Special Additional Taxes

To discourage the use of pension funds for purposes other than normal retirement, the law imposes additional taxes on early distributions of those funds and on failures to withdraw the funds timely. Ordinarily, you will not be subject to these taxes if you roll over all early distributions you receive, as explained earlier, and begin drawing out the funds at a normal retirement age, in reasonable amounts over your life expectancy. These special additional taxes are the taxes on:

• Early distributions, and
• Excess accumulation (not receiving minimum distributions).

These taxes are discussed in the following sections.

If you must pay either of these taxes, report them on Form 5329. However, you do not have to file Form 5329 if you owe only the tax on early distributions and your Form 1099-R shows a 1 in box 7. Instead, enter 10% of the taxable part of the distribution on line 58 of Form 1040 and write No on the dotted line next to line 58.

Even if you do not owe any of these taxes, you may have to complete Form 5329 and attach it to your Form 1040. This applies if you received an early distribution and your Form 1099-R does not show distribution code 2, 3, or 4 in box 7 (or the code shown is incorrect).

Tax on Early Distributions

Most distributions (both periodic and nonperiodic) from qualified retirement plans and nonqualified annuity contracts made to you before you reach age 59½ are subject to an additional tax of 10%. This tax applies to the part of the distribution that you must include in gross income. It does not apply to any part of a distribution that is tax free, such as amounts that represent a return of your cost or that were rolled over to another retirement plan. It also does not apply to corrective distributions of excess deferrals, excess contributions, or excess aggregate contributions (discussed earlier at the beginning of Taxation of Nonperiodic Payments).

For this purpose, a qualified retirement plan is:

• A qualified employee plan (including a qualified cash or deferred arrangement (CODA) under Internal Revenue Code section 401(k)),
• A qualified employee annuity plan,
• A tax-sheltered annuity plan (403(b) plan), or
• An eligible state or local government section 457 deferred compensation plan (to the extent that any distribution is attributable to amounts the plan received in a direct transfer or rollover from one of the other plans listed here).

5% rate on certain early distributions from deferred annuity contracts.   If an early withdrawal from a deferred annuity is otherwise subject to the 10% additional tax, a 5% rate may apply instead. A 5% rate applies to distributions under a written election providing a specific schedule for the distribution of your interest in the contract if, as of March 1, 1986, you had begun receiving payments under the election. On line 4 of Form 5329, multiply by 5% instead of 10%. Attach an explanation to your return.

Exceptions to tax.   Certain early distributions are excepted from the early distribution tax. If the payer knows that an exception applies to your early distribution, distribution code 2, 3, or 4 should be shown in box 7 of your Form 1099-R and you do not have to report the distribution on Form 5329. If an exception applies but distribution code 1 (early distribution, no known exception) is shown in box 7, you must file Form 5329. Enter the taxable amount of the distribution shown in box 2a of your Form 1099-R on line 1 of Form 5329. On line 2, enter the amount that can be excluded and the exception number shown in the Form 5329 instructions.

If distribution code 1 is incorrectly shown on your Form 1099-R for a distribution received when you were age 59½ or older, include that distribution on Form 5329. Enter exception number 11 on line 2.

The early distribution tax does not apply to any distribution that meets one of the following exceptions.

General exceptions.   The tax does not apply to distributions that are:

• Made as part of a series of substantially equal periodic payments (made at least annually) for your life (or life expectancy) or the joint lives (or joint life expectancies) of you and your designated beneficiary (if from a qualified retirement plan, the payments must begin after separation from service),
• Made because you are totally and permanently disabled, or
• Made on or after the death of the plan participant or contract holder.

Additional exceptions for qualified retirement plans.   The tax does not apply to distributions that are:

• From a qualified retirement plan (other than an IRA) after your separation from service in or after the year you reached age 55,
• From a qualified retirement plan (other than an IRA) to an alternate payee under a qualified domestic relations order,
• From a qualified retirement plan to the extent you have deductible medical expenses (medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income), whether or not you itemize your deductions for the year,
• From an employer plan under a written election that provides a specific schedule for distribution of your entire interest if, as of March 1, 1986, you had separated from service and had begun receiving payments under the election,
• From an employee stock ownership plan for dividends on employer securities held by the plan, or
• From a qualified retirement plan due to an IRS levy of the plan.

