Site search

If you've ever questioned whether a Roth IRA contribution or conversion was right for you or not, then chances are you've wondered if there was a simple calculator that could take all your pertinent data, analyze it, and then, like a “Magic 8 Ball" of Roth planning, spit out a definitive "yes" or "no," telling you what the correct course of action is. But is it possible that the calculator is lying to you?

The IRS announced that there will be a new form used to report qualifying longevity annuity contracts (QLACs) held in IRAs and other retirement plans. We unveil the draft of the new form and provide a refresher on how QLACs work in today's article.

October 15 was a major deadline in the IRA world. Now that the date has passed, IRA trust owners and beneficiaries need to be aware of the very important October 31 deadline. In this article, we examine the "who, what, when and why" of this IRA trust cutoff.

IRS can waive penalties and fees for several different instances. However, one area they can't save the unknowing taxpayer is the once-per-year IRA rollover rule. We go through the recent private letter ruling (PLR 201440028) to illustrate how the rule is set in stone.

A taxpayer's mental illness kept him from understanding how to proceed when his former bank decided to close his accounts and distribute all of his IRA funds. After his death, the widow realized she had unintentionally deposited the IRA funds into a non-IRA account. She filed a Private Letter Ruling (PLR) with IRS to rectify the issue. What did IRS decide?

The "I" in IRA stands for individual. There are many things you can do with your IRA - and we cover them at length in this space. However, there are also many things you CAN'T do with the account. Here's a list of five.

This week's Slott Report Mailbag examines how to title beneficiary IRA trusts and answers questions on moving non-IRA assets to inherited IRAs and accessing 403(b) funds and moving them to different accounts while still working.

Tax free just has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? There are many types of tax-free income. Life insurance proceeds, qualified Roth IRA distributions and municipal bond interest come to mind as three of the most common sources. If these various types of income are all “tax free” though, does that mean that they all have the same, seemingly non-existent, impact on your tax return? Maybe, maybe not. Consider the following.

Victims of severe storms and flooding that started on August 11, 2014 in parts of Michigan may qualify for tax relief from the Internal Revenue Service. On September 26, the IRS issued News Release MI-2014-21, which extended certain deadlines for individuals and businesses affected by those storms. Read on to see if you are affected by these extensions.

The IRS website includes several valuable free employer retirement plan resources. One example is their newsletter Retirement News for Employers. There is a section of this specific newsletter that examines starting an employer plan. Read on for more details on this newsletter and other free IRS resources.