Washington (Oct. 7, 2002) -- The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have released Revenue Ruling 2002-62 that will help taxpayers preserve their retirement savings when there is an unexpected drop in their value.
Some taxpayers began receiving fixed payments from their IRA or retirement plan based on the value of their account at the time they started receiving payments. Those taxpayers may now switch - without penalty -- to a method of determining the amount of their payments based on the value of their account as it changes from year to year.
"Taxpayers have worked hard to build their retirement savings. They shouldn’t be penalized when the market is down," stated Pam Olson, Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy.
"This change will help many taxpayers to preserve their retirement savings by allowing those individuals to slow their distributions down in the event of unexpected market downturns."
-- Electronic Accountant Newswire staff