Additional exceptions for nonqualified annuity contracts.   The tax does not apply to distributions that are:

• From a deferred annuity contract to the extent allocable to investment in the contract before August 14, 1982,
• From a deferred annuity contract under a qualified personal injury settlement,
• From a deferred annuity contract purchased by your employer upon termination of a qualified employee plan or qualified employee annuity plan and held by your employer until your separation from service, or
• From an immediate annuity contract (a single premium contract providing substantially equal annuity payments that start within one year from the date of purchase and are paid at least annually).

Recapture tax for changes in distribution method under equal payment exception.   An early distribution recapture tax may apply if, before you reach age 59½, the distribution method under the equal periodic payment exception changes (for reasons other than your death or disability). The tax applies if the method changes from the method requiring equal payments to a method that would not have qualified for the exception to the tax. The recapture tax applies to the first tax year to which the change applies. The amount of tax is the amount that would have been imposed had the exception not applied, plus interest for the deferral period.

The recapture tax also applies if you do not receive the payments for at least 5 years under a method that qualifies for the exception. It applies even if you modify your method of distribution after you reach age 59½. In that case, the tax applies only to payments distributed before you reach age 59½.

Report the recapture tax and interest on line 4 of Form 5329. Attach an explanation to the form. Do not write the explanation next to the line or enter any amount for the recapture on lines 1 or 3 of the form.

Tax on Excess Accumulation

To make sure that most of your retirement benefits are paid to you during your lifetime, rather than to your beneficiaries after your death, the payments that you receive from qualified retirement plans must begin no later than your required beginning date (defined later). The payments each year cannot be less than the minimum required distribution.

If the actual distributions to you in any year are less than the minimum required distribution for that year, you are subject to an additional tax. The tax equals 50% of the part of the required minimum distribution that was not distributed.

For this purpose, a qualified retirement plan includes:

• A qualified employee plan,
• A qualified employee annuity plan,
• An eligible section 457 deferred compensation plan, or
• A tax-sheltered annuity plan (403(b) plan) (for benefits accruing after 1986).

Waiver.   The tax may be waived if you establish that the shortfall in distributions was due to reasonable error and that reasonable steps are being taken to remedy the shortfall. If you believe you qualify for this relief, you must file Form 5329, pay the tax, and attach a letter of explanation. If the IRS grants your request, the tax will be refunded.

State insurer delinquency proceedings.   You might not receive the minimum distribution because of state insurer delinquency proceedings for an insurance company. If your payments are reduced below the minimum because of these proceedings, you should contact your plan administrator. Under certain conditions, you will not have to pay the 50% excise tax.

Required beginning date.   Unless the rule for 5% owners applies, you generally must begin to receive distributions from your qualified retirement plan by April 1 of the year that follows the later of:

• The calendar year in which you reach age 70½, or
• The calendar year in which you retire.

However, your plan may require you to begin to receive distributions by April 1 of the year that follows the year in which you reach age 701/, even if you have not retired.

5% owners.   If you are a 5% owner of the employer maintaining your qualified retirement plan, you must begin to receive distributions from the plan by April 1 of the year that follows the calendar year in which you reach age 70½. This rule does not apply if your retirement plan is a government or church plan.

You are a 5% owner if, for the plan year ending in the calendar year in which you reach age 70½, you own (or are considered to own under section 318 of the Internal Revenue Code) more than 5% of the outstanding stock (or more than 5% of the total voting power of all stock) of the employer, or more than 5% of the capital or profits interest in the employer.

Age 70½.   You reach age 70½ on the date that is 6 calendar months after the date of your 70th birthday. For example, if your 70th birthday was on June 30, 2001, you reached age 70½ on December 30, 2001. If your 70th birthday was on July 1, 2001, you reached age 701/2 on January 1, 2002.

In 2002, the IRS announced new rules that simplify the calculation of required distributions. Plans are not required to adopt these new rules until 2003, so the following discussion reflects both the old and new rules. Check with your plan administrator to see which rules your plan follows.

