Rollover Deadline Calculator: 60-Day Window, Holiday Roll-Forward and Once-Per-Year Check (2026-2027 Dates)

This rollover deadline calculator gives you the last day to put a retirement check back into an IRA. It counts 60 days from the day after the money reached you, moved past weekends and Washington, D.C. holidays. It also checks whether you already used your one IRA rollover in the last 12 months. A rollover here means putting money paid out of a retirement account back into an IRA; your IRA custodian is the company that holds the account.

This gold IRA rollover calculator is free, needs no sign-up and keeps your dates in your browser. It is one of the free gold IRA calculators SafeOunce runs.

Five numbers drive every answer.

• 60 days, counted from the day after you receive the money (26 U.S.C. 408(d)(3)(A)).
• The next business day, if day 60 is a Saturday, Sunday or D.C. legal holiday (26 U.S.C. 7503).
• 1 IRA-to-IRA rollover per 12 months, across all your IRAs.
• 20% withheld from a 401(k) check and 10% by default from an IRA check, which you replace from savings.
• No clock at all: a direct rollover or transfer has no 60-day deadline.

Which case are you in?

• Not paid out yet: no clock; ask for a direct rollover or transfer.
• Plan check in hand: 60 days, plus the 20% refill.
• IRA check in hand: 60 days, plus the once-per-year check.
• 401(k) loan offset at a job exit: until your tax return due date.
• Deadline passed: see the 3 relief routes near the end.

How Does the Rollover Deadline Calculator Work?#

The rollover deadline calculator turns 4 groups of answers into your last deposit day, a day-45 target, a once-a-year verdict and the dollars to add back. The formulas show under each result.

You answer in this order.

1. Say where the money came from and how it was paid.
2. Enter the date it reached you and, if you like, the amount and the tax withheld.
3. Add the dates of other IRA rollovers in the last 12 months (IRA money only).
4. Say whether you are under 59 1/2 and, if you like, your tax bracket.

What the calculator asks you#

The calculator asks only for what the law uses. An employer plan here means a 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b), the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) or a pension. A required minimum distribution (RMD) is the amount you must take out each year from age 73 or 75, depending on your birth year.

It accepts receipt dates from the last 5 years.

What the calculator tells you#

The calculator returns 5 answers. A business day is a weekday that is not a D.C. holiday. To roll forward means to move the deadline to the next business day.

• Strict day 60: the 60th calendar day, with no extension.
• Last day to deposit: day 60 after any roll-forward, with the reason, such as "D.C. Emancipation Day".
• Aim-for date: day 45, a SafeOunce suggestion, not a legal date.
• Once-a-year status: clear, unsettled or blocked, with the first clearly safe date.
• Refill amount: the withheld tax to add from savings, and the tax if you skip it.

Warnings flag a new calendar year, an RMD that cannot go back and the metals rule. After a missed date, it lists the 3 ways the IRS can accept a late deposit, without promising any.

What the calculator will not tell you#

The calculator never tells you a late deposit is fine, and it cannot make your custodian accept a deposit on the extended day. A custodian may not honor a deposit made after the strict day 60, and banks and custodians usually post deposits only on business days. Finish early.

It also leaves out state holidays (only the D.C. list counts), days a President declares, disaster postponements and your plan's processing times.

How Does the Calculator Count the 60 Days?#

The calculator counts 60 calendar days starting the day after the money reached you, so day 60 is the receipt date plus 60 days. A calendar day is any day of the week, weekends and holidays included. The count applies to an indirect rollover, where the money is paid to you and you put it back yourself.

The 60-day rollover rule has more parts than this count, such as which payments qualify. What the 60-day rollover rule covers, and what a miss costs, has its own page.

Which date starts the 60-day clock?#

The 60-day clock starts on the day you receive the money, not the date printed on the check and not the day you asked for it. Both statutes say "receives" or "received", so arrival counts. A distribution is money paid out of a retirement account.

Three dates are often confused with the receipt date.

• The check date: printed on the check, often days before it arrives.
• The request date: the day you asked for the money.
• The deposit date: the day the money posts to the new IRA, the end of the count.

Why the calculator shows a day-45 target#

The calculator adds a day-45 target because a check needs time to clear and a custodian needs time to post it, and no rule adds days for either. A check clears when your bank has collected the money from the payer's bank. Day 45 is a SafeOunce suggestion, not a legal date, and leaves 15 days of cushion.

When day 45 is a weekend, aim for the business day before it. For a check received Thursday, November 19, 2026, day 45 is Sunday, January 3, 2027. Aim for Thursday, December 31, 2026, because January 1, 2027 is a holiday.

