Did you know that IRA investors have an easy method available for moving assets among their IRAs? It is called an IRA-to-IRA transfer. Some may use this tool to consolidate their accounts, build balances to purchase an alternative asset, add liquidity to a Self-Directed IRA, or change IRA custodians. You can transfer assets between IRAs held by the same IRA custodian or transfer between financial institutions. Unlike rollovers, which are reportable to the IRS and potentially taxable, assets transferred directly between your IRAs do not have to be reported to the IRS and generally do not have any tax consequences.
Transfers are nonreportable and nontaxable so long as they occur between two like kind IRAs. For example, you can transfer money from a Traditional IRA to a Traditional IRA, even if one or both IRAs are Self-Directed. You can also transfer assets between Roth IRAs and between SIMPLE IRAs at any time.
A transfer of assets would be taxable if the assets are moved from a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA because the assets are changing from pre-tax to after-tax status, this is known as a conversion.
Many IRA investors think they must transfer their entire IRA balance which is simply not true. If you only want to move a portion of the balance you may do so. Preferred Trust Company will not apply income tax withholding because there is no distribution taking place. The IRS does not limit the timing or number of direct custodial transfers, but in some cases IRA custodians may choose to apply transaction or investment fees. Because transfers are not reported to the IRS, you will not receive an IRS Form 1099-R or 5498 tracking the movement of assets.
A rollover, on the other hand, is subject to different rules and often has tax consequences. It’s important to understand the differences between your IRA transfer and rollover options so you can preserve as much of your savings as possible while moving your money to the savings vehicle and IRA custodian of your choice
Remember when transferring assets in-kind (other than cash), the assets must be acceptable by Preferred Trust. Examples of these types of assets are real property, cryptocurrency, precious metals, energy, oil/gas, startup companies, LLC’s etc. Be sure to review the documents required by Preferred Trust to transfer these asset types.
If you have questions about transferring IRA assets to Preferred Trust Company, please contact us at 702.998.5873 or email us at clientservice@ptcemail.com