Required distributions.   By the required beginning date, as explained above, you must either:

• Receive your entire interest in the plan (for a tax-sheltered annuity, your entire benefit accruing after 1986), or
• Begin receiving periodic distributions in annual amounts calculated to distribute your entire interest (for a tax-sheltered annuity, your entire benefit accruing after 1986) over your life or life expectancy or over the joint lives or joint life expectancies of you and a designated beneficiary (or over a shorter period).

After the starting year for periodic distributions, you must receive the minimum required distribution for each year by December 31 of that year. (The starting year is the year in which you reach age 70½ or retire, whichever applies in determining your required beginning date.) If no distribution is made in your starting year, the minimum required distributions for 2 years must be made the following year (one by April 1 and one by December 31).

Example.   You retired under a qualified employee plan in 2001. You reached age 70½ on August 20, 2002. For 2002 (your starting year), you must receive a minimum amount from your retirement plan by April 1, 2003. You must receive the minimum required distribution for 2003 by December 31, 2003.

Distributions after the employee's death.   If the employee was receiving periodic distributions before his or her death, any payments not made as of the time of death must be distributed at least as rapidly as under the distribution method being used at the date of death.

If the employee dies before the required beginning date, the entire account must be distributed under one of the following rules.

• Rule 1. The distribution must be completed by December 31 of the fifth year following the year of the employee's death.
• Rule 2. The distribution must be made in annual amounts over the life or life expectancy of the designated beneficiary.

The terms of the plan determine which of these two rules applies. If the plan permits the employee or the beneficiary to choose the rule that applies, this choice must be made by the earliest date a distribution would be required under either of the rules. Generally, this date is December 31 of the year following the year of the employee's death.

If the employee or the beneficiary did not choose either rule and the plan does not specify the one that applies, distribution generally must be made under rule 2 if the beneficiary is the surviving spouse and under rule 1 if the beneficiary is someone other than the surviving spouse. However, if your plan adopted the new rules proposed by the IRS in 2001 or 2002, distribution must be made under rule 2 if the employee has a designated beneficiary and under rule 1 if the employee does not have a designated beneficiary.

Distributions under rule 2 generally must begin by December 31 of the year following the year of the employee's death. However, if the surviving spouse is the beneficiary, distributions need not begin until December 31 of the year the employee would have reached age 70½, if later.

If the surviving spouse is the designated beneficiary and distributions are to be made under rule 2, a special rule applies if the spouse dies after the employee but before distributions are required to begin. In this case, distributions may be made to the spouse's beneficiary under either rule 1 or rule 2, as though the beneficiary were the employee's beneficiary and the employee died on the spouse's date of death. However, if the surviving spouse remarries after the employee's death and the new spouse is designated as the spouse's beneficiary, this special rule applicable to surviving spouses does not apply to the new spouse.

Minimum distributions from an annuity plan.   Special rules may apply if you receive distributions from your retirement plan in the form of an annuity. Your plan administrator should be able to give you information about these rules.

Minimum distributions from an individual account plan.   If there is an account balance to be distributed from your plan (not as an annuity), your plan administrator must figure the minimum amount that must be distributed from the plan each year.

Your plan administrator will use rules similar to the rules that are used to figure required distributions from traditional IRAs. The IRA rules are discussed in Publication 590.

Your plan administrator should be able to give you information about how the amount of your required distribution was figured.

What types of installments are allowed?   The minimum amount that must be distributed for any year may be made in a series of installments (for example, monthly or quarterly) as long as the total payments for the year made by the date required are not less than the minimum amount required for the year.

More than minimum.   Your plan can distribute more in any year than the minimum amount required for that year but, if it does, you will not receive credit for the additional amount in determining the minimum amount required for future years. However, any amount distributed in your starting year will be credited toward the amount required to be distributed by April 1 of the following year.

Combining multiple accounts to satisfy the minimum distribution requirements.   Generally, the required minimum distribution must be figured separately for each account. Each qualified employee retirement plan and qualified annuity plan must be considered individually in satisfying its distribution requirements. However, if you have more than one tax-sheltered annuity account, you can total the required distributions and then satisfy the requirement by taking distributions from any one (or more) of the tax-sheltered annuities.