What Happens When Day 60 Falls on a Weekend or Holiday?#

When day 60 falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday in Washington, D.C., your deadline moves to the next day that is none of these, under 26 U.S.C. 7503. A legal holiday is a day the law sets aside as a public holiday, when government offices close.

The Tax Court applied this rule to a 60-day rollover in Estate of Caan v. Commissioner, 161 T.C. No. 6 (2023). The deadline fell on Sunday, January 24, 2016, so it moved to Monday, January 25, 2016.

Why Washington, D.C. holidays decide your deadline#

D.C. holidays decide your deadline because the tax regulations define a legal holiday as one in the District of Columbia, whatever state you live in.

Section 28-2701 of the D.C. Code lists 12 yearly holidays plus Inauguration Day. It also covers days a President appoints, which the calculator does not add. The table gives the 2026 and 2027 dates, with observed days.

April 16 trips up ordinary calendars: D.C. Emancipation Day has been a D.C. legal holiday since 2007 (D.C. Code 1-612.02), but not a federal one. For a check received Sunday, February 15, 2026, day 60 is Thursday, April 16, 2026. A deposit on Friday, April 17, 2026 is on time.

When a Friday or Monday becomes the holiday#

A D.C. holiday on a Saturday moves to the Friday before, and one on a Sunday moves to the Monday after. That observed Friday or Monday also moves your deadline. An observed holiday is the weekday that replaces a weekend holiday.

The IRS reads it the same way. Notice 2011-17 (Internal Revenue Bulletin 2011-10) says Emancipation Day 2011 "will be observed on Friday, April 15, 2011." The filing deadline therefore "will be Monday, April 18, 2011."

Holiday deadlines for checks received October 2026 to December 2027#

The table gives one receipt date for each D.C. holiday that moves a 60-day deadline, for checks received October 2026 to December 2027, with the last day that counts. Each row is a SafeOunce computation under 26 U.S.C. 7503 and D.C. Code 28-2701, run on September 29, 2026.

For any other date, use the calculator above.

How often the 60-day deadline moves#

About 1 in 3 rollover deadlines moves: of the 459 possible receipt dates from September 29, 2026 to December 31, 2027, 148 have a day 60 that rolls forward. That is 32.2% of all dates, counted by SafeOunce on September 29, 2026 with the calculator's own date code.

Source: SafeOunce computation, September 29, 2026, using 26 U.S.C. 7503 and D.C. Code 28-2701.

The longest move is 3 days, such as a Friday holiday followed by a weekend. Plan on the strict day 60, and treat the extra days as a cushion.

What If Day 60 Falls in the Next Tax Year?#

A missed rollover is taxed in the year you received the money, even when day 60 falls in the next calendar year. You still get the full 60 days. Your tax year is the calendar year your income tax return covers, January 1 to December 31 for most people.

The calculator flags a new year only for day 60, so check the last day too.

The payer reports the payout on Form 1099-R and the custodian the deposit on Form 5498. How both appear on Forms 1099-R, 5498 is explained with the other gold IRA tax forms.

How Does the Once-Per-Year Check Work?#

The once-per-year check blocks a 60-day IRA rollover if you rolled over another IRA payment received in the 1 year before your new money arrived. That 1-year window, ending on the day the new money reaches you, is the look-back.

The window follows receipt dates, not deposit dates (IRS Publication 590-A). The check runs only for IRA money, because plan payments never count under the one-rollover-per-year rule.

The history of the one-rollover-per-year rule, from the Bobrow case to the IRS announcements, is covered separately.

Which rollovers count toward the once-a-year limit#

Only 60-day rollovers from one IRA to another count, and they count across all your IRAs together: traditional, Roth, SEP and SIMPLE. A trustee-to-trustee transfer, where the old custodian pays the new one directly, never counts. Neither does a Roth conversion, which moves traditional IRA money into a Roth IRA and taxes it.

The split follows IRS Announcement 2014-32 and IRS Publication 590-A.

So a 401(k) check in March and an IRA rollover in May are both allowed.

The exact-anniversary gap and the leap-day problem#

A second IRA rollover received exactly 1 year after the first is not clearly outside the look-back, so the calculator calls that day unsettled. It treats the next day as the first clearly safe day. The anniversary is the same calendar date 1 year later, and the statute does not say whether it falls inside the window.

No IRS guidance settles the exact anniversary or a leap-day receipt, so whether the unsettled day is blocked or clear is not established. A February 29 inside the window adds 1 day: after a March 10, 2027 receipt, March 10, 2028 (day 366) is unsettled and March 11, 2028 (day 367) is clear. A direct transfer avoids the question.

What a second IRA rollover inside 12 months costs in tax and penalty#

A second IRA rollover inside 12 months fails, so the whole payment is taxable and a 10% additional tax applies before 59 1/2. That additional tax is often called the early withdrawal penalty. Money left in the IRA can also be an excess contribution: an amount above what the law allows, taxed 6% for each year it stays (IRS Publication 590-A).

IRS Publication 590-A says the IRS "can't waive the IRA one-rollover-per-year rule," and self-certification under Rev. Proc. 2020-46 cannot rescue it. Under 59 1/2, the same $40,000 adds $4,000 of gold IRA early withdrawal penalty tax unless an exception applies.

How Much Must You Put Back? The Withholding Refill#

To roll over the full payment, you must replace the withheld tax from other savings: 20% of a 401(k) check and usually 10% of an IRA check. Withholding is tax the payer sends to the IRS before paying you. Plan withholding is required by 26 U.S.C. 3405(c) and cannot be waived. For IRA money, 10% is a default you can change on Form W-4R.

The table works out 3 cases (SafeOunce computation, 22% federal bracket).

The refill money comes back only as a tax credit (an amount subtracted from the tax you owe) when you file, 4 to 16 months after the check. Until then, your savings carry the gap.

The age-55 exception for people who leave a job applies only to employer plans, never to IRAs (26 U.S.C. 72(t)), so it does not help the IRA case. The 20% rule does not apply to plan payments under $200 for the year.

A direct rollover withholds nothing, so the refill never arises. The 20% withholding trap is the main reason to ask any plan for a direct rollover.

Which Rollover Deadlines Are Longer Than 60 Days?#

Three situations give you more than 60 days: a 401(k) loan offset at a job exit, a deposit frozen by a failed bank, and a disaster or combat zone. Each has its own rule in the tax code.

401(k) loan offsets: until your tax filing deadline#

If leaving your job cancels an unpaid 401(k) loan, you can deposit that amount into an IRA until your tax-filing deadline, including extensions. A loan offset happens when the plan cancels your unpaid loan and treats the balance as paid out to you. No cash reaches you, so the rollover money comes from your own savings.

The calculator has no loan-offset mode. An open loan is one of the traps in a 401(k) to gold IRA rollover.

Frozen deposits: at least 10 days after the freeze ends#

Frozen days at a failed bank do not count toward your 60 days, and the deadline cannot end earlier than 10 days after the freeze ends. A frozen deposit is money you cannot withdraw because a bank or other financial institution went bankrupt or became insolvent, meaning it cannot pay its debts.

Apply this rule by hand. It covers bank failures, not a government freeze of an IRA or 401(k). Sales calls asking "can your IRA or 401(k) be frozen or seized?" are a separate, scare-driven pitch.

Federally declared disasters and combat zones#

The IRS can postpone the 60-day deadline for people in a federally declared disaster area or a combat zone, under 26 U.S.C. 7508 and 7508A. For a disaster postponement, the custodian reports the deposit with code FD on Form 5498. Check the IRS disaster relief page for your county; the calculator does not apply these postponements.

When Does the Calculator Say No? RMDs, Inherited IRAs and 4 Other Cases#

Six cases get no deadline: in 5 of them no 60-day rollover into your IRA is allowed, and in the sixth there is no clock to count. An eligible rollover distribution is a payment the tax code lets you roll over, and the first 5 cases fail that test. A non-spouse beneficiary is an heir other than the owner's husband or wife. A nonqualified annuity is one bought with after-tax money outside any retirement plan.

The calculator stops for rows 3, 4 and 6 and warns on row 1. It does not ask about rows 2 and 5, so check those yourself.

RMDs are the case readers meet most often. The RMD rules for a gold IRA, including paying an RMD in coins, are on their own page.

Why the Calculator Adds a Metals Warning: Put Back the Same Coins#

The calculator adds a metals warning because a 60-day IRA rollover must return the same property: coins taken out must go back as the same coins. Taking out the coins themselves, rather than cash, is a distribution in kind. The same-property rule says what comes out must go back in, and meeting the deadline does not fix a miss.

IRS Publication 590-A requires "the same property that was distributed to you." In Estate of Caan (2023), the Tax Court moved the deadline to Monday, January 25, 2016, yet refused the rollover because cash went back instead of the property. It held that the IRS "cannot waive the same property requirement" and valued the distribution at $1,548,010. In Lemishow v. Commissioner, 110 T.C. 110 (1998), cash out and stock back in failed too.

Every way the gold IRA same-property trap catches coin owners is shown with dollar amounts.

The rule differs by where the money came from.

• IRA money: coins for coins and cash for cash. Buying coins with a cash withdrawal fails, and so does a dealer coin swap.
• 401(k) or other plan money: "You must either roll over the property or sell it and roll over the proceeds" (IRS Publication 590-A). In the IRS example, $50,000 of cash and $50,000 of stock sold for $60,000 become a $110,000 rollover, and the $10,000 gain is not taxed.

