perlman@wivax.UUCP (Gary Perlman) (12/16/84)
I am looking for pointers to advice on IRA's. Last September I left Bell Labs and my eligibility for paricipation in their IRA plan ended. Despite there being many people leaving Bell Labs around this time, the personnel department forgot to provide me a form in which I could indicate I planned to roll over my IRA. This resulted in the bank in charge of Bell Labs IRA's withholding taxes on the interest. The IRS says this was improper and that they should send me the interest. The bank says they can do that if it was their mistake. The Bell Labs IRA person says that it is the fault of the personnel department and nothing can be done. As luck would have it, my termination interview was conducted by a person who left the company a few weeks after me. The buck seems to have been passed all over the place. My question is: Can I write a check for the taxes withheld, roll over the whole amount, and deal with getting back the taxes later? I can't seem to get any information from the so-called expert at Bell Labs because that person does not seem to know anything about IRA's. I don't want to use a tax lawyer, because that would probably mean paying more than my potential gains. I find it difficult to understand how a company as large as AT&T can have such unknowledgable people in charge of millions of dollars. Perhaps this message will serve as a warning to people planning to leave Bell Labs. Please respond directly to me because I don't subscribe to this group. Gary Perlman/Wang Institute/Tyngsboro, MA/01879/(617) 649-9731