Survivors and Beneficiaries

Generally, a survivor or beneficiary reports pension or annuity income in the same way the plan participant would have reported it. However, some special rules apply, and they are covered elsewhere in this publication as well as in this section.

Estate tax deduction.   You may be entitled to a deduction for estate tax if you receive a joint and survivor annuity that was included in the decedent's estate. You can deduct the part of the total estate tax that was based on the annuity, provided that the decedent died after his or her annuity starting date. (For details, see section 1.691(d)-1 of the regulations.) Deduct it in equal amounts over your remaining life expectancy.

You can take the estate tax deduction as an itemized deduction on Schedule A, Form 1040. This deduction is not subject to the 2%-of-adjusted-gross-income limit on miscellaneous deductions.

Survivors of employees.   Distributions the beneficiary of a deceased employee gets may be accrued salary payments, distributions from employee profit-sharing, pension, annuity, or stock bonus plans, or other items. Some of these should be treated separately for tax purposes. The treatment of these distributions depends on what they represent.

Salary or wages paid after the death of the employee are usually the beneficiary's ordinary income. If you are a beneficiary of an employee who was covered by any of the retirement plans mentioned, you can exclude from income nonperiodic distributions received that totally relieve the payer from the obligation to pay an annuity. The amount that you can exclude is equal to the deceased employee's investment in the contract (cost).

If you are entitled to receive a survivor annuity on the death of an employee, you can exclude part of each annuity payment as a tax-free recovery of the employee's investment in the contract. You must figure the tax-free part of each payment using the method that applies as if you were the employee. For more information, see Taxation of Periodic Payments, earlier.

Survivors of retirees.   Benefits paid to you as a survivor under a joint and survivor annuity must be included in your gross income. Include them in income in the same way the retiree would have included them in gross income. See Partly Taxable Payments under Taxation of Periodic Payments, earlier.

If the retiree reported the annuity under the Three-Year Rule and had recovered all of his or her cost before death, your survivor payments are fully taxable.

If the retiree was reporting the annuity under the General Rule, you must apply the same exclusion percentage to your initial survivor annuity payment called for in the contract. As discussed in Publication 939, the resulting tax-free amount will then remain fixed for the initial and future payments. Increases in the survivor annuity are fully taxable.

If the retiree was reporting the annuity under the Simplified Method, the part of each payment that is tax free is the same as the tax-free amount figured by the retiree at the annuity starting date. See Simplified Method under Taxation of Periodic Payments, earlier.

Guaranteed payments.   If you receive guaranteed payments as the decedent's beneficiary under a life annuity contract, do not include any amount in your gross income until your distributions plus the tax-free distributions received by the life annuitant equal the cost of the contract. All later distributions are fully taxable. This rule does not apply if it is possible for you to collect more than the guaranteed amount. For example, it does not apply to payments under a joint and survivor annuity.

How To Get Tax Help

You can get help with unresolved tax issues, order free publications and forms, ask tax questions, and get more information from the IRS in several ways. By selecting the method that is best for you, you will have quick and easy access to tax help.

Contacting your Taxpayer Advocate.   If you have attempted to deal with an IRS problem unsuccessfully, you should contact your Taxpayer Advocate.

The Taxpayer Advocate represents your interests and concerns within the IRS by protecting your rights and resolving problems that have not been fixed through normal channels. While Taxpayer Advocates cannot change the tax law or make a technical tax decision, they can clear up problems that resulted from previous contacts and ensure that your case is given a complete and impartial review.

To contact your Taxpayer Advocate:

• Call the Taxpayer Advocate at 1-877-777-4778.
• Call, write, or fax the Taxpayer Advocate office in your area.
• Call 1-800-829-4059 if you are a TTY/TDD user.

For more information, see Publication 1546, The Taxpayer Advocate Service of the IRS.

Free tax services.   To find out what services are available, get Publication 910, Guide to Free Tax Services. It contains a list of free tax publications and an index of tax topics. It also describes other free tax information services, including tax education and assistance programs and a list of TeleTax topics.

