Often, individuals employed by large corporations have the option to invest some of their qualified retirement plan contributions (e.g., 401(k) contributions), as well as employer contributions, into their employer’s stock. If you believe in the long term prospects of the company, that may make sense as part of your asset allocation strategy.
But what happens to that stock when you retire or leave the company? What happens if you still believe in the future prospects of the company and still considers the company stock a sound investment? You probably already know that distributions from a qualified plan can be somewhat complicated and have income tax consequences. But, is there a distribution strategy that may be effective to help you maintain the stock and minimize income taxes when you leave the company?
A Possible Solution: Net Unrealized Appreciation (“NUA”)
NUA is a tax strategy that allows you the opportunity to convert taxable ordinary income into long-term capital gain. Ordinarily, if you took a lump sum distribution of the assets in the plan, you would pay ordinary income taxes. However, when company securities are part of the distribution from the plan, using the NUA strategy, you can pay ordinary income taxes on just the cost basis of the shares, but defer and convert to capital gain the tax on the difference between the fair market value of the shares and the average cost basis of those shares. The difference is the net unrealized appreciation. When the shares are actually sold, the NUA will be taxed at long term capital gains rates regardless of how long the plan held the shares. If there is additional appreciation of the shares after the shares are distributed from the plan, that growth is taxed as long or short-term capital gains, depending on whether the ultimate sale is more or less than one year after the distribution.
Note: you can elect to pay the taxes upon distribution instead of waiting until the shares are sold. In some situations, depending upon cash flow concerns and anticipated future tax rates, payment of the taxes at distribution may make sense. In addition, in order to qualify as a lump sum distribution, the distribution must be on account of death, separation from service or the attainment of age 59 ½ years. (The definition is slightly different for self-employed persons: “separation from service” does not qualify; disability does.)
Example:
Jim, age 60, is ready to retire and has a balance in his employer’s retirement plan of $300,000, including company stock with an average cost basis of $30,000, and a fair market value of $130,000 (the NUA is thus $100,000). Jim’s account is a result of the many years of pre-tax contributions and employer matches to the account. If Jim takes a lump sum distribution from the plan, normally, he would pay ordinary income tax on the full $300,000 in the year of distribution. Under the NUA strategy however, Jim deposits the company stock into a brokerage account but does not sell it. As a result, only the $30,000 average cost basis of the company stock, and the $170,000 value of the other assets in his account (for example, mutual funds), would be taxed at ordinary income rates. The NUA would not be taxed. Sometime later, Jim sells the company stock. At that time, the NUA will be taxed at long term capital gains rates when the employer securities are sold, regardless of the holding period. However, any additional appreciation of the securities after distribution from the plan is taxed as either a short or long term capital gain depending on Jim’s holding period after distribution.
Now, suppose that instead of taking a lump sum distribution, Jim wants to roll over his entire qualified plan account into an IRA. This may be the appropriate strategy depending upon Jim’s situation. However, by rolling over the company stock into the IRA, the NUA tax treatment would be lost. Jim should take the company stock, place it into a regular brokerage account and roll over the remaining balance to an IRA. Jim would roll over the $170,000 of his account balance (i.e., everything other than the company stock) to an IRA. He would take a direct lump sum distribution of the $130,000 in company stock and place it in a securities brokerage account. $30,000 would be ordinary income, and the $100,000 of NUA would qualify for the special tax treatment.
If Jim was under age 55 at distribution, (or even if he were under 59 ½ and not leaving the company, he would not be able to take a lump sum distribution from the plan without a 10% premature distribution penalty on the taxable portion, i.e. the $30,000 average cost basis component of the stock distribution. In that case, Jim may wish to roll the entire account into an IRA.
So far, we’ve talked about the NUA strategy using your pre-tax employee contributions and the company match, if any. Some plans also allow employees to make after-tax contributions to the plan. Suppose you also made after-tax contributions and used that money to purchase company stock?
You can roll the entire account into an IRA, but the appreciation of these shares of company stock, purchased with after-tax contributions, will be subject to ordinary income taxes when you take distributions from the IRA. Similar to the situation mentioned above, where company stock is purchased with pre-tax contributions, shares purchased with after-tax contributions should be distributed to utilize the NUA strategy. The difference is that the average cost basis is not taxed when the contributions are made with after-tax dollars. The reason: these shares were purchased with after-tax dollars so it was already taxed. The NUA and additional appreciation will be subject to capital gains tax as explained before.
Could you do a direct Roth IRA conversion of the entire plan balance and still maintain the favorable NUA tax treatment? This area is unclear, but probably not. The lack of clarity is a result of inconsistent language between certain provisions in the Internal Revenue Code, legislative history and the interpretation of these provisions by the IRS.
Conclusion
If you invested in your company’s stock in your employer sponsored qualified retirement plan, before you decide upon a lump sum distribution from the plan, or a rollover of the account balance, including the company stock, into an IRA, consider whether you may be entitled to use the NUA tax strategy to reduce your income tax liability.
The foregoing information regarding estate, charitable, retirement and/or business planning techniques is not intended to be tax, legal or investment advice and is provided for general educational purposes only. You should consult with your tax and legal advisor regarding your individual situation.
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Free 30min phone chat with a sr financial advisor at Harding Financial to help you reduce income taxes using a business structure and financial strategies, connie.dellobuono@hardingfinancial.com or conniedbuono@gmail.com 408-854-1883
Make 2014 and 2015 be the year to protect your wealth and secure your retirement.
Connie Dello Buono
Jr Financial Advisor
hardingfinancial.com
