CARES Act CRD apply to Roth IRAs?

Initial search did not find this addressed – can a client take the CRD from a Roth IRA and be able to return it over 3 years? Are there any provisions of CARES Act that would allow that?



A Roth IRA is an eligible retirement plan just a pre tax retirement accounts are, therefore a Roth IRA CRD could be distributed, and if there is any taxable income component it could be reported over 3 years, and repayments could also be made up to 3 years from the date of distribution. It is also possible to repay a pre tax IRA or QRP distribution into a Roth IRA as a conversion even though this use of funds is not what CRDs are intended to do. But it’s allowed nonetheless.

Thank you Alan. Just to clarify, when you say “and repayments could also be made up to 3 years from the date of distribution” – you are saying the client could take up to $100k from Roth IRA, and could then put back the $100k over the next 3 years? -m

Yes, once the client qualifies for a CRD, they can take distributions from any eligible retirement plan (Some employer plans will not support CRDs), decide by the tax due date whether to report the income in 2020 or 1/3 each year 2020-2022, and then whether or how much of the CRD they wish to repay to any eligible retirement plan. Client could take the CRD now, and if they repay by 4/15/2020 (or by 10/15 with an extension) the entire amount they will not have any taxable income to report for 2020.  If client only repays a portion of the CRD, any taxable portion of the distribution is treated as if repaid before the non taxable portion. So there are quite a few options available. CRD max is 100k for all CRDs combined and the CRD must be distributed by 12/30/2020.

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