The 60-Day Rollover Rule
The 60-day rule says that when a retirement plan or IRA distribution is paid to you, you generally have 60 days from the day you receive it to deposit it into an IRA or eligible plan as a rollover. Miss the window and the money is usually treated as a taxable distribution. The IRS does offer limited relief through an automatic waiver, a self-certification procedure, and private letter rulings.
When the Clock Starts and Stops
The 60 days run from the day you receive the distribution, not the day it was issued or the date printed on the check. The rollover is complete when the receiving custodian or plan accepts the deposit. A few related points:
- The rule applies only to indirect rollovers. A direct rollover or trustee-to-trustee transfer has no 60-day clock for you, because the money never comes to you. See direct vs indirect rollovers.
- Count calendar days, not business days.
- For a qualified plan loan offset, the rollover deadline is extended to your tax-filing due date, including extensions, for the year the offset occurs, per the IRS rollover guidance.
- Some distributions can't be rolled over at all, such as required minimum distributions and hardship distributions, so the 60-day window doesn't help with those.
What Missing the Deadline Costs
If you don't complete the rollover in time and no waiver applies:
- The amount is generally included in your taxable income for the year (except any after-tax or Roth basis).
- If you're under the IRS-defined age, the 10% additional tax on early distributions may apply unless an exception covers you; see the IRS early distributions page.
- If you deposit the money into an IRA anyway, it may be an excess contribution, which carries a 6% excise tax for each year it remains in the account.
Three Paths to Relief
Automatic waiver
If the receiving custodian made an error, for example it received the funds in time but failed to deposit them into the right account, the waiver can apply automatically, provided the rollover would have been valid and the funds are deposited within one year of the start of the 60 days.
Self-certification
Revenue Procedure 2016-47, as updated by Revenue Procedure 2020-46, lets you certify in writing to the receiving custodian that you missed the deadline for one of the reasons the IRS lists. The IRS publishes the procedure and sample letter on its accepting late rollover contributions page. Listed reasons include:
- An error by the institution making or receiving the distribution.
- The distribution check was misplaced and never cashed.
- The money was deposited into an account you mistakenly thought was an eligible retirement plan.
- Your principal residence was severely damaged.
- A member of your family died, or you or a family member were seriously ill.
- You were incarcerated, or restrictions were imposed by a foreign country.
- A postal error occurred.
- The distribution was made because of an IRS levy and the proceeds were returned to you.
- The party making the distribution delayed providing information the receiving plan or IRA needed.
You generally must complete the rollover as soon as practicable once the reason no longer prevents it; the IRS treats depositing within 30 days after that point as meeting this condition. Self-certification is not an IRS ruling. The IRS can still examine the rollover on audit, and the custodian may decline to accept it if it has reason to believe the certification is incorrect.
Private letter ruling
For situations outside the list, you can ask the IRS for a private letter ruling. This requires a user fee and typically professional help, and approval isn't assured.
Applying the Rule to a Metals Rollover
Here's where metals add a wrinkle. If you take an indirect rollover intending to buy gold, the clock is running while you open a self-directed IRA, wait for account approval, and arrange delivery of funds. Opening the receiving account before you request any distribution reduces that pressure. Better still, use a direct rollover so the 60-day rule never applies. Also note that buying coins personally and then "putting them in" an IRA isn't a rollover; a rollover has to be the same property you received, which in this case is cash.
Our pages on common rollover mistakes and rollover timelines help you plan around delays. Goldco, a precious metals company, describes IRA funding through transfers and rollovers handled by the custodian; see the Goldco rollover process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the 60-day rule apply to trustee-to-trustee transfers?
No. Direct transfers have no 60-day window because the money never passes through your hands.
Can I use the money for a few weeks and then roll it over?
Technically yes, within 60 days, but it's risky, and IRA-to-IRA indirect rollovers are limited to one per 12 months. See the one-rollover-per-year rule.
Do I need to file anything to self-certify?
You give a written certification to the receiving custodian; you don't file it with the IRS. Keep a copy with your tax records.