Latest 60-Day Rollover Private Letter Ruling

If you have an IRA and choose to do a rollover, you have 60 days to complete the transaction. Occasionally, for one reason or another, IRA owners miss the 60-day rollover deadline, rendering the failed rollover a fully taxable distribution. However, under certain circumstances, the IRA owner may be granted a waiver by the IRS. Recently, a Private Letter Ruling (PLR) was issued to an IRA

owner due to unusual circumstances. PLR201415014 was issued last month, granting a waiver of the 60-day rollover rule to an IRA owner with a controlling, abusive spouse. The taxpayer’s abusive spouse controlled everything and interfered with her finances. The abusive spouse forced

her to request a full distribution of her IRA funds but then her spouse took the check and deposited the check into a non-IRA account, causing the taxpayer to miss her 60-day rollover deadline. The abusive spouse passed away and now the taxpayer has full control and access to her funds and wishes to properly complete an IRA rollover. The taxpayer submitted documentation with her request for a waiver that fully supported these facts. Based on the circumstances and supporting evidence, the taxpayer was granted a waiver. The PLR stated that relief was granted because “…her failure to accomplish a timely rollover was a result of the abusive actions of her spouse which prevented her from managing her financial affairs.” Keep in mind that a PLR only applies to the taxpayer who

requested relief. Although a PLR may serve as a hint for the rest of us as to how the IRS will handle a particular situation, a PLR may not be used or relied upon by anyone else as law or a source of authority.