Treasury, IRS issue sample forms to speed electronic rollovers

The Treasury Department and the IRS have issued Notice 2026-49, a set of optional sample forms for direct rollovers between retirement plans, or from a plan into an IRA. The guidance gives plan sponsors and administrators a common template. The aim is to compress a transaction that currently averages four to six weeks.

The notice stems from Section 324 of SECURE 2.0, which directed the Treasury to facilitate and expedite rollovers. The agencies chose templates rather than mandates. The forms cover rollovers between retirement plans and from a plan into an IRA, with an explicit carve-out for direct IRA-to-IRA transfers. The agencies say the electronic process is designed to guard participants' personal identifying information.

IRS chief executive Frank J. Bisignano made the case for the approach. “The IRS continues to look for ways to make complying with tax law less difficult and confusing for taxpayers and to improve tax administration in this complex area of the law,” he said in a statement. “The sample forms will make compliance simpler and easier for both plan participants and administrators.”

Comments on the forms and the proposed rollover procedures are due to the Treasury Department and the IRS by October 23.

Section 324 is a plumbing provision. It does not change who can roll over what, just how the transfer happens. The carve-out for IRA-to-IRA transfers suggests the agencies are focusing on plan-related moves, where the handoff between institutions tends to be more involved.

The four-to-six-week average is the problem the guidance addresses. A rollover that takes six weeks leaves savings in transit, giving inertia time to set in. Critics say the delay deters participants from consolidating old accounts, according to 401(k) Specialist. The fintech market has been filling that gap. In May, Capitalize and Crypto.com said customers could use Capitalize's Embedded Rollover API to move legacy 401(k) balances into IRAs. TIAA and IRALOGIX have since announced integrations of the API on their platforms.

Notice 2026-49 gives that market a standard to build around. The forms are voluntary. Their influence depends on adoption by plan sponsors and the recordkeepers who administer their plans. The platforms that have already integrated rollover tools into their workflows are likely to be the first to adopt the templates.

Adoption will not be automatic. Updating procedures and aligning systems costs time and money, so plan sponsors will likely wait to see whether the forms actually shorten the cycle before committing. The early movers will be the fintech platforms with rollover features already live.

For participants, the practical difference is days saved. For plan sponsors, it is fewer abandoned accounts to carry on the books. For the IRS, it is fewer transfers that need a human to sort out. The notice does not force anyone to change systems. It hands the industry a common form and bets that administrators will use it.

The comment window is the last chance to argue over the details before the guidance is finalized. After that, the pace of change comes down to how quickly plan administrators decide a shorter rollover is worth the switch.