Taxation During Accumulation Phase for a Non-qualified Annuity
The IRS designates annuities as either qualified or non-qualified. Most annuities are non-qualified, and for the exam, you should assume the annuity is non-qualified unless otherwise specified.
Contributions into a non-qualified annuity are made with after-tax dollars. So any contributions are not taxed at withdrawal. Any income earned in the annuity is put back into the subaccount and is not taxed until it is withdrawn. This allows earnings to grow tax-deferred.
When an investor makes a random withdrawal during the accumulation or the annuitization period, the withdrawal is taxed using the last in, first out (LIFO) method. With this method, earnings in the account will be assumed to be withdrawn first and are taxable at the annuitant’s ordinary rate. When all earnings have been withdrawn, the remainder, the contribution, can be withdrawn tax-free.
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