Old 401k moved without direction

[XrayLemi]

First I'm sorry if I posted this in the wrong place.

I had an old 401k I left with my former employer. They were bought out. The new company sent me a notice to move the funds. I faxed some paper work to then I needed signed so I could put the funds in my current companies plan.

I never heard back from them. Due to unforseen circumstances I forgot about the account.

This month I got two items in the mail. One is a 1099 form from them regarding the former 401k. The 1099 was for the whole amount no taxes withheld. The second is the new account where the money was deposited.

The amount was for over $6000. Do I have any recourse, or am I stuck with a big tax bill.

Thank you,

Jim

[austin3515]

Was there a Code G? That means they rolled it to an IRA. The taxable amount in box 2 should be zero. Sounds to me like the old plan was terminated and non-responders were transferred to your IRA. No recourse, they did everything by the book. But the good news is the distriubtion is not taxable (assuming Code G and box 2 = 0).

[ESOP Guy]

Yeah austin is right it sounds like you were put into an IRA.

I would look into it more. I would also be aware that those companies that set up IRAs for force outs can have high fees. The fees can be justifiable they are dealing with people who tend to be hard to contact and work with. However, if you want you money to grow it might be better some place else.

Like all things follow through and reading everything you get is important.

[mbozek]

You need to contact the IRA custodian who is holding the IRA and arrange to rollover the IRA to your new employers 401k plan. Only pre tax IRA funds can be rolled over to a 401k plan. If your funds were rolled over to an IRA there will be no income tax due.

[XrayLemi]

Yes there was a G code and a zero as well.

Thank you all!

Jim