Any money borrowed from a 401(k) account is tax-exempt, as long as you pay back the loan on time. And you're paying the interest to yourself, not to a bank. You do not have to claim a 401(k) loan on your tax return.
Repayment of the loan must occur within 5 years, and payments must be made in substantially equal payments that include principal and interest and that are paid at least quarterly. Loan repayments are not plan contributions.
It has long been an urban myth that when you take out a loan from your 401k that you're being double-taxed on the amount of your loan… but this isn't so. This is a very pervasive myth – lots of folks will agree with it out of hand, but it's not correct, when you work out the details.
You cannot deduct your 401(k) contributions on your income tax return, per se — but the money you save in your 401(k) is deducted from your gross income, which can potentially lower how much tax you owe.
Many plans offer the option of repaying loans through regular payroll deductions, which can be increased to pay off the loan sooner than the five-year requirement. Remember that those payments are made with after-tax dollars, unlike contributions, which are made before taxes.
While it's beneficial to pay off your loan early, doing so might strain your cash flow. Make sure that paying off your 401(k) loan won't leave you short of cash for other important expenses or emergency savings.
Repayment periods
Generally, the employee must repay a plan loan within five years and must make payments at least quarterly. The law provides an exception to the 5-year requirement if the employee uses the loan to purchase a primary residence.
Take, for example, a single earner who makes $208,000 a year and also contributes $5,000 annually to a plan. They are in the 32% tax bracket for 2022. 5 Their tax savings from the contribution is, therefore, $5,000 multiplied by 32%, or $1,600.
You can defer paying income tax on up to $22,500 that you save in a 401(k) plan in 2023. A worker paying a 24% tax rate who saves this amount could reduce their tax bill by $5,400. Income tax won't be due on this money until it is withdrawn from the account.
Pre-tax 401(k) contributions are exempt from federal income taxes, state income taxes, and local income taxes. Let's break those down further: Federal Income Tax: Your employer will remove your elected deferral amounts from your annual taxable salary.
But, no, you don't pay taxes twice on 401(k) withdrawals. With the 20% withholding on your distribution, you're essentially paying part of your taxes upfront. Depending on your tax situation, the amount withheld might not be enough to cover your full tax liability.
A low credit score won't result in a rejected application. Moreover, a 401(k) loan won't affect your credit at all — even if you default on it. Low interest rates. You'll pay a modest interest rate and this money goes straight into your retirement account.
Rules of taking out a 401(k) loan are as follows:
There is a 12 month "look back" period, which means you can borrow up to 50% of your total vested balance of all accounts you owned for the last 12 months, reduced by the highest outstanding balance over this look back period.
Risks of taking out a 401(k) loan
“If you leave your job, or are no longer employed with that company, you will be forced to pay the full balance of the loan back, and if you can't do that, whatever you can't pay back, you'll be subject to the taxes because it will count as an early distribution plus a 10% penalty.”
Before borrowing, consider that you'll have to repay the loan with after-tax dollars, and you could lose investment earnings on the money while it's out of the account. Should you lose your job, you'll have to repay the loan more rapidly—by the due date for your next tax return.
Deferring Social Security payments, rolling over old 401(k)s, setting up IRAs to avoid the mandatory 20% federal income tax, and keeping your capital gains taxes low are among the best strategies for reducing taxes on your 401(k) withdrawal.
We recommend investing 15% of your gross income to save for retirement (that's Baby Step 4, by the way). So if you're 100% debt free and have an annual salary of $150,000 or more, you could max out your 401(k) simply by investing your entire 15% through your workplace retirement plan.
Elective deferrals up to 100% of compensation (“earned income” in the case of a self-employed individual) up to the annual contribution limit: $22,500 in 2023 ($20,500 in 2022; $19,500 in 2020 and 2021), or $30,000 in 2023 ($27,000 in 2022; $26,000 in 2020 and 2021) if age 50 or over; plus.
A 401(k) retirement plan will reduce both your AGI and MAGI, as contributions are taken out of your salary before taxes are deducted. This in effect reduces your salary in relation to taxes. Because your salary is now "lower," you end up paying less taxes. This is the tax benefit of a 401(k) retirement plan.
To sum it up, you'll owe income tax on 401(k) distributions when you take them, but no Social Security tax. Plus, the amount of your Social Security benefit won't be affected by your 401(k) taxable income.
Traditional IRA
Deductions vary according to your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) and whether or not you're covered by a retirement plan at work. If you (and your spouse, if applicable) aren't covered by an employer retirement plan, your traditional IRA contributions are fully tax-deductible.
You typically have five years to repay the loan.
A 401(k) loan must be repaid within five years of borrowing the money from your account. Repaying the loan on schedule is crucial to avoid early filing penalties and other tax consequences, which are discussed below.
While 401(k) loans are typically paid through payroll deductions in accordance with your agreed upon amortization schedule, you can also submit payments via a check or online through your bank account. You may choose to make additional payments to pay off your loan sooner or if you are behind on your loan payments.
A 401(k) loan may be a better option than a traditional hardship withdrawal, if it's available. In most cases, loans are an option only for active employees. If you opt for a 401(k) loan or withdrawal, take steps to keep your retirement savings on track so you don't set yourself back.
You can get another loan as soon as you'd like or as soon as banks feel your worthy of paying them back. That can even be BEFORE the current loan is paid off because there's no rules against having 2, 3 or 4 loans at the same time.