Missed 60-Day Rollovers: Relief Moves From Letter Rulings to IVCP

Most practitioners see it sooner or later. A client takes money out of an IRA or a 401(k), means to roll it over, and misses the 60-day deadline. Now the distribution is taxable, and if the client is under 59½, the 10% additional tax may also apply.¹

If the receiving institution’s error caused the late deposit, the waiver is automatic. If the reason is on the IRS’s pre-approved list, the client can self-certify to the receiving custodian. Outside of an examination, everything else has needed a private letter ruling, and most practitioners have never requested one. A ruling request is a legal document that includes a statement of supporting authorities and a discussion of contrary ones, and before 2026, the IRS user fee to consider the waiver was $10,000 or more.

Starting May 1, 2027, that last route changes. Rev. Proc. 2026-33 creates the IRA Voluntary Correction Program (IVCP), the first program in a new IRA Compliance Resolution System (ICRS). The waiver request is submitted on Form 15443 through Pay.gov, with facts and documents rather than legal analysis. The IRS expects this program to replace private letter rulings for 60-day rollover waivers starting in 2028, but it will not remove the old automatic or self-certification waivers.

Automatic Waiver

No application is needed when all of the following are true:²

• The financial institution received the funds before the 60-day period ended.
• The client followed all of the institution’s procedures for depositing the funds into an eligible retirement plan within the 60 days, including giving instructions to deposit them.
• Solely because of the institution’s error, the funds were not deposited within the 60 days.
• The funds are deposited into an eligible retirement plan within 1 year from the beginning of the 60-day period.
• The deposit would have been a valid rollover if the institution had made it as instructed.

Self-Certification

Self-certification works for distributions from employer plans as well as IRAs. The client gives a written certification to the receiving plan administrator or IRA trustee, using the model letter in the appendix to Rev. Proc. 2020-46 word for word or language substantially similar in all material respects, and keeps a copy for audit. Nothing is filed with the IRS.

The IRS must not have previously denied a waiver for any part of the distribution. The deadline must have been missed for one or more of the following reasons:

1. An error by the financial institution making the distribution or receiving the contribution
2. A distribution check that was misplaced and never cashed
3. A deposit into an account the client mistakenly thought was an eligible retirement plan, where the money stayed
4. Severe damage to the client’s principal residence
5. Death of a member of the client’s family
6. Serious illness of the client or a family member
7. Incarceration of the client
8. Restrictions imposed by a foreign country
9. A postal error
10. A distribution made on account of an IRS levy, with the levy proceeds returned to the client
11. A delay by the distributing party in providing information the receiving plan or IRA needed, despite the client’s reasonable efforts to get it
12. A distribution made to a state unclaimed property fund

Finally, the contribution must be made as soon as practicable after the reason preventing it stops. Making it within 30 days after the end of the applicable reason above satisfies this rule.³

The client may report the contribution as a valid rollover, but on examination the IRS can find that the waiver requirements were not met, for example because of a material misstatement in the certification, because the stated reason did not actually prevent a timely rollover, or because the contribution was not made as soon as practicable.⁴

For All Other Issues: IVCP

The IRA owner is the applicant. For a 60-day rollover failure, the applicant must be the IRA owner, not the custodian. The owner can designate an authorized representative to file.

No service provider error is required. The late rollover does not have to be caused by a custodian’s or adviser’s mistake. However, the IRS grants the waiver only when denying it would be against equity or good conscience, including casualty, disaster, or other events beyond the owner’s reasonable control. The IRS considers all relevant facts and circumstances, including:⁵

1. Errors committed by a financial institution
2. Inability to complete the rollover due to death, disability, hospitalization, incarceration, restrictions imposed by a foreign country, or postal error
3. The use of the amount distributed (for example, whether a distribution check was cashed)
4. The time elapsed since the distribution

Not while under examination. IVCP is generally unavailable if the owner’s Form 1040 series return or Form 1041 for any taxable year is under examination. “Under examination” includes a verbal or written notice of an impending examination, and a case that is in Appeals or in litigation over issues raised in an examination. A client under examination may still get a waiver from the examiner.⁶

Current on filings. The owner must be in compliance with all filing obligations for the Form 1040 series return or Form 1041.⁷

Other limits. The failure cannot be egregious, involve diversion or misuse of IRA assets, or relate to an abusive tax avoidance transaction. The IRS may also decline to make IVCP available in a particular case in the interest of sound tax administration. IVCP can be used even when the automatic waiver or self-certification would apply.⁸

What Goes in an IVCP Submission

Filing mechanics. The applicant, or a representative authorized on Form 2848, creates a Pay.gov account, completes and signs Form 15443 on Pay.gov, uploads a single PDF, and pays the user fee ($3,500) there. Paper submissions are not processed. The PDF cannot exceed 15 MB; documents that do not fit are faxed to (855) 203-6996 with the applicant’s name and the Pay.gov Tracking ID. The IRS sends no acknowledgment letter. The Pay.gov payment confirmation, and its Tracking ID, serve as the IRS control number.⁹

Required items. For a 60-day rollover failure, the submission must include:¹⁰

1. The full name of the plan and the sponsoring employer, if the distribution came from a plan
2. The IRA owner’s full name, the IRA account number, and the name of the distributing IRA custodian, if the distribution came from an IRA
3. The amount of the distribution
4. The date of the distribution
5. Any federal or state tax withheld
6. A copy of the Form 1099-R, if available
7. A statement of why the distribution was made, what the owner intended to do with it, and what was actually done with it (including where it was deposited)
8. A detailed explanation of why the 60-day requirement was not met, with copies of all supporting documents
9. The name of the plan or IRA custodian that will receive the rollover if the waiver is granted
10. For an IRA-to-IRA rollover, a statement that the owner made no other IRA-to-IRA rollover in the past 12 months (not counting Roth conversions or trustee-to-trustee transfers)

