II.II. DirectDirect RolloverRollover
A DIRECT ROLLOVER is a direct payment of your excess deductions
to a traditional individual retirement arrangement (IRA) or an eligible
employer plan that will accept it. You can choose a DIRECT
ROLLOVER of all or any portion of your payment, as described in
Part I above. You are not taxed on the taxable portion of your payment
(interest amount) for which you choose a DIRECT ROLLOVER until
you later take it out of the traditional IRA or eligible employer plan. In
addition, no income tax withholding is required for any taxable portion
of your payment for which you choose a DIRECT ROLLOVER. You
cannot choose a DIRECT ROLLOVER if your excess deductions
payment is less than $200.
DIRECT ROLLOVER to a Traditional IRA. You can open a traditional
IRA to receive the direct rollover. If you choose to have your excess
deductions paid directly to a traditional IRA, contact an IRA sponsor
(usually a financial institution) to find out how to have your payment
made in a direct rollover to a traditional IRA at that institution. If you
are unsure of how to invest your money, you can temporarily establish
a traditional IRA to receive the payment. However, in choosing a
traditional IRA, you may want to make sure that the traditional IRA
you choose will allow you to move all or a part of your payment to
another traditional IRA at a later date, without penalties or other
limitations. See IRS Publication 590, Individual Retirement
Arrangements, for more information on traditional IRAs (including
limits on how often you can roll over between IRAs).
DIRECT ROLLOVER to an Eligible Employer Plan. If you want a
direct rollover to an eligible employer plan, ask the plan administrator
of that plan whether it will accept your rollover. An eligible employer
plan is not legally required to accept a rollover. Even if the employer's
plan does not accept a rollover, you can choose a DIRECT
ROLLOVER to a traditional IRA. If the employer plan accepts your
rollover, the plan may provide restrictions on the circumstances under
which you may later receive a distribution of the rollover amount or
may require spousal consent to any subsequent distribution. Check
with the plan administrator of that plan before making your decision.
Change in Tax Treatment Resulting from a DIRECT ROLLOVER. The
tax treatment of any payment from the eligible employer plan or
traditional IRA receiving your DIRECT ROLLOVER might be
different than if you received your payment in a taxable distribution
directly from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
Direct Rollover to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). If you choose to
roll part or all of the taxable portion of your payment into your TSP
account, you need to submit form TSP-60, Request for Transfer
Into the TSP, along with your Application for Return of Excess
Retirement Deductions. This form is available on the internet at
http://www.tsp.gov. Fill out your portion of the form; we will complete
our portion and fax it to the TSP office for processing. The form must
be approved by the Thrift Savings Board and the Board must notify
OPM to transfer the funds.
III. Payment Paid to You
If your payment can be rolled over (see Part I on the previous page) but
the payment is made directly to you, the interest portion is subject to
20% federal income tax withholding (state tax withholding may also
apply). The payment is taxed in the year you receive it unless, within
60 days, you roll it over to a traditional IRA or an eligible employer
plan that accepts rollovers. If you do not roll it over, special tax rules
may apply.
Income Tax Withholding:
Mandatory Withholding. If any portion of your payment can be rolled
over under Part I above and you do not elect to make a DIRECT
ROLLOVER, OPM is required by law to withhold 20% of the interest
portion (taxable amount). This amount is sent to the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) as federal income tax withholding. For example, if you
can roll over a taxable payment of $10,000, only $8,000 will be paid to
you because OPM must withhold $2,000 as income tax. However,
when you prepare your income tax return for the year, unless you make
a rollover within 60 days (see "Sixty-Day Rollover Option" below), you
must report the full $10,000 as a taxable payment from OPM. You
must report the $2,000 as tax withheld, and it will be credited against
any income tax you owe for the year. There will be no income tax
withholding if your payments for the year are less than $200.
Sixty-Day Rollover Option. If you receive a payment that can be rolled
over under Part I above, you can still decide to roll over all or part of it
to a traditional IRA or to an eligible employer plan that accepts
rollovers. If you decide to roll it over, you must contribute the amount
of the payment you received to a traditional IRA or eligible employer
plan within 60 days after you receive the payment. The portion of your
payment that is rolled over will not be taxed until you take it out of the
traditional IRA or the eligible employer plan.
You can roll over up to 100% of your payment that can be rolled over
under Part I above, including an amount equal to the 20% of the taxable
portion that was withheld. If you choose to roll over 100%, you must
find other money within the 60-day period to contribute to the
traditional IRA or the eligible employer plan, to replace the 20% that
was withheld. On the other hand, if you roll over only the 80% of the
taxable portion that you received, you will be taxed on the 20% that
was withheld.
Example: The taxable portion of your payment that can be rolled over
under Part I above, is $10,000, and you choose to have it paid to you.
You will receive $8,000, and $2,000 will be sent to the IRS as income
tax withholding. Within 60 days after receiving the $8,000, you may
roll over the entire $10,000 to a traditional IRA or an eligible employer
plan. To do this, you roll over the $8,000 you received from OPM, and
you will have to find $2,000 from other sources (your savings, a loan,
etc.). In this case, the entire $10,000 is not taxed until you take it out of
the traditional IRA or an eligible employer plan. If you roll over the
entire $10,000, when you file your income tax return you may get a
refund of part or all of the $2,000 withheld.
If, on the other hand, you roll over only $8,000, the $2,000 you did not
roll over is taxed in the year it was withheld. When you file your
income tax return, you may get a refund of part of the $2,000 withheld.
(However, any refund is likely to be larger if you roll over the entire
$10,000.)
Additional 10% Tax If You Are under Age 59-1/2. If you receive a
payment before you reach age 59-1/2 and you do not roll it over, then,
in addition to the regular income tax, you may have to pay an extra tax
equal to 10% of the taxable portion of the payment. The additional
10% tax generally does not apply to (1) payments that are paid after
you separate from service with your employer during or after the year
you reach age 55, (2) payments that are paid because you retire due to
disability, (3) payments that are paid directly to the government to
satisfy a Federal tax levy, (4) payments that are paid to an alternate
payee under a qualified domestic relations order, or (5) payments that
do not exceed the amount of your deductible medical expenses. See
IRS Form 5329 for more information on the additional 10% tax.
Additional Tax Information
This notice summarizes only the federal (not state and local) tax rules
that might apply to your payment. The rules described above are
complex and contain many conditions and exceptions that are not
included in this notice. Therefore, you may want to consult with the
IRS or a professional tax advisor before you take a payment of your
excess deductions from OPM. You can find more specific information
on the tax treatment of payments from qualified employer plans in IRS
Publication 575, Pension and Annuity Income, and IRS Publication
590, Individual Retirement Arrangements. For an overview of the tax
consequences of payments from the Civil Service Retirement System
and Federal Employees Retirement System, you can also consult IRS
Publication 721, Tax Guide to U.S. Civil Service Retirement Benefits.
These publications are available from your local IRS office, on the
IRS's Internet Web Site at www.irs.gov, or by calling
1-800-TAX-FORMS.
OPM Form 1562
Revised April 2005