In March, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed and granted relief to IRA owners who would otherwise be subject to required minimum distributions (RMDs) by allowing them to forego making those distributions in 2020. However, the legislation failed to address the minimum distributions that came out prior to the passage of the CARES Act, including indirect rollovers. So, on June 24, 2020, the IRS released Notice 2020-51 to offer new guidance about how to fix all required minimum distributions that came out of client accounts before the passage of the CARES Act earlier this year.

In this Retirement Daily article, How the CARES Act Affects Your Social Security, Covisum® Founder and President, Joe Elsasser, CFP®, breaks down the new guidance from the IRS regarding RMDs. 

"Up until the end of August of 2020, you are able to replace any amounts that have come out of an IRA, that would have otherwise been considered a required minimum distribution due in 2020, back into those accounts.

You’ll need to take a step back from your retirement income plan and determine whether or not that IRA income is desirable on your return. Sometimes it will be. For others, it may be a situation where annual distributions are more than you want, so taking at least some portion of the distribution this year will help keep future years’ distributions and resulting tax liabilities down.

In other situations, getting those RMDs off of the return can have a really significant positive impact on your retirement income plan. The minimum distribution may have created a situation where Social Security income is now being taxed, capital gains are being pushed out of a 0% capital gains bracket and into a 15% bracket, or even creating a 3.8% net investment income tax."

Read the article to learn more about the rules surrounding required minimum distributions in 2020.