Plan News 3/01/2010

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From www.tsp.gov:

Plan News was updated on March 1, 2010.

Required withdrawals — If you turned 70½ or older and separated from Federal service in 2009, or if you were already retired and turned 70 ½ in 2009, the TSP requires you to begin withdrawing your TSP account by April 1, 2010. Otherwise, your account may be abandoned. Ordinarily, you would have received a 2009 Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) payment this March. Since the RMD requirement was waived for 2009, these payments will not be made. However, you are required to receive your 2010 RMD no later than December 31 of this year.

Annual TSP participant statements — Last month, the TSP mailed annual participant statements. They are also posted in Account Access. You should check your statement carefully. If you see any information you believe is not correct, follow up to get an explanation or a change. See Questions and Answers on the annual statements for more information.

IRS Form 1099-R — In January, the TSP mailed IRS Form 1099-R to participants who received withdrawal or other taxable distributions during 2009. If you have not received your mailed form, you can print out a copy from Account Access or call the ThriftLine toll free at 1-TSP-YOU-FRST (1-877-968-3778) and press 3 to speak to a TSP service representative. Callers outside the U.S. and Canada should call 202-233-4400 (not toll free).

Tax-deferred benefit of the TSP — When you prepare your 2009 tax return, remember that your taxable wages reported on your W-2 will be different from your annual salary. Your TSP contributions are tax deferred (or may be tax exempt for some members of the uniformed services) and are not considered part of your income for Federal income tax purposes. Paying less tax on your current income is one of the benefits of the TSP.

Tax Credit — If you participated in the TSP during tax year 2009, you may be eligible to claim the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit, as long as your modified adjusted gross income for 2009 is not more than $55,500 if married filing jointly, $41,625 if head of household, or $27,750 if you are single or married filing separately, or a qualifying widow or widower.
 
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