Best Forms for Assembling a History for Retirement Funds?
If I ever needed to assemble a “history” of the in-and-out of monies within tax-advantaged accounts, which are the best forms to do that with? For example:
– W-2 forms would list 401(k) contributions
– 1099-R forms would track distributions
– 5498 forms would track contributions too
– Though not necessarily a “form”, letters to the IRS for recharacterizations would be helpful
– 8606 forms would track when nondeductible contributions are involved, or when Roth conversions took place
– Statements for all accounts
Any other common ones?
And, can the data from one type of form be assembled by some combination of the other forms? What I mean is that statements might be missing, 8606 forms might not have been filed when they should have, etc. The W-2 forms, 1099-R forms, and 5498 forms stand a better chance of being kept because of having being generated by others.
Permalink Submitted by Amar Patel on Fri, 2021-02-26 22:11
Perhaps a more clear example will help. In 2012, Roth IRA funds were moved from TD Ameritrade to Schwab. But we do not seem to have a 1099-R from TD Ameritrade for that transfer, and the 5498 from Schwab does not list the transfer amount either. Did both brokers get something wrong?
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Fri, 2021-02-26 23:15
Probably not. The lack of either form is consistent with a non reportable direct trustee to trustee transfer as opposed to a distribution and rollover. What is likely to create an issue is a 1099R but no matching 5498 or vice versa, since the IRS will wonder if the tax return is correct. The more restrictive rollover limitation implemented by the IRS in 2015 is meant to convince taxpayers to move IRA funds by direct transfer instead of 60 day rollovers. Too many taxpayers had developed schemes to take a series of loans from their IRA by doing serial rollovers, and the tough one rollover limitation was designed to put a stop to that practice. With a transfer, the IRA owner does not receive a distribution and therefore never gains access to the funds.