Appleby

You mentioned 1998 and 1999, not sure which you are referring to. In any instance, if you still have a filing extension for the tax year you are referring to ( I've never seen an extension this long), then you can recharacterize.

Contributions for Self employed individuals are based on their Net Adjusted Business Income. This page ,from IRS publication 560, helps to explains how to figure the deduction http://www.irs.gov/forms_pubs/pubs/p56005.htm Alos, see "Deduction Limit for Self-Employed Individuals" on the following page http://www.irs.gov/forms_pubs/pubs/p56004.htm I hope it helps.

Check this website as well. This is from the IRS and they try to explain in laymans terms http://www.irs.gov/forms_pubs/pubs/p590toc.htm

The SIMPLE 401(k) model amendment has a section , at the very end , that allows the employer to revoke the amendmend. This revocation reinstates the regular 401(k) status. There seems to be another issue at hand here.For an existing SIMPLE plan, the employer is required to provide a model notification to employees 60 days before the beginning of the next plan year. This means that the employer should have notified the employees before November 1,2000 , if he intended to maintain the SIMPLE 401(k) for 2001. If that notification was provided, you cannot change the provisions in mid year. If the notification was not provided then the employer may not be able to maintain the SIMPLE for 2001, as the employer did not meet the notification requirement

I suspect you mean taking a distribution from the Roth IRA to repay an education loan. No. the exception applies only if the distribution was taken to pay current education expenxes, not past ones

If my memory serves me correctly, you could not pay the taxes over three years. If you elected the 4-year spread for a 1998 conversion, then the taxes must be paid over no less than 4 years, unless the taxes area accelerated as a result of a distrbution from the Roth IRA during that period or through death. I will double check on that and get back to you However, to answer your question, no taxes will be owed on the $10,000. A 10% penalty may ebowed to the IRS is you are not under the age of 59 1/2 or entitled to any other exception, such as disability, first time home buyer, higher education expenses etc.

It depends. if you want to make a Participant contribution for year 2000, then it must be done by April 16 ,2001 ( usually April 15 but this date falls on a weekend this year) Roth conversions , however, for year 2000 should have been completed by December 31,2000. For individuals who took a distrbution from a traditional IRA and rolled to a Roth IRA as a conversion ( the rollover can be done within 60-days after the distribution), for the conversion to be applied to year 2000, the asses must have been distributed from the traditional IRA ( this inludes SEP and SIMPLE IRAs) by December 31, 2000

If you do not file your taxes or file for an extension by April 16, then the recharacterization must be done by April 16. If you file your taxes or file for an extension by Aril 16, then you get an automatic six months extension to recharacterize. This extension takes you to October 15.

Amendment and restatemnts can be done for various reasons. - changing the plan provisions- eligiblity requirement etc. - changing the custodian -if you are moving to another custodian, then you would amend and restate to adopt their document

You can amend and restate your current SIMPLE, but the fact still remains that for the year you maintain the SIMPLE, you may have no other plan/s unless the other plan is for the exclusive beenfit of employees under a collective bargaining agreement

The employer completes and signed the Form 5305. A copy must be provided to his eligible employees , if any. Employees who wich to participate in the SEP, must sign an IRA adoption agreement. Some custodians/trustees require a copy of the 5305 form along with the IRA adoption agreement. Once the SEP IRA is setablished, then it can be funded with the SEP contributions

Once the fund are deposited to the SIMPLE , it becomes 100% vested. The employer no longer has any jurisdiction over the assets. With respect to the beenficiary options, the SIMPLE IRA is treated in the same mammer as the tratitional IRA is. The IRA owver or beneficiary is on their own.

Yes- The SEP must be a prototype SEP- not a Form 5305 SEP

Generally no. However, ERISA Section 406 MAY come into play with employee deferrals. This section governs the time by which amounts withhled for employe deferrals must be deposited to the individuals SARSEP or SIMPLE IRA

Absolutely SARSEPS established by 12/31/1996 were grandfathered and are still in effect unless it was terminated

You must complete Part 111 The form can be found at http://ftp.fedworld.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8606.pdf and the instructions at http://ftp.fedworld.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8606.pdf

They cannot contribute to a Roth IRA. As Roth IRA contributions are non-deductible, plan particpation status does not affect the ability to contribute. This link will help you to determine deductibility for traditional IRAs http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/forms_pubs/pubs...bs/p5900108.htm

The deadline for making an IRA contribution to an education IRA for year 2000 was December 31 2000. IRA custodians are required to issue the IRS Form 5498 for Education IRAs by Janaury 31 of the following year ( Unlike traditional and Roth IRA, where these forms are issued May 31). This means that all contirbutions must be receievd by December 31, in order for the required reporting tobe done by the specified date

You're welcome- Check out Notice 2001-23 in this IRB.(2001-10) http://www.ppcnet.com/news/articles/tax/20.../article372.htm An article - which can be found at http://www.ppcnet.com/news/articles/tax/20.../article372.htm, addressed this Notice as well as the other new RMD rules. One thing I found particularly interesting is the following statement " Basically, a qualified plan that is not amended will be required to make MRDs for 2001 based on the old rules (i.e., it must follow the terms of plan in making distributions to the plan participants). However, the distributee participant can then recompute his or her MRD using the new rules. The difference between the recomputed MRD under the new rules and the amount actually distributed can be rolled over to an IRA. In short, a plan participant who receives a distribution exceeding his or her MRD for 2001 under the new rules can avoid tax on the excess amount by rolling it over into an IRA within 60 days of the distribution."

Thanks my good Sir. As usual, you are right.

If I may put in my 2-cents worth. I agree with Jon G.- don’t wait. Make the corrections ASAP. You will need to file IRS Form 1040X- Amended tax return. Make sure you include the conversions on the amended returns- this will tell you how much tax you owe. If you IRA assets included non-deductive contributions, you also want to file IRS Form 8606- this will help to determine what portion of the conversion is taxable. You will not be able to spread the conversion over four years, as this election was required to be made on you 1998 tax return. This means it must all be included on you amended 1998 original tax return. Consult the IRS to help you determine any interest you may owe- attach a letter of explanation to your amended return- this usually helps. If the amount you owe is substantial, talk to the first CPA about compensating you for some of the expenses- he/she should be held responsible- unless they did your return for free. If he/she refuse to, tell him/her you will ensure everyone knows about his or her incompetence

Refer to IRC 408A(d)(3)(D), which states that a conversion is treated as a distribution from the traditional and a rollover contribution to the Roth IRA. Distributions are reportable and taxable in the year processed from the IRA. Refer also Treas Reg § 1.408A-4, Q&A 1(B), 1©. Incidentally, what is a "a pre-filing transfer ". Maybe this will help me to provide a more definitive response

See the worksheet on this page- this will help you to determine how much you are eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/forms_pubs/pubs...bs/p5900202.htm

Sorry- I forgot to attach the document http://ftp.fedworld.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-00-39.pdf

You may either: - a) Determine how much you are eligible to contribute to the Roth, leave that portion in the Roth and recharacterize the difference to your traditional IRA- or distribute the difference as a return of excess contribution or b) Recharacterize the full amount representing the contribution to your traditional IRA ( or do a return of excess contribution for the full amount The amount you recharacterize or remove as excess must take into consideration the loss. This IRS document ( see link below) explains how to determine the loss/earnings on a particular contribution. http://ftp.fedworld.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-00-39.pdf