#### § 1.401(a)(9)-0 Required minimum distributions; table of contents.

This table of contents lists the regulations relating to required minimum distributions under section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code as follows:

## § 1.401(a)(9)-1 Minimum distribution requirement in general.

(a) Plans subject to minimum distribution requirement.

(1) In general.

(2) Participant in multiple plans.

(3) Governmental plans.

(b) Statutory effective date.

(1) In general.

(2) Effective date for section 401(a)(9)(H).

(3) Examples.

(c) Required and optional plan provisions.

(1) Required provisions.

(2) Optional provisions.

(d) Regulatory applicability date.

## § 1.401(a)(9)-2 Distributions commencing during an employee's lifetime.

(a) Distributions commencing during an employee's lifetime.

(1) In general.

(2) Amount required to be distributed for a calendar year.

(3) Distributions commencing before required beginning date.

(4) Distributions after death.

(b) Determination of required beginning date.

(1) General rule.

(2) Definition of applicable age.

(3) Required beginning date for 5-percent owner.

(4) Uniform required beginning date.

(5) Plans maintained by more than one employer.

## § 1.401(a)(9)-3 Death before required beginning date.

(a) Distribution requirements.

(1) In general.

(2) Special rule for designated Roth accounts.

(b) Distribution requirements in the case of a defined benefit plan.

(1) In general.

(2) 5-year rule.

(3) Annuity payments.

(4) Determination of which rule applies.

(c) Distributions in the case of a defined contribution plan.

(1) In general.

(2) 5-year rule.

(3) 10-year rule.

(4) Life expectancy payments.

(5) Determination of which rule applies.

(d) Permitted delay for surviving spouse beneficiaries.

(e) Distributions that commence after surviving spouse's death.

(1) In general.

(2) Remarriage of surviving spouse.

(3) When distributions are treated as having begun to surviving spouse.

## § 1.401(a)(9)-4 Determination of the designated beneficiary.

(a) Beneficiary designated under the plan.

(1) In general.

(2) Entitlement to employee's interest in the plan.

(3) Specificity of beneficiary designation.

(4) Affirmative and default elections of designated beneficiary.

(b) Designated beneficiary must be an individual.

(c) Rules for determining beneficiaries.

(1) Time period for determining the beneficiary.

(2) Circumstances under which a beneficiary is disregarded as a beneficiary of the employee.

(3) Examples.

(d) Application of beneficiary designation rules to surviving spouse.

(e) Eligible designated beneficiaries.

(1) In general.

(2) Multiple designated beneficiaries.

(3) Determination of age of majority.

(4) Disabled individual.

(5) Chronically ill individual.

(6) Individual not more than 10 years younger than the employee.

(7) Documentation requirements for disabled or chronically ill individuals.

(8) Applicability of definition of eligible designated beneficiary to beneficiary of surviving spouse.

(9) Examples.

(f) Special rules for trusts.

(1) Look-through of trust to determine designated beneficiaries.

(2) Trust requirements.

(3) Trust beneficiaries treated as beneficiaries of the employee.

(4) Multiple trust arrangements.

(5) Identifiability of trust beneficiaries.

(6) Examples.

(g) Applicable multi-beneficiary trust.

(1) Certain see-through trusts with disabled or chronically ill beneficiaries.

(2) Termination of interest in trust.

(3) Special definition of designated beneficiary.

(h) Documentation requirements for trusts.

(1) General rule.

(2) Required minimum distributions while employee is still alive.

(3) Required minimum distributions after death.

(4) Relief for discrepancy between trust instrument and employee certifications or earlier trust instruments.

## § 1.401(a)(9)-5 Required minimum distributions from defined contribution plans.

(a) General rules.

(1) In general.

(2) Distribution calendar year.

(3) Time for distributions.

(4) Minimum distribution incidental benefit requirement.

(5) Annuity contracts.

(6) Impact of additional distributions in prior years.

(b) Determination of account balance.

(1) General rule.

(2) Adjustment for subsequent allocations and distributions.

(3) Adjustment for designated Roth accounts.

(4) Exclusion for QLAC.

(5) Treatment of rollovers.

(c) Determination of applicable denominator during employee's lifetime.

(1) General rule.

(2) Spouse is sole beneficiary.

(d) Applicable denominator after employee's death.

(1) Death on or after the employee's required beginning date.

(2) Death before an employee's required beginning date.

(3) Remaining life expectancy.

(e) Distribution of employee's entire interest required.

(1) In general.

(2) 10-year limit for designated beneficiary who is not an eligible designated beneficiary.

(3) 10-year limit following death of eligible designated beneficiary.

