Individual Retirement Account (IRA) Answer Book, Nineteenth Edition

Individual Retirement Account Answer Book is designed to provide quick, accurate, and timely information pertaining to traditional and Roth IRAs that concerns accountants, attorneys, financial planners, mutual fund brokers, and other pension professionals.

The Nineteenth Edition provides you with:

• Clear and concise explanations of IRA reporting and disclosure requirements
• Strategies for tax, estate, and retirement planning involving IRAs
• Guidelines for establishing traditional and Roth IRAs, SIMPLEs, SEPs, ESAs, and HSAs
• Tax-cutting tips, examples, calculations, and worksheets
• State rules on taxation of traditional IRA and Roth IRA distribution

The Nineteenth Edition of Individual Retirement Account Answer Book includes extensively revised chapters that bring you up to date on important congressional and administrative agency actions and recent judicial decisions that affect all IRAs, the Coverdell ESA, and Health Savings Accounts, including:

• The Federal Aviation Administration Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act of 2012 [Pub. L. No. 112-95], which for a limited time provides new rollover options for "airline payments"
• President Obama's proposals concerning IRAs:
  • Exempt IRA owners and beneficiaries from the RMD requirements if their retirement savings (in IRAs and qualified plans) are $50,000 or less, as measured at specified times (not annually); with phase-in of RMDs for savings between $50,000 and $60,000)
  • Allow nonspouse beneficiaries of both qualified plans and IRAs to use the 60-day rollover method to transfer assets to inherited IRAs
  • Double the tax credit for employers establishing a SEP, SIMPLE, or qualified plan for the first time
  • Require some employers to implement automatic enrollment in payroll deduction IRAs
• New Treasury Regulations:
  • Proposed regulations under Code Section 401(a)(9), which would allow qualifying longevity annuity contracts to be acquired by a traditional IRA and satisfy the minimum distribution requirements (Prop. Treas. Reg. § 1.401(a)(9)-6)
  • Final regulations under Code Section 7502, clarifying the ways to obtain prima facie proof of a timely postmark date (Treas. Reg. § 301.7502-1(e)(2))
• IRS guidance and private letter rulings concerning IRAs:
  • IRS Announcement 2011-81 (Dec. 12, 2011), stating that the Department of Labor is considering whether to issue a new prohibited transaction class exemption covering pledge, indemnity, and cross-collateralization agreements, and until further notice the IRS will evaluate IRAs without regard to the consequences of such agreements
  • IRS Rollover of Airline Payments to Traditional IRAs, providing procedures for rolling over airline payments to a traditional IRA, recharacterizing prior airline payment conversions to a Roth IRA, and amending returns for recovery of conversion tax paid
  • Private Letter Ruling 201208039 (Nov. 17, 2011), ruling that an IRA payable to a decedent's estate (and thus having no designated beneficiary) may be divided into separate accounts for each estate beneficiary, but distributions mustbe paid over the decedent's remaining life expectancy
• Department of Labor guidance concerning IRAs, including:
  • Employee Benefits Security Administration Advisory Opinion 2011-09A, opining that a self-directed IRA owner's agreement to indemnify a broker for investment losses and tax expenses in the IRA's margin account is a prohibited transaction, and since such costs are neither ordinary operating expenses nor incidental costs when incurred in a margin account, Prohibited Transaction Exemption 80-26 does not apply
• How the minimum distribution requirements and incidental benefit rule apply to individual retirement annuities
• A new section on IRA considerations for individuals who reside in or receive income from sources within a U.S. possession
• A reorganized discussion of post-death IRA distribution rules that allows options for each beneficiary be quickly identified
• IRS Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) 2011