Relief from the 10% additional tax. If the owner is subject to the 10% additional tax and wants relief, the request must be in the same submission, with an explanation supporting it.¹¹

The penalties of perjury statement. When a representative signs and files the submission, the PDF must include a penalties of perjury declaration signed by the applicant, not the representative. The Form 2848 must specifically authorize the filing: on line 5a, “Other acts authorized,” enter “signing and filing of the Form 15443 and accompanying documents as part of an IVCP submission.”¹²

Order of the PDF. The IRS processes a submission faster when the PDF follows this order:¹³

1. the applicant’s penalties of perjury statement,
2. Form 2848 or Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization,
3. an optional cover letter,
4. the narrative (the failure, how and why it happened, the correction method, and any request for 72(t) relief),
5. any model compliance statement (Form 15745) and schedules,
6. supporting computations,
7. relevant IRA document language,
8. the owner’s Social Security number, and
9. any other relevant items.

The correction. The approved correction is a deposit to an eligible retirement plan that will accept it. The deposit cannot exceed the original distribution minus any required minimum distributions that would have been due had the money moved by direct trustee-to-trustee transfer. If every other Code requirement is met, the deposit is treated as a rollover contribution.¹⁴

The receiving custodian. A custodian that is not the applicant does not have to accept the funds, and the IRS cannot make it. The owner can use the compliance statement to assure the custodian that it can rely on the statement in accepting and reporting the deposit. The IRS recommends contacting the custodian before filing.¹⁵

After filing. The IRS has not provided a processing time. If the IRS needs more information, the applicant generally has 21 calendar days to respond. If the IRS and the applicant cannot agree, the case is closed and the user fee is not returned; the fee is refunded only if the IRS declines the submission before any substantive processing. Once the compliance statement is issued, the correction must be made within 90 days.¹⁶

What the compliance statement does. It covers only the failures and years it describes. It states that the IRS will not treat the IRA as failing the IRA requirements and that the owner will not owe income or excise taxes for those failures, as long as the conditions are met. It binds the IRS and the owner for those matters, but it does not prevent an examination of other matters.¹⁷

Refunds. IVCP specialists do not process refunds. If the owner already paid tax on the distribution, the owner files Form 1040-X, ideally with a copy of the compliance statement. Filing with IVCP does not extend the refund statute of limitations; if the refund statute may close while the submission is pending, a protective claim for refund should be filed.¹⁸

Who Can File for a Client

The following representatives may file IVCP submissions on their client’s behalf:¹⁹

• Attorneys,
• CPAs, and
• Enrolled Agents.

In our view, an Enrolled Agent or CPA who knows these waiver rules can now put together an IVCP submission in-house instead of referring the client to an attorney for a legal brief.

Steps for Practitioners

1. Check automatic and self-certification waiver qualifications first. If the client is eligible for either of these methods, the waiver is free.
2. If the client’s return is under examination, raise the waiver with the examiner. IVCP is not available during the examination, but the examiner can determine that the client qualifies.
3. Ensure the client is current with income tax filings. File any delinquent Form 1040 so the client is current, which IVCP requires, and confirm the receiving custodian will accept the deposit.
4. Before May 1, 2027, use a letter ruling. File Form 15662 on Pay.gov with the full ruling request, including the statement of authorities, and the user fee (currently $3,500).²⁰
5. From May 1, 2027, compare IVCP with a letter ruling; from 2028, plan on IVCP alone. For IVCP, file Form 15443 on Pay.gov, build the single PDF in the order set out above. Get the client’s signed penalties of perjury statement and a Form 2848 with the line 5a language.
6. Protect a refund. If the client already paid tax on the distribution and the refund statute for that year could expire while the request is pending, file a protective claim for refund.
7. Finish the correction on time. Once the compliance statement is issued, make the deposit within 90 days and file Form 1040-X if a refund is due.

To learn more about this and other federal income tax changes, join us at the Update for 2026 Returns seminar.

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Sources

1. IRC §§402(c)(3)(A), 408(d)(3)(A)(i); IRC §72(t)(1), (t)(2)(A)(i) ↩
2. Rev. Proc. 2003-16 §3.03 ↩
3. Rev. Proc. 2020-46 §3.02(1) through (3) ↩
4. Rev. Proc. 2020-46 §3.04(3) ↩
5. Rev. Proc. 2026-33 App. A §2.04(2) ↩
6. Rev. Proc. 2026-33 §§2.12, 4.02 ↩
7. Rev. Proc. 2026-33 §4.03 ↩
8. Rev. Proc. 2026-33 §§2.10, 3.03, 4.01(3) ↩
9. Rev. Proc. 2026-33 §§6.01(2), 6.03, 6.08, 7.01(1) ↩
10. Rev. Proc. 2026-33 App. A §2.04(3) ↩
11. Rev. Proc. 2026-33 §3.04(4) ↩
12. Rev. Proc. 2026-33 §6.07(2) ↩
13. Rev. Proc. 2026-33 §6.10 ↩
14. Rev. Proc. 2026-33 App. A §2.04(4) ↩
15. Rev. Proc. 2026-33 §4.01(6) ↩
16. Rev. Proc. 2026-33 §5.07(2), (4), (7), (9) ↩
17. Rev. Proc. 2026-33 §§5.08(1), 5.09 ↩
18. Rev. Proc. 2026-33 §4.01(2) ↩
19. Rev. Proc. 2026-33 §6.07(1) ↩
20. Rev. Proc. 2026-30 §3.04; Rev. Proc. 2026-4 App. A .01(3) ↩