(4) 10-year limit after minor child of the employee reaches age of majority.

(f) Rules for multiple designated beneficiaries.

(1) Determination of applicable denominator.

(2) Determination of when entire interest is required to be distributed.

(g) Special rules.

(1) Treatment of nonvested amounts.

(2) Distributions taken into account.

(3) Surviving spouse election under section 401(a)(9)(B)(iv).

## § 1.401(a)(9)-6 Required minimum distributions for defined benefit plans and annuity contracts.

(a) General rules.

(1) In general.

(2) Definition of life annuity.

(3) Annuity commencement.

(4) Single-sum distributions.

(5) Death benefits.

(6) Separate treatment of separate identifiable components.

(7) Additional guidance.

(b) Application of incidental benefit requirement.

(1) Life annuity for employee.

(2) Joint and survivor annuity.

(3) Period certain and annuity features.

(4) Deemed satisfaction of incidental benefit rule.

(c) Period certain annuity.

(1) Distributions commencing during the employee's life.

(2) Distributions commencing after the employee's death.

(d) Use of annuity contract.

(1) In general.

(2) Applicability of section 401(a)(9)(H).

(e) Treatment of additional accruals.

(1) General rule.

(2) Administrative delay.

(f) Treatment of nonvested benefits.

(g) Requirement for actuarial increase.

(1) General rule.

(2) Nonapplication to 5-percent owners.

(3) Nonapplication to governmental plans.

(4) Nonapplication to church plans and church employees.

(h) Amount of actuarial increase.

(1) In general.

(2) Actuarial equivalence basis.

(3) Coordination with section 411 actuarial increase.

(i) [Reserved]

(j) Distributions restricted pursuant to section 436.

(1) General rule.

(2) Payments restricted under section 436(d)(3).

(3) Payments restricted under section 436(d)(1) or (2).

(k) Treatment of early commencement.

(1) General rule.

(2) Joint and survivor annuity, non-spouse beneficiary.

(3) Limitation on period certain.

(l) Early commencement for surviving spouse.

(m) Determination of entire interest under annuity contract.

(1) General rule.

(2) Entire interest.

(3) Exclusions.

(4) Examples.

(n) Change in annuity payment period.

(1) In general.

(2) Reannuitization.

(3) Conditions.

(4) Examples.

(o) Increase in annuity payments.

(1) General rules.

(2) Eligible cost of living index.

(3) Additional permitted increases for annuity contracts purchased from insurance companies.

(4) Additional permitted increases for annuity payments from a qualified trust.

(5) Actuarial gain defined.

(6) Examples.

(p) Payments to children.

(1) In general.

(2) Age of majority.

(q) Qualifying longevity annuity contract.

(1) Definition of qualifying longevity annuity contract.

(2) Limitation on premiums.

(3) Payments after death of the employee.

(4) Rules of application.

## § 1.401(a)(9)-7 Rollovers and transfers.

(a) Treatment of rollover from distributing plan.

(b) Treatment of rollover by receiving plan.

(c) Treatment of transfer under transferor plan.

(1) Generally not treated as distribution.

(2) Account balance decreased after transfer.

(d) Treatment of transfer under transferee plan.

(e) Treatment of spinoff or merger.

## § 1.401(a)(9)-8 Special rules.

(a) Use of separate accounts.

(1) Separate application of section 401(a)(9) for each beneficiary.

(2) Separate accounting requirements.

(b) Application of consent requirements.

(c) Definition of spouse.

(d) Treatment of QDROs.

(1) Continued treatment of spouse.

(2) Separate accounts.

(3) Other situations.

(e) Application of section 401(a)(9) pending determination of whether a domestic relations order is a QDRO is being made.

(f) Application of section 401(a)(9) when insurer is in State delinquency proceedings.

(g) In-service distributions required to satisfy section 401(a)(9).

(h) TEFRA section 242(b) elections.

(1) In general.

(2) Application of section 242(b) election after transfer.

(3) Application of section 242(b) election after rollover.

(4) Revocation of section 242(b) election.

## § 1.401(a)(9)-9 Life expectancy and Uniform Lifetime tables.

(a) In general.

(b) Single Life Table.

(c) Uniform Lifetime Table.

(d) Joint and Last Survivor Table.

(e) Mortality rates.

(f) Applicability dates.

(1) In general.

(2) Application to life expectancies that may not be recalculated.

[T.D. 8987, 67 FR 18994, Apr. 17, 2002, as amended by T.D. 9130, 69 FR 33293, June 15, 2004; T.D. 10001, 89 FR 58907, July 19, 2024]