403(b) Plan Rollovers to IRAs

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Question:

From my 403(b) retirement plan can I rollover an amount to a Traditional IRA, then roll that over to a Roth IRA to avoid paying self employment taxes?

Answer:

First, timely rollovers from an Internal Revenue Code section 403(b) plan to a Traditional IRA are non-taxable both for income and self-employment (SE) tax purposes. In fact, distributions from qualified retirement plans are not subject to SE tax. Income tax can be postponed by rolling over 403(b) distributions to a Traditional IRA. But subsequent distributions from a Traditional IRA rolled over to a Roth are not tax-free.

However, there may be reason to avoid rolling over a lump-sum distribution from a 403(b) plan into a Traditinal IRA. Please reference the following posting and others within this blog related to housing allowance designations.

http://ministrycpa.blogspot.com/2008/02/ministers-retirement-distributions.html