One of the primary advantages of having an IRA is that you get to defer taxes on your money until a later time, when you anticipate having to pay less in rollover taxes. As you might expect, you lose that advantage if you have to pay IRA rollover taxes when you move your money between retirement accounts.

But what are the circumstances under which you have to pay IRA rollover taxes and how can you protect yourself from any unnecessary penalties?

First, you should know that there is no IRA rollover tax that you’re required to pay simply because you choose to rollover your money. There may be other fees involved with the transaction, but these shouldn’t be taxes owed to the IRA, provided you don’t take a distribution or withdrawal. So long as your money is directly transferred from one qualified IRA to another, you shouldn’t owe any IRA rollover taxes. (more…)