Loan Transaction Costs IRA its Bankruptcy Exemption

A recent case illustrates a common problem with IRAs when their participants declare bankruptcy. Generally, IRAs are exempt assets in bankruptcy proceedings, and are thus beyond the reach of the bankrupt individual’s creditors. This exemption in the Bankruptcy Code is tied to the tax-exempt status of the IRA. 11 USC §522(d)(12) provides an exemption to “[r]etirement funds to the extent that those funds are in a fund or account that is exempt from taxation under section … 408 … of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.”