the plan year, then you should take advantage of this program, which will save you literally thousands of dollars in penalties and fees. Under this program, the IRS must receive your past due to 5500-EZ filings before June 2, 2015. If you have any questions about this program or would like assistance with submitting your late 5500-EZ filings under this program, please contact the law firm as we are assisting clients with current and past due 5500-EZ filings for their solo 401(K)s.
by Mat Sorensen | Aug 21, 2012 | IRA/LLCs
There are numerous laws, cases, and regulations to consider in analyzing whether your IRA can own an LLC (commonly referred to as an “IRA/LLC” or a “checkbook control IRA”). Despite the complexity of the law, your IRA can own 100% of the ownership interest of an LLC and you as the IRA owner may serve as the Manager of this LLC. This proposition was first supported by the case of Swanson v. Commissioner, 106 T.C. 76 in 1996 where the U.S. Tax Court held that it is not a prohibited transaction under IRC Section 4975 for a retirement plan to invest and own 100% of newly created corporation nor was it prohibited for the IRA owner to serve as an officer of that company where no salary or compensation was paid to the IRA owner. In summary, the U.S. Tax Court has supported the structure whereby a new created company is wholly owned by a retirement plan and managed by the retirement plan owner and that is the same rationale used in many IRA/LLC’s.
So what does the IRS think about IRA/LLC’s? The IRS issued IRS Field Service Advisory #200128011 in April of 2001 which indicated that the IRS will not contend that there is a prohibited transaction when there is a newly formed and capitalized company that is 100% owned by a retirement plan. Keep in mind that both of these cases deal with newly formed companies and do not apply to LLC’s or corporations (or other companies) which a retirement plan owner may have already established. Also, it is possible to partner your retirement plan with others into one IRA/LLC but you must carefully consult with professional who are experienced in this area as there are numerous prohibited transaction issues that may arise when you partner your IRA with others.
Serving as the Manager of the IRA/LLC allows the IRA account owner to enter into contracts on behalf of the IRA/LLC and to sign checks on behalf of the IRA/LLC. There are restrictions on the amount of work you may do (for example, if the IRA/LLC owned a property you may not work on the property) but you may oversee the administrative matters like the signing of contracts and checks. The prohibited transaction rules still apply to IRA/LLC’s in the same way they apply to your self-directed IRA so you still must pay careful attention to these rules and most consult with professionals who are competent in the laws that apply to retirement plans. Moreover, an IRA/LLC is different from your typical LLC and the IRA/LLC documents should include numerous provisions which protect your IRA from a prohibited transaction. This doesn’t mean that an IRA/LLC should costs thousands of dollars. In fact, our law firm sets IRA/LLC’s up for $750 plus the state filing fee if the IRA/LLC is owned by one IRA or $1,500 if owned by multiple IRA’s or partners. In the end, an IRA/LLC can be a powerful tool to gain more control of your IRA’s investments but you must do so with adherence to the rules and laws that apply to your IRA. Written by Mathew Sorensen, Attorney at Law and Partner at Kyler Kohler Ostermiller & Sorensen, LLP, a law firm assisting self directed retirement plan owners across the U.S. for over ten years from offices in Arizona, Utah and California. To learn more about our law firm, please visit our website at ww.kkoslawyers.com or call us at 435-586-9366.