• Introduction to IRAs
  • Types of IRAs
  • Financial Planning
  • Bankruptcy and Debtor Issues
• Adopting a Traditional IRA or a Roth IRA
  • Common Account-Opening Questions
  • Trustees and Custodians
  • Traditional IRA Documentation
  • Roth IRA Account-Opening Questions
  • Roth IRA Documentation
  • Payroll Deduction IRA
  • Deemed IRA
• Contributions to Traditional and Roth IRAs
  • Contribution Limit
  • Contribution Deadline
  • Direct Deposit of Tax Refunds to IRAs
  • Special Rules for Traditional IRA Contributions
  • Special Rules for Roth IRA Contributions
  • Conversion Contributions
  • Tax Consequences of Conversion
  • Recharacterization of IRA Contributions
  • Excess Contributions
  • Saver's Tax Credit for IRA Contributions
• Distributions from Traditional IRAs
  • Minimum Distributions During the IRA Owner's Lifetime
  • Distributions After the IRA Owner's Death
  • Beneficiaries
  • Non-individual Beneficiaries
  • Post-Mortem Distribution Planning
  • Taxation of Traditional IRA Distributions
• Roth IRA Distributions
  • Distributions in General
  • Qualified Distributions
  • Nonqualified Distributions
  • Allocating Roth IRA Distributions for Tax Purposes
  • Post-Death Distributions
  • Miscellaneous Taxation Issues
  • Withholding
  • State Law Issues
• Rollovers
  • Traditional IRA Rollovers and Transfers
  • Roth IRAs
  • Coverdell Education Savings Accounts
  • Qualified Plan Rollovers to IRAs
  • Distribution of Noncash Property
  • Withholding
  • Transferring and Receiving Qualified Plans
  • Security Agreements
  • Special Rules
  • Beneficiaries
  • Divorce
  • Rollovers and Transfers from SIMPLE IRAs
  • Rollovers from IRAs to Qualified Plans
  • Rollovers from Designated Roth Accounts to Roth IRAs
  • Rollovers from IRAs to Health Savings Accounts
• Disclosure, Filings, Penalties, and Withholding
  • Disclosure
  • Revocation
  • Reports to the IRS and the IRA Owner
  • Taxpayer Reporting of Distributions
  • Withholding
  • Penalties
  • General Filing Information
  • Form 990-T
  • Form 1040
  • Obtaining Form W-2
  • Form 1099-R
  • Form 5329
  • Form 5330
  • Form 5498
  • Form 8606
  • Form 8888
  • Forms 8915 and 8930
  • Required Minimum Distribution Statement
• Estate and Tax Planning for Traditional IRAs
  • Estate Planning in General
  • Income Tax and Estate Tax Considerations
  • Beneficiaries
  • Trusts in General
  • Qualified Terminable Interest Property Trusts
  • Placement of IRAs in the Estate
  • Payment of Taxes
  • Earlier-Than-Planned Liquidation of IRAs
  • Strategies for Large Estates
• Estate and Tax Strategies for Roth IRAs
  • The Basics of Conversions
  • Conversion Strategies
• Income and Estate Planning Concerns for Large IRA Balances
  • General Rules
  • Estate Tax Exemption Amount
  • Distributions
  • Beneficiaries
  • Continuing the IRA for Future Generations
  • IRA Assets and Generation Skipping
  • Life Insurance as a Funding Vehicle
  • Tax Strategies
  • Calculation of Aggregate Estate and Income Taxes on Large IRA Balances
  • Calculation of Income in Respect of a Decedent
  • IRAs Versus Qualified Plans
• Simplified Employee Pension Plans
  • SEP Forms
  • Approval for Combined Plans and Prior Plans
  • Participation
  • Employer Contributions
  • Compensation and Related Issues
  • Contributions for Self-Employed Individuals
  • Deduction of Employer Contributions
  • Elective Deferrals (For Salary Reduction SEPs)
  • Participants' Exclusion of Contributions
  • Direct Employee Contributions to a SARSEP
  • Excess Contributions to a SEP or SARSEP
  • Distributions
  • Rollovers, Conversions, and Recharacterizations
  • Miscellaneous Rules
• SIMPLE IRA Arrangements
  • Basic Concepts
  • Qualified Salary Reduction Arrangement
  • Establishing a SIMPLE
  • Employer Eligibility
  • Employee Eligibility
  • Compensation
  • Contributions
  • Employee Elections
  • Vesting Requirements
  • Notice and Reporting Requirements
  • Trustee Administrative Requirements
  • Distributions
  • Tax Treatment
  • Designated Financial Institutions
  • Fiduciary Responsibility
  • Tax Credits for Employers and Employees
  • Rollovers, Conversions, and Recharacterizations
  • Excess Contributions
  • Miscellaneous Rules
  • Bonding
• Coverdell Education Savings Account
  • Coverdell ESA Versus IRAs
  • Parties
  • Changing the Designated Beneficiary
  • Eligibility
  • Contributions
  • Military Death Gratuities and SGLI Payments
  • Excess Contributions
  • Distributions
  • Distributions at Age 30
  • Distributions After Death
  • Qualified Education Expenses
  • Trustees and Custodians
  • Documentation
  • Reporting
• Health Savings Accounts
  • Comparison with Other Health Savings Vehicles
  • General HSA Requirements High-Deductible Health Plan
  • Eligibility
  • Contributions
  • Tax Treatment of Contributions
  • Annual Contribution Limit
  • Excess Contributions
  • Rollovers and Trustee-to-Trustee Transfers
  • Distributions
  • Qualified Medical Expenses
  • Reporting Requirements
• State Tax Rules Regarding IRAs
  • Traditional IRA Contributions
  • Traditional IRA Distributions Tax on Post-1995 Distributions Received from Traditional IRAs by Former Residents
  • Tax on Pre-1996 Distributions Received from Traditional IRAs by Former Residents
  • Roth IRA Distributions
  • Special Purpose Distributions
  • Conversion Rollovers to Roth IRAs
  • SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs
  • Penalties
  • Health Savings Accounts
  • Withholding and Estimated Taxes
  • Future State Legislation
  • Choosing a State for Retirement