Former Employees
If you leave your Government job before becoming
eligible for retirement.
- you can ask that your retirement contributions be returned to you in a
lump sum payment, or
- you can wait until you are retirement age to apply for monthly
retirement benefit payments. This is called a deferred retirement.
View the deferred retirement web page.
Payment of a refund of
your FERS deductions will permanently eliminate your retirement rights for the
period of service that the refund covers. You will not be permitted to
pay the money back, even if you are later reemployed in the government.
The refunded FERS service cannot be used in computing annuity benefits that you
may later become entitled to receive under FERS and it cannot be used in
determining the length of service for future annuity eligibility purposes.
Refer to information
about retirement eligibility.
If you transferred to
FERS and also have service under the CSRS retirement system-
When you apply for a refund, OPM will refund all
retirement deductions to your credit under both FERS and CSRS. Unlike your FERS
refund, you can pay back the amount of the CSRS deductions, plus interest, if
you are later reemployed in the Federal Government. When you apply for the
refund, you can specify that you only want a refund of your CSRS deductions.
Procedures for having your retirement
contributions refunded to you-
If you are leaving your Federal job and want a
refund of your retirement contributions, you can get an application from your
personnel office, complete it, and return it to them. If you are no longer
in the Federal service, you can acquire the appropriate application from our
website. Application for Refund of Retirement Deductions (FERS),
Standard Form (SF) 3106 [415 KB] (The SF-3106A, "Current/Former Spouse's
Notification for Refund Retirement Deductions," is included with this form.)
If you have been separated for 30 days or less,
submit your application to your servicing personnel office.
If you have been separated more than 30 days,
submit your application to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Retirement Operations Center
Post Office Box 45
Boyers, PA 16017
Interest payable on the
lump sum payment of your retