A tax strategy for healthcare workers. Section 403(b) plans are an alternative to weakened IRAs.

After the Tax Reform Act of 1986 reduced the tax-deduction benefits of investing in IRAs, many healthcare employees went looking for alternative tax-shelter investments. Several options are available. One alternative for taxpayers employed by tax-exempt organizations is Section 403(b) tax-deferred annuities (TDAs). Although the Tax Reform Act left Section 403(b) TDAs largely intact, it established a comprehensive set of nondiscrimination rules for certain statutory fringe-benefit plans--including Section 403(b) plans. The new rules are designed to restrict situations that favor participation by highly paid employees to the exclusion of other employees. Perhaps one of the harshest adjustments the 1986 law mandated is the imposition of an additional 10 percent income tax on withdrawals an investor makes from Section 403(b) plans before reaching the age of 59 years and 6 months. This excise tax had already applied to early withdrawals from an IRA, but the new law extends the penalty tax to cover all qualified plans, including TDAs.