(Texas News Today) - Billionaire Peter Thiel and others with huge retirement account balances are at the legislator’s crosshairs.
House Democrats announced on Monday a tax package that enforces distribution from nest eggs when personal severance accounts, 401(k) plans, and other severance pay values exceed $10 million.
PayPal co-founder Thiel owns $ 5 billion worth of Roth IRA in 2019, according to a ProPublica report issued in June based on tax filing data. The IRA was worth less than $ 2,000 20 years ago.
According to tax experts, House law requires Thiel to withdraw everything except $ 20 million and nearly empty his account.
Roth IRAs are a type of after-tax account. Donations are taxed in advance. Investment income is tax exempt unless the owner withdraws funds after the age of 59 and a half.
According to Ed Slott, an accountant and IRA expert based in Rockville Center, New York, 53-year-old Thiel will have to pay income tax on investment growth, based on the current wording of the bill.
(In this example, we assume that the IRA is his only retirement account and the value of the account is still $ 5 billion.)
“Everything was written in response to Peter Thiel,” Slott said of the House law. “Because he fits his profile. He is in his fifties and has $ 5 billion.”
Thiel didn’t immediately return a request for comment from CNBC.
His situation shows the tax implications that the new distribution rules could have on Americans with the so-called “mega IRA.”
The House proposal is one of several changes to tax law aimed at bringing wealthy people to spend up to $ 3.5 trillion on education, paid vacation, childcare, medical care, and climate control. The House Ways and Means Committee passed the tax package on Wednesday, preparing for voting in all rooms.
“The IRA was designed to provide post-retirement security to middle-class families and prevent ultra-rich people from avoiding tax payments,” said Ron Wyden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Said.
New distribution rules
Current law requires withdrawals from certain retirement accounts based on age. The 2019 law also created distribution rules for inherited IRA and 401 (k) plans.
House legislation has been added to these rules, requiring wealthy savers of all ages to withdraw most of their total retirement allowance each year. They will potentially have an income tax on their funds.
The formula is complex based on factors such as account size and account type (pre-tax or loss). The general assumptions are as follows: Account owners must withdraw 50% of accounts worth more than $ 10 million. Even for large accounts, 100% of your account size must be deducted at least $ 20 million.
Here is an example of an endangered amount: Individuals with a $ 50 million Roth account will need to withdraw $ 30 million next year. An individual with a $ 15 million pre-tax account will withdraw $ 2.5 million.
According to Robert Kiebler, an accountant and real estate planner based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, “This is a big change, for example, for anyone with an IRA of $ 6 million or more than $ 7 million. $ 10 million. that’s all.”
However, single taxpayers with incomes less than $ 400,000 and couples with incomes less than $ 450,000 are exempt from the rules.
“If [Thiel] Really smart and can get him [adjusted gross income] Below the threshold, he will circumvent this new rule altogether. “
Not just Peter Thiel
A recent analysis by Congressional tax scorekeeper, the Joint Tax Commission, tripled the number of taxpayers with IRA over $ 5 million from 2011 to 2019 to about 28,600.
According to IRS statistics, these account for less than one-tenth of the approximately 70 million taxpayers in traditional (pre-tax) or Loss IRA taxpayers.
But it’s not just the ultra-rich who have millions of dollars in accounts, especially after the bull market for stocks that have emerged from the Great Recession.
“It’s not just people like Peter Thiel,” says Beth Shapiro Kaufman, a real estate planner at law firm Caplin & Drysdale. “The period of their working life was a phenomenal period in the stock market, so I see experts who have millions of double-digit quantities.”
But most people should be able to live comfortably with $ 10 million in retirement savings, she added.
Property tax bill could force Peter Thiel to withdraw $ 5 billion from his IRA
By Johnpaul
17 Sept., 2021