Personal computer. With your personal computer and modem, you can access the IRS on the Internet at www.irs.gov. While visiting our web site, you can:

• See answers to frequently asked tax questions or request help by e-mail.
• Download forms and publications or search for forms and publications by topic or keyword.
• Order IRS products on-line.
• View forms that may be filled in electronically, print the completed form, and then save the form for recordkeeping.
• View Internal Revenue Bulletins published in the last few years.
• Search regulations and the Internal Revenue Code.
• Receive our electronic newsletters on hot tax issues and news.
• Learn about the benefits of filing electronically (IRS e-file).
• Get information on starting and operating a small business.

You can also reach us with your computer using File Transfer Protocol at ftp.irs.gov.

TaxFax Service. Using the phone attached to your fax machine, you can receive forms and instructions by calling 703-368-9694. Follow the directions from the prompts. When you order forms, enter the catalog number for the form you need. The items you request will be faxed to you.

For help with transmission problems, call the FedWorld Help Desk at 703-487-4608.

Phone. Many services are available by phone.
 
 

• Ordering forms, instructions, and publications. Call 1-800-829-3676 to order current and prior year forms, instructions, and publications.
• Asking tax questions. Call the IRS with your tax questions at 1-800-829-1040.
• Solving problems. Take advantage of Everyday Tax Solutions service by calling your local IRS office to set up an in-person appointment at your convenience. Check your local directory assistance or www.irs.gov for the numbers.
• TTY/TDD equipment. If you have access to TTY/TDD equipment, call 1-800-829-4059 to ask tax questions or to order forms and publications.
• TeleTax topics. Call 1-800-829-4477 to listen to pre-recorded messages covering various tax topics.

Evaluating the quality of our telephone services. To ensure that IRS representatives give accurate, courteous, and professional answers, we use several methods to evaluate the quality of our telephone services. One method is for a second IRS representative to sometimes listen in on or record telephone calls. Another is to ask some callers to complete a short survey at the end of the call.

Walk-in. Many products and services are available on a walk-in basis.

• Products. You can walk in to many post offices, libraries, and IRS offices to pick up certain forms, instructions, and publications. Some IRS offices, libraries, grocery stores, copy centers, city and county governments, credit unions, and office supply stores have an extensive collection of products available to print from a CD-ROM or photocopy from reproducible proofs. Also, some IRS offices and libraries have the Internal Revenue Code, regulations, Internal Revenue Bulletins, and Cumulative Bulletins available for research purposes.
• Services. You can walk in to your local IRS office to ask tax questions or get help with a tax problem. Now you can set up an appointment by calling your local IRS office number and, at the prompt, leaving a message requesting Everyday Tax Solutions help. A representative will call you back within 2 business days to schedule an in-person appointment at your convenience.

Mail. You can send your order for forms, instructions, and publications to the Distribution Center nearest to you and receive a response within 10 workdays after your request is received. Find the address that applies to your part of the country.

• Western part of U.S.:
  Western Area Distribution Center
  Rancho Cordova, CA 95743-0001
• Central part of U.S.:
  Central Area Distribution Center
  P.O. Box 8903
  Bloomington, IL 61702-8903
• Eastern part of U.S. and foreign addresses:
  Eastern Area Distribution Center
  P.O. Box 85074
  Richmond, VA 23261-5074

CD-ROM for tax products. You can order IRS Publication 1796, Federal Tax Products on CD-ROM, and obtain:
 

• Current tax forms, instructions, and publications.
• Prior-year tax forms and instructions.
• Popular tax forms that may be filled in electronically, printed out for submission, and saved for recordkeeping.
• Internal Revenue Bulletins.

The CD-ROM can be purchased from National Technical Information Service (NTIS) by calling 1-877-233-6767 or on the Internet at http://www.irs.gov/cdorders. The first release is available in early January and the final release is available in late February.

CD-ROM for small businesses. IRS Publication 3207, Small Business Resource Guide, is a must for every small business owner or any taxpayer about to start a business. This handy, interactive CD contains all the business tax forms, instructions and publications needed to successfully manage a business. In addition, the CD provides an abundance of other helpful information, such as how to prepare a business plan, finding financing for your business, and much more. The design of the CD makes finding information easy and quick and incorporates file formats and browsers that can be run on virtually any desktop or laptop computer.

It is available in March. You can get a free copy by calling 1-800-829-3676 or by visiting the website at www.irs.gov/smallbiz.

Simplified Method Worksheet

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