Exceeded 401k Contribution. What should I do?

[ja2001]

My 401k administrator has taken away the company matching money when they refunded the check for my excess contribution.

[macuser_22]

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@ja2001 wrote:

My 401k administrator has taken away the company matching money when they refunded the check for my excess contribution.

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You did not say what year the contribution was for and what year it was returned.    You should receive a 1099-R from the administrator - see my previous post in this thread.

[ja2001]

This is for year 2021.

I changed jobs in 2021. I asked the administrator for the new company is January to return the excess (all of the $s put in 401K in new company was excess as I exceeded from contribution made with first company)

I plan to just put this refund as income as recommended here when filing for taxes this month

Now to the question.. How do I ask for the company match back from my 401k administrator 

Thanks

[macuser_22]

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@ja2001 wrote:

This is for year 2021.

I changed jobs in 2021. I asked the administrator for the new company is January to return the excess (all of the $s put in 401K in new company was excess as I exceeded from contribution made with first company)

I plan to just put this refund as income as recommended here when filing for taxes this month

Now to the question.. How do I ask for the company match back from my 401k administrator 

Thanks

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You should have received a 1099-R in Jan 2022 with the returned amount no later then JAN  31, 2022 to report this .  If you did not then contact the plan administrator.

(The company match is taken care of with the company and does not affect your tax.)

[ja2001]

Looks like two separate questions

1) I did not receive a 1099-R in January 2022. The refund was issued in late January 2022 (for the 2021 year contribution over the limit) and I've not received a 1099-R. I thought 1099-R is information only and I will receive it by end of 2022 (which is the year the refund check was actually sent)

2) The question is about the company match $s (company match for the overcontribution) that the plan administrator deducted in January 2022 when they sent me the check for my overcontribution. How do I get the company match $s back ?

Thanks

[macuser_22]

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@ja2001 wrote:

Looks like two separate questions

1) I did not receive a 1099-R in January 2022. The refund was issued in late January 2022 (for the 2021 year contribution over the limit) and I've not received a 1099-R. I thought 1099-R is information only and I will receive it by end of 2022 (which is the year the refund check was actually sent)

2) The question is about the company match $s (company match for the overcontribution) that the plan administrator deducted in January 2022 when they sent me the check for my overcontribution. How do I get the company match $s back ?

Thanks

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#1 If the company returned the money in 2021 then they were required by law to issue a 1099-R no later then Jan 31 2022.  Contact the company for a copy.

#2 The company match is not your problem and does not go on your tax return.

[ja2001]

Money was returned in January 2022 and not in 2021 (2021 extra contribution returned in 2022)

I understand question 2 is not a direct tax question, but I want to follow up with the plan admin to get the company matching money back to my 401k account.

Thanks

[macuser_22]

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@ja2001 wrote:

Money was returned in January 2022 and not in 2021 (2021 extra contribution returned in 2022)

I understand question 2 is not a direct tax question, but I want to follow up with the plan admin to get the company matching money back to my 401k account.

Thanks

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Then you should receive the 1099-R in Jan 2023 to report it.   Company match is  taken care of by the company.   The company accounts for that internally and does not report it to you.   Company match does not go on your tax return.

[ja2001]

Thank you

The 401k plan administrator when returning my excess contribution to me also deducted the portion of the company match (which was 50% of my contribution amount) from my 401k account.

Is that the right process?  Do they return that money back to the company ? 

I understand this is not for tax filing, but if they have taken away the company match by mistake, then I want to follow up and get that back to my 401k account.

[macuser_22]

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@ja2001 wrote:

Thank you

The 401k plan administrator when returning my excess contribution to me also deducted the portion of the company match (which was 50% of my contribution amount) from my 401k account.

Is that the right process?  Do they return that money back to the company ? 

I understand this is not for tax filing, but if they have taken away the company match by mistake, then I want to follow up and get that back to my 401k account.

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They should only return (and report)  *your* contributions that were in excess and any earning attributed to those contributions.     The contributions that were reported in box 12 on your W-2 that were in excess.    Company match is not reported on yiur W-2.

[ja2001]

Thanks and I understand W2 reporting includes only my contribution and not the company matching.

I was asking about my 401k account balance that was reduced by the amount equal to the company contribution when they returned my extra contribution. If that is not the right process, then I want to go back to the plan administration and ask them to refund this money back to my 401k account.

[ssuryade]

What I need to mentioned payer's name and federal identification number without 1099R form ? It is asking as part fix errors. I filled 1, 2a, BOX 7 as P and year as 2022.

[MarilynG1]

Don't enter a 1099-R to report excess 401K Contributions.   You will enter the amount as 'Miscellaneous Income'.  You don't need an Employer ID for this. 

Next year, when you receive your 1099-R, only the earnings will be taxable.

Click this link for steps to report an Excess 401K Contribution. 

[TaxTechno]

My employer (plan administrator) says that they cannot distribute the excess 401k contribution because they have a cut-off date of 8th April. How should then I report the excess 401k contribution for 2021 or should I just wait until 2022 tax return and amend 2021?

[jiweihe1223]

I think you need to report it in miscellaneous income for 2021 tax return. There is a category for 401k excess contribution.