Will I Have to Pay Taxes on My 401(K) Plan If I Quit My Job?

If you decide to leave the company that holds your 401(k) plan, you have four options for dealing with your funds. The tax consequences depend on which option you choose. However, if you have borrowed from your 401(k) and leave your job prior to repaying the loan, the rules are different.

1. Leave the Money Alone

Will You Owe Taxes? No

There are no real tax implications for leaving your 401(k) funds parked in your old employer’s plan. Your money remains and grows tax-exempt until you withdraw it.

The plan is not required to let you stay if your account balance is relatively small (less than $5,000), but the company that manages the plan assets generally allows participants to roll the 401(k) plan assets into a comparable IRA.

However, you won’t be able to make additional contributions to the plan. And because you are no longer an employee plan participant, you may not receive important information about material changes to the plan or its investment choices.

Also, if you elect to leave your funds with your old plan, then later attempt to move them, it may be difficult to get your old employer to release the funds in a timely manner.

2. Move the Money to a New 401(k) Plan

Will You Owe Taxes? Not if You Do it Right

You are not required to pay taxes on your 401(k) nest egg if you roll it into a plan sponsored by your new employer. However, make sure you like the investment options of the new plan before committing to it and take a hard look at the fees associated with it.

One caveat: While 401(k) funds are eligible to be transferred from one plan to another, 401(k) plans are not required to accept transfers. Your eligibility to pursue this option depends on your new company’s plan rules. Additionally, things can be tricky if the new plan is not a 401(k), as not all defined-contribution plans are allowed to accept 401(k) funds.

One advantage of this choice for older employees: Even after you reach age 73 (or 72 prior to 2023), you are not mandated to take required minimum distributions (RMDs) from the 401(k) of your current employer. Moving the 401(k) money from a previous job to your new job puts that previous-employer money into the non-RMD current employer's 401(k) pot. You won't have to take RMDs on any of that money until you leave your job.

3. Establish a Rollover IRA

Will You Owe Taxes? Probably No (If You Take a Direct Rollover)

If you don’t have the option to transfer to another employer-sponsored plan, or you do not like the fund options in the new 401(k) plan, establishing a rollover IRA for the funds is a good alternative. You can transfer any amount, and your money continues to grow tax-deferred.

It is important, however, to specify a direct rollover from plan to plan. If you take control of your 401(k) funds in an indirect rollover, in which the money passes through your hands before going into the IRA, your old employer is required to withhold 20% of it for federal income tax purposes and possibly state taxes as well. In addition, you must complete the rollover within 60 days to avoid an additional 10% penalty.

4. Cash Out and Take a Distribution 

Will You Owe Taxes? Probably Yes

You will pay income taxes at your current tax rate on distributions from your 401(k). Plus, if you are under the age of 59½, your distribution will be considered premature, and you’ll lose 10% of it to an early withdrawal penalty.

If You Have Taken a Loan

If you have an existing 401(k) loan, regardless of which of the above options you select when you quit your job, all outstanding 401(k) loan balances must be repaid, usually by the October of the following year, which is the deadline to file extended tax returns.

Any money not repaid is treated as an early withdrawal by the IRS, and you pay taxes on the amount, in addition to being hit with the early withdrawal penalty if you are younger than 59½.