Transfer Deferred Annuity SEP to SEP IRA

[taxstuff]

I have a "Flexible Premium Deferred Annuity" SEP annuity type retirement plan (with Midland National.) Is it possible to transfer it to my SEP IRA account (in Vanguard)?  (I'm self-employed.) If yes, is there any tax for the transfer? Thank you.

[tagteam]

I'll page @dmertz 

[dmertz · Accepted solution]

The tax code permits any SEP IRA to be transferred to any traditional IRA (other than a SIMPLE IRA that has not met its 2-year holding requirement) regardless of the type of investment held in the SEP IRA.  It's unlikely that Vanguard would permit an annuity from Midland National to be held in an IRA at Vanguard, so it's likely that the annuity will need to be surrendered and the transfer be done in cash.  To avoid needing to involve the one-rollover per-12-months limitation, the funds must be sent by Midland National directly to the Vanguard IRA, not paid to you.