4020 / May a taxpayer roll over amounts from a defined contribution plan into a defined benefit plan? What special rules apply to the rolled over funds?

Yes.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has issued rules that are designed to encourage taxpayers to roll amounts from defined contribution plans into defined benefit plans by clarifying the protection that these funds would receive should the defined benefit plan be terminated and become subject to PBGC control.

Typically, the PBGC guarantees the payment of non-forfeitable pension benefits up to a statutory maximum that is adjusted each year. Further, if the plan’s benefit increase has been effective for fewer than five years, the percentage of the benefit that is guaranteed is phased-in over a five-year period, becoming fully guaranteed only after five years.

Under the PBGC rules, amounts rolled from a defined contribution plan into a defined benefit plan will not be subject to the maximum guaranteed benefit limitations or the otherwise applicable five-year phase-in limitations. This will provide taxpayers with greater assurance that their defined contribution plan funds will be protected if they are rolled over into a defined benefit plan.¹