A planned distribution in kind, where you keep the coins, has its own tax bill, covered with the other gold IRA distributions.

How Do You Avoid a Rollover Deadline Altogether?#

You avoid every deadline on this page by never taking the money yourself: ask for a direct rollover or a trustee-to-trustee transfer paid straight to the new custodian. Every route into a gold IRA rollover starts with that choice. A direct rollover moves plan money, such as a 401(k), straight to the new IRA custodian with nothing withheld.

Three steps set it up.

1. Open the new IRA first, and get the custodian's payee details.
2. Ask the old plan for a direct rollover. From an IRA, ask for an IRA to gold IRA transfer instead of a check.
3. Check that any check mailed to you is payable to the new custodian "for the benefit of" you; that is still a transfer (IRS Publication 590-A).

If the 60-day deadline has already passed#

If the 60 days have passed, the IRS allows a late deposit only through an automatic waiver, a self-certification under Rev. Proc. 2020-46, or a private letter ruling. A private letter ruling is a written IRS answer to your own request. Under any route, the most you can deposit is what you received (IRS Publication 590-A).

Each route has its own conditions.

• Automatic waiver: the financial institution got the money in time and your deposit instructions, the error was solely its own, and the deposit is made within 1 year.
• Self-certification: a free letter to the receiving custodian giving 1 of the 12 reasons in Rev. Proc. 2020-46, such as (a) a financial institution error or (k) delayed information from the payer. Deposit within 30 days after the reason ends. It fails if the IRS already denied you a waiver.
• Private letter ruling: for other cases. The IRS weighs reasons such as death, disability, hospitalization, serious illness or a postal error.

The custodian reports a self-certified deposit with code SC on Form 5498. It is not an IRS waiver, and the IRS can deny it on audit.

Self-certification cannot rescue an RMD, a second rollover inside 12 months or a change of property. What to do if you missed the 60-day rollover deadline is covered step by step.

Looking for a gold IRA rollover calculator that projects growth or costs?#

If you searched for a gold IRA rollover calculator to project growth or costs, SafeOunce has 3 separate calculators for that, and none asks for your phone number.

• Growth: the gold IRA calculator projects growth after the markup and fees, using real historical returns.
• Costs: the gold IRA fee calculator adds up 10 years of costs, exit fees included.
• Break-even: the gold IRA break-even calculator shows how far metal must rise to cover a quote's markup.

How to check the calculator's answer by hand#

You can check any answer with a calendar in 4 steps, using the calculator's own formulas.

1. Day 60 = date received + 60 days (count from the next day)
2. If day 60 is a Saturday, Sunday or D.C. holiday (including an observed Friday or Monday): move to the next day that is none of these
3. Day 45 target = date received + 45 days
4. Second IRA rollover: first clearly safe receipt date = the day after the 1-year anniversary of the earlier receipt (day 366, or day 367 when a February 29 falls in the year after the earlier receipt or the earlier receipt was on February 29)

Two checks catch most errors: start counting the day after receipt, and use the D.C. holiday table, not a federal calendar.

Questions readers ask about rollover deadlines#

Readers ask these 5 questions most often.

Can I take money out of my IRA and put it back within 60 days?#

Yes, once in any 12 months across all your IRAs: put back the same amount and the same property within 60 days and the withdrawal is not taxed.

What happens if I don't roll over my 401(k) in 60 days?#

The part you do not roll over by the deadline becomes taxable income for the year you received it. A 10% additional tax is added under 59 1/2 unless an exception applies. Unreplaced withholding counts too: $6,400 on a $100,000 check in the refill example.

Can I do two IRA rollovers in one year?#

Not two 60-day IRA-to-IRA rollovers within 12 months, but you can make any number of trustee-to-trustee transfers and 401(k) rollovers. The one rollover per year limit counts from receipt date to receipt date, across all your IRAs.

Can I roll over my 401(k) to a gold IRA?#

Yes, once you leave the employer, reach 59 1/2 in a plan that allows in-service withdrawals, or the plan ends. A direct rollover to the gold IRA custodian avoids the 60-day clock. Whether and how to roll a 401(k) into a gold IRA is covered in 7 steps.

Is it better to have physical gold or a gold IRA?#

Neither is better for everyone: each trades tax treatment against cost and control. A gold IRA keeps the tax deferral but adds custodian and storage fees; IRA coins kept at home count as a distribution (McNulty v. Commissioner, 157 T.C. No. 10, 2021). Gold you hold yourself is a collectible in the tax sense, so a long-term gain is taxed at up to 28%. The gold IRA vs physical gold comparison covers costs, taxes and access.