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My employer, non-profit, paid my retirement funds to directly to me (2011). Is this allowed? What is the IRS code this transaction would this fall under. I did not pay any penalty for early withdraw and i did not request the funds they wrote a note an attached a Direct Deposit pay stub. Is a retirement fund withdraw viewed as wages or other income.
Optional Information: Country/State/Province of question: MA, USA Already Tried: IRS page on the internet.
What type of retirement plan was it? How much was the deposit? Was the deposit included on your W-2?
I do not know, I never enrolled in the plan, did not know I had a plan. $257.48. There were no other boxes filled in on W-2 only regular income. But, this $257.00 put me over the SGA limit and SSA stopped my SSDI.
The SGA (non-blind) amount was $1,000 per month in 2011. Are you stating that your W-2 was $12,257 for 2011?
my Gross pay on the w-2 was 6130.33 for 7 months and 1 day. I knew the SGA so I never would work to go above the monthly SGA, until this check came.
I was very diligent in tracking my income.
If it was included as income on your W-2 then it would be considered wages and not a retirement plan withdrawal. A retirement plan withdrawal would not be included on your W-2, it would be reported on Form 1099-R.
A retirement plan withdrawal would be made by the retirement plan and not through a bonus check.
One question not answered is what IRS code allows a non profit to pay their employee retirement money directly and treat it like wages? Should it have been on a 1099? If the tax code says retirement withdraws must be on a 1099 what law permits it to be wages?
There is no IRS code that permits a nonprofit to contribute retirement funds directly to an employee and treat it as wages. If the contribution was for a retirement account, then the employer should have paid the funds directly to the retirement plan and not to you. Employer contributions to a retirement plan (such as a SEP, pension, etc) are not treated as wages and are not included on a W-2. However, if you elected to make any elective salary deferrals to a 403(b) or 401(k) plan, then they are included in boxes 3 and 5 of the W-2 for social security and medicare taxes but they are not included in box 1. Even if you elected to make a salary deferral, then they must be sent directly to the plan and not to you.Bill41098.8503570949
Experience: EA, CEBS - 32 years experience providing financial advice
Thank you Bill.