What is the one-rollover-per-year IRA rule?

What the rule says

Publication 590-A (2025) states that generally, if you make a tax-free rollover of any part of a distribution from a traditional IRA, you cannot, within a 1-year period, make a tax-free rollover of any later distribution from that same IRA. You also cannot make a tax-free rollover of any amount distributed, within the same 1-year period, from the IRA into which you rolled the money. The publication then widens this to every IRA you own: you can make only one rollover from an IRA to another (or the same) IRA in any 1-year period, aggregating all of an individual’s IRAs, whether traditional, Roth or SIMPLE, as if they were one IRA.

When the year starts

The 1-year period begins on the date you receive the IRA distribution, not on the date you roll it over. If you take a distribution on November 15, 2025 and redeposit it on January 10, 2026, the year runs from November 15, 2025 to November 15, 2026, so a second IRA-to-IRA rollover of a distribution received inside that window is not tax free. The calculator above takes the date you received the distribution and shows the date one year later. If you are anywhere near the boundary, wait a few extra days or ask your custodian how they date the distribution.

Publication examples

The publication gives two examples. In the first, you own traditional IRAs 1, 2 and 3. You make a tax-free rollover from IRA-1 into a new IRA-3 in 2025. Within one year of that distribution you cannot make a tax-free rollover of any distribution from IRA-1 or IRA-3 into another IRA, and the rollover from IRA-1 into IRA-3 also prevents a rollover from IRA-2 into any other IRA. In the second, you take no IRA distributions in 2025, then on January 1, 2026 you take a distribution from IRA-1 and roll it into IRA-2 the same day. For 2026 you cannot roll over any other IRA distribution, including one involving IRA-3. The publication adds that this would not apply to a conversion.

What the rule does not limit

Several things escape the limit. Trustee-to-trustee transfers between IRAs are not rollovers, so there is no cap on how many you do: see whether a trustee-to-trustee transfer is taxable. Rollovers from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, called conversions, are not limited. The once-a-year limit does not apply to eligible rollover distributions from an employer plan, and you can roll over more than one distribution from the same employer plan within a year. A recharacterization of a contribution is not treated as a rollover for the waiting period either. Finally, a distribution from a failed financial institution made by the FDIC as receiver is not counted if neither the institution nor you initiated it and no institution assumed the IRAs.

What happens if you break the rule

A second rollover inside the year does not qualify for tax-free treatment. The distribution is taxable to the extent it is not a return of basis, and the publication lists an improper rollover contribution among the causes of an excess contribution, which is subject to a 6% tax for each year it remains in the IRA past the return due date. The 10% additional tax may also apply if you are under 59½. The IRS can waive only the 60-day requirement, and the publication states explicitly that it cannot waive the IRA one-rollover-per-year rule, so see the 60-day waiver page for what can and cannot be fixed.

A simple way to stay safe

Move IRA money by direct transfer wherever you can. A direct trustee-to-trustee transfer has no 60-day clock and no frequency limit. Use a 60-day rollover only when you truly need to hold the money for a short time, and write down the distribution date, because that date starts your one-year period. For the day count see how the 60-day rule works.

Sources

• IRS Publication 590-A, Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (2025): Rollover From One IRA Into Another; Waiting period between rollovers; Application of one-rollover-per-year limitation. Read November 2, 2026.

Edition read: Publication 590-A (2025), for use in preparing 2025 returns, including its What’s New for 2026 note. Dollar limits and dates are for the year stated; check the current publication and form instructions for your tax year. This page summarizes the publication and does not replace it.