New IRS regulations re calculation of earnings on excess IRA contributions make reference to IRAs that are "normally valued on a daily basis." Assuming that there is nothing in the IRA's governing document that addresses the timing of valuations. how is it determined whether or not an IRA is "normally valued on a daily basis"? Does the IRA custodian's ability to determine today's valuation today make an IRA "normally valued on a daily basis" even if the custodian does not actually capture valuation information for the IRA between the dates of statements or actual transactions?

Is there a reference point for defining the term "daily valuation" in the IRA context? Does the term really mean anything?

I believe what they're referring to is the Daily Valuation done by some 401k plans. Participants in these plans can go online and see what there account balance is on any given day.

Normally daily valuation would not be a feature of an IRA. My take on the regs is that you use the information that is normally made available by the custodian but you can't ignore information that is more timely than some other plans provide.