2 New Retirement Strategies Due to COVID-19

June 18th, 2020 at 1:43 PM

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress made changes to the tax law related to retirement account distributions. The changes open up new, time-limited ways for you to save tax dollars. 

Congress waived all 2020 RMDs. But if you took your RMD before Congress made this change, you have two ways you can undo it: 

1. Use the expanded 60-day indirect rollover, if you qualify.
2. Treat the RMD as a coronavirus-related distribution, and recontribute the funds, if you qualify.

Because of the financial downturn, this may be the year to convert your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. If you are eligible for a coronavirus-related distribution (highly likely), you can convert up to $100,000 of your traditional IRA to a Roth and take advantage of the three-year spread of the taxable income. 

If you have a tax year 2020 loss, you may want to include the conversion income in tax year 2020 so that the loss fully or partially offsets your tax-free Roth IRA conversion. 

Mark S. Fineberg, CPA