Travis H. Long, CPA, Inc. Blog

Originally published in the Cedar Street Times

August 21, 2015

The official name for Form 5329 is “Additional Taxes on Qualified Plans (Including IRAs) and Other Tax-Favored Accounts.”  In other words, “penalties on incorrect contributions to or withdrawals out of retirement accounts, education accounts, and medical accounts.”

Most people are familiar with the fact that retirement accounts such as 401(k)s, 457 plans, IRAs, Roth IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, SEP IRAs, etc. have limits on the amount of money you can contribute each year.  They also limit your ability to withdraw money from those accounts until you are generally 59.5 years old, or meet one of a handful of limited exceptions.

Most people are also familiar with fact that you MUST begin taking distributions by the time you reach 70.5 years old (with a few exceptions such as for Roth IRAs, certain employees that have not yet retired from their job, or non-spouse inherited IRAs).  You can delay the distribution in the year you turn 70.5 until April 1st of the following year, but if you do that, then you have to take two distributions that year.  IRS instructions are often very poorly worded on this particular matter, and often people misunderstand this important point.

Education savings accounts such as 529 plans or Coverdell ESAs as well as tax favored medical spending accounts such as HSAs and Archer MSAs also have annual contribution limits.  In addition, you must use the funds for qualified education or medical expenses, respectively.

If you fail to follow the rules, either by accident or out of necessity, you will generally incur penalties, which are calculated using Form 5329 for most of these infractions.

So, how much are the penalties?  If you over-contribute to a retirement plan, education account, or medical spending account there is a six percent penalty on excess contributions if you do not withdraw the excess contribution (plus any related investment earnings)  within six months of the original due date of the return, excluding extensions (so by October 15 for almost everybody).  Any earnings generated by the over-contribution will be treated as distributions of cash to you in the tax year the correcting withdrawal actually occurs.  The rules governing distributions (discussed later) will apply and you may be subject to penalties on that portion.    The custodian of the account will calculate the related earnings that need to be pulled out of the account when you inform them of the need to withdraw funds.

If you over-contribute for multiple years in a row before realizing it, the penalty compounds.  So you would file a Form 5329 for each of the past years (no 1040X needed) and pay six percent on the excess contributions for the year of the 5329 you are filing, plus any prior excess contributions that still had not been taken out.  In other words, you pay six percent every year on the excess contribution until you take it out.  Interest would also be assessed on top of the penalties.

If you fail to take a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD), the penalty is 50 percent of the amount that was supposed to be taken out, but was not.  Unlike the six percent over-contribution penalty that applies every year until you take the funds out, the 50 percent penalty only applies once.  But you would need to withdraw the funds and file a 5329 for each past year you failed to take an RMD.  Interest would also be assessed on top of the penalties.  Fortunately, the IRS has been pretty lenient with the steep 50 percent penalty, and you can often get them to waive the penalty for reasonable cause once you withdraw the money.

Early distributions for all retirement accounts that do not qualify for an exception are subject to a ten percent penalty, (plus inclusion as taxable income for the portion related to original contributions for which you received a tax deduction as well as on any earnings generated while in the account).  SIMPLE IRAs have a special rule that increases the penalty to 25 percent if the date of your first contribution to the SIMPLE IRA was less than two years ago.

Distributions from education savings accounts for nonqualified purposes are subject to a ten percent penalty.

Distributions from medical spending accounts that are not used for qualified purposes are generally subject to a 20 percent penalty.  These 20 percent penalties, however, are calculated on different forms (8889 for HSAs and 8853 for MSAs).  With HSAs when you reach 65, you can use the money for whatever purpose you want, without penalty.  You can also rollover an MSA into an HSA.

Regarding the Form 5329 itself, the first two parts deal with distribution penalties for retirement accounts and education accounts (health account distribution penalties are calculated on other forms).  The third through seventh parts deal with excess contribution penalties for each different type of account.  The final section, part VIII, deals with penalties on RMDs not distributed.

If you have questions about other schedules or forms in your tax returns, prior articles in our Back to Basics series on personal tax returns are republished on my website at www.tlongcpa.com/blog .

Travis H. Long, CPA is located at 706-B Forest Avenue, PG, 93950 and focuses on trust, estate, individual, and business taxation. He can be reached at 831-333-1041.