Excerpt: Section 828 of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 amended the tax code to allow retired public safety employees beginning at age 50 to take distributions from their defined benefit pension plans without paying the 10 percent early distribution tax. Section 828 was enacted recognizing that, due to nature of the profession and in many cases mandatory retirement ages, public safety employees typically retire earlier than the general population. Of course, 26 U.S.C. 72(t)(2)(A)(v) permits all other retirees to take distributions without the 10 percent tax, beginning at age 55. Unfortunately, since implementation of PPA Section 828, two issues have arisen that need to be fixed.  MORE >>