My husband died in 2020. He had an IRA with me as sole beneficiary. I withdrew the funds. Can I now put these funds in an IRA to avoid the large tax consequence?

[noreen-roberts]

I was under the impression that I had one year to put these funds in a new IRA to avoid being taxed immediately.

[dmertz · Accepted solution]

If this distribution was made before December 31, 2020, the 60-day rollover deadline has passed.  (Tomorrow, March 1, 2021, is the 60th day if you received the distribution on December 31, 2020.)

However, if you are eligible to treat the distribution as a coronavirus-related distribution (CRD) because you are an affected individual and the distribution was made before December 31, 2020, you can report up to $100,000 of the distribution as a CRD on Form 8915-E and you'll have 3 years from the date of the distribution to repay the money to an IRA in your name an be able to continue to defer the income.  If you make a repayment of the entire CRD before the due date of your tax return, the entire taxable amount will be eliminated from your 2020 tax return.  If you are under age 59½, you might want to repay only some of this distribution if you will need the money for living expenses before age 59½.