IRS Issues More Guidance on Waived 2020 Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
The IRS has issued Notice 2020-51, providing additional guidance on the 2020 suspension of RMDs that generally must be taken annually by IRA owners, retirement plan participants, and beneficiaries.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020, signed into law by President Trump on March 27, 2020, suspended for the 2020 tax year the general requirement that annual distributions must be taken from tax-favored retirement plans and IRAs when an account owner reaches RMD age, or annually by some account beneficiaries. The timing was problematic for some, who—before the CARES Act enactment—had already in 2020 taken distributions they believed to be required, but under the waiver are not.
Among the details provided in Notice 2020-51 are the following.
- Extends the normal 60-day rollover period to permit repayments through August 31, 2020, of waived 2020 RMD amounts
- Allows repayments without regard to the one-per-12-month rollover limitation
- Permits repayment by nonspouse beneficiaries of waived 2020 required distributions—these repayments will not violate the statutory prohibition on nonspouse indirect (60-day) rollovers
- Provides a sample plan amendment for defined contribution plans
- Includes a 12-item question-and-answer section related to the 2020 RMD waiver
