The IRS clarified its rules regarding non trustee-to-trustee IRA transfers recently, based on the Bobrow U.S. Tax Court decision. Beginning as early as January 1, 2015 (the IRS has yet to decide on an implementation date), individuals are limited to one non-taxable IRA-to-IRA rollover every 12 months. A non-taxable IRA-to-IRA rollover is a transaction where a taxpayer takes a distribution from a traditional IRA and then deposits that same amount into another (or the same) traditional IRA within 60 days of the distribution. Many taxpayers take advantage of this rule to satisfy short-term cash flow needs. Under previous law, this limitation was applied on an IRA-by-IRA basis, meaning if you had three IRAs you could do three non-taxable IRA-to-IRA rollovers every 12 months, thus effectively extending the “loan” period from 60 days to 180 days. That is no longer allowed. Transfers from one IRA trustee to another IRA trustee are not affected by this change because these types of transfers are not considered “rollovers”. Read more at the IRS website.