Are your clients walking into your office in a state of bewilderment over something they’ve read recently about the IRS’s distribution rules for inherited IRAs? They aren’t alone.

What’s the back story?

Until the law changed a few years ago, a client who was named as the beneficiary of a parent’s IRA, for example, could count on a relatively straightforward and tax-savvy method of withdrawals called the “stretch IRA.” With the passage of the SECURE Act, that changed for many clients who inherited an IRA after December 31, 2019. Instead of taking distributions over their lifetimes, affected clients would need to withdraw the entire inherited IRA account within a 10-year period as calculated under the law.

What’s the problem now?

Unfortunately, the IRS rules are unclear at the moment. Concern escalated when the IRS issued proposed (but not yet final) regulations earlier this year. Advisors and clients are facing an acute discrepancy between what had been understood by practitioners immediately after the SECURE Act was passed, on one hand, and what the IRS has included in the proposed regulations, on the other hand.

Specifically, some non-spouse beneficiaries of an inherited IRA may not be able to wait until the 10-year post-inheritance mark to fully withdraw the funds in a lump sum, but instead, according to the proposed regulations, must begin taking annual distributions immediately following the inheritance and throughout the statutory 10-year period during which all funds must be withdrawn. This is a hard pill to swallow for clients who were counting on years of additional tax-free growth and who had hoped to defer an income tax hit until a lower-income year.

The situation is complicated but worth understanding (we like this very clear article) because of the potential headaches the proposed regulation could cause for your clients who are caught in the gray area.

A charitable giving opportunity?

For your clients who are charitably minded, this situation may present an opportunity.

First, anytime you are talking about IRAs, inherited or not, you’ll want to make sure your client knows about Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs). You may feel we talk about QCDs all the time, but they present so many benefits for your charitably minded clients it’s difficult to overstate their importance.

As a reminder, through QCDs, a client who is 70½ or older can use a traditional IRA to distribute up to $100,000 ($200,000 for a couple) per year, which happily counts toward satisfying Required Minimum Distributions, to a qualified charity, including certain types of funds at the community foundation. Please note Donor Advised Funds are not an eligible fund type for a QCD. The distribution is not reported by the client as taxable income because it goes straight to charity.

Second, for your clients owning inherited IRAs who are caught in the confusion of SECURE Act proposed regulations, a QCD could come in very handy. The IRS does permit taxpayers to make QCDs from inherited IRAs, not just their own IRAs. This option could be a welcome relief to clients who are facing the more stringent proposed IRS regulations governing the payout requirements for inherited IRAs.

We always encourage donors to first seek the advice of their legal, financial, or tax advisors when considering a gift of non-cash assets. While our team does not offer tax advice, we stay knowledgeable on charitable giving strategies. Please contact Colleen Hill, Vice President of Development & Donor Services, at chill@cfhz.org or by calling 616–994–8853 if we can help you serve your clients.