Election to Have a Portion of an Eligible Rollover Distribution Paid to an Eligible Retirement Plan Under Federal Law; Limitations; Application to Nonspouse Designated Beneficiary

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Retirement and Pensions
  4. General Provisions
  5. Conformity With Federal Law
  6. Election to Have a Portion of an Eligible Rollover Distribution Paid to an Eligible Retirement Plan Under Federal Law; Limitations; Application to Nonspouse Designated Beneficiary

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  1. As used in this Code section, the term:
    1. "Direct rollover" means a payment by the public retirement or pension system subject to this title to the eligible retirement plan specified by the distributee or to the surviving spouse of the distributee.
    2. "Distributee" means:
      1. An employee;
      2. A former employee;
      3. The employee or former employee's surviving spouse; or
      4. A nonspouse beneficiary who is a designated beneficiary as defined in Section 401(a)(9)(E) of the federal Internal Revenue Code.
    3. "Eligible retirement plan" means any of the following that accepts the distributee's eligible rollover distribution:
      1. An individual retirement account described in Section 408(a) of the federal Internal Revenue Code;
      2. An individual retirement annuity described in Section 408(b) of the federal Internal Revenue Code;
      3. An annuity plan described in Section 403(a) of the federal Internal Revenue Code;
      4. A qualified trust described in Section 401(a) of the federal Internal Revenue Code;
      5. An annuity contract described in Section 403(b) of the federal Internal Revenue Code.
      6. An eligible deferred compensation plan under Section 457(b) of the federal Internal Revenue Code that is maintained by a state, political subdivision or agency or instrumentality of a state, or a political subdivision of a state and which agrees to separately account for amounts transferred into that plan from the public retirement or pension system under this title; and
      7. A Roth IRA described in Section 408A of the federal Internal Revenue Code.
    4. "Eligible rollover distribution" means any distribution of all or any portion of the balance to the credit of the distributee; provided, however, such term shall not include:
      1. Any distribution that is one of a series of substantially equal periodic payments made not less frequently than annually for the life or life expectancy of the distributee or the joint lives or joint life expectancies of the distributee and the distributee's designated beneficiary or for a specified period of ten years or more;
      2. Any distribution to the extent such distribution is required under Section 401(a)(9) of the federal Internal Revenue Code;
      3. The portion of any distribution that is not includable in gross income; or
      4. Any other distribution that is reasonably expected to total less than $200.00 during the year.

        Such term shall include a distribution to a surviving spouse made on or after January 1, 2002.

  2. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this title to the contrary that would otherwise limit a person's election under this Code section, a member of a retirement or pension system subject to this title may elect, at the time and in the manner prescribed by the board of trustees of such system, to have any portion of an eligible rollover distribution, as such term is defined in Section 402(c) of the federal Internal Revenue Code, paid directly to an eligible retirement plan, as such term is defined in Section 402(c) of the federal Internal Revenue Code, specified by the person in a direct rollover.
  3. A portion of a distribution made on or after January 1, 2002, shall not fail to be an eligible rollover distribution merely because the portion consists of after-tax employee contributions that are not includable in gross income; provided, however, that such portion may be transferred only to:
    1. An individual retirement account or annuity described in Section 408(a) or (b) of the federal Internal Revenue Code;
    2. A qualified defined contribution plan described in Section 401(a) or 403(a) of the federal Internal Revenue Code;
    3. A qualified defined benefit plan described in Section 401(a) of the federal Internal Revenue Code; or
    4. An annuity contract described in Section 403(b) of the federal Internal Revenue Code which agrees to account separately for amounts so transferred, and earnings thereon, including accounting separately for the portion of such distribution that is includable in gross income and the portion that is not so includable.
  4. Notwithstanding any other provision of this title to the contrary, a nonspouse designated beneficiary may roll over the distribution only to an individual retirement account or individual retirement annuity established for the purpose of receiving the distribution, and the account or annuity shall be treated as an inherited individual retirement account or annuity.

(Code 1981, §47-1-81, enacted by Ga. L. 2005, p. 535, § 2/HB 460; Ga. L. 2009, p. 947, § 6/HB 202; Ga. L. 2010, p. 1207, § 64/SB 436.)

The 2009 amendment, effective May 11, 2009, added subsection (a), designated the existing provisions as subsection (b), and added subsections (c) and (d).

The 2010 amendment, effective July 1, 2010, deleted the comma following "beneficiary" in subparagraph (a)(4)(A) and substituted "Section" for "Sections" near the end of paragraph (c)(2).

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 2010, p. 1207, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "The intent of this Act is to repeal obsolete and inoperative provisions and to make certain stylistic corrections in Title 47 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. Nothing in this Act shall deny, abridge, increase, renew, revive, or on any way affect any right, benefit, option, credit, or election to which any person was entitled pursuant to such title on June 30, 2010, and the board of trustees of each public retirement system is authorized and directed to provide by regulation for the continuation of any such right, benefit, option, credit, or election not otherwise covered in this Act; provided, however, that any such right, benefit, option, credit, or election shall be subject to the statutory provisions in effect on June 30, 2010."

Ga. L. 2010, p. 1207, § 67, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "In the event of an irreconcilable conflict between a provision of Sections 62 through 64 of this Act and a provision of another Act enacted at the 2010 regular session of the General Assembly, the provision of such other Act shall control over this Act to the extent of the conflict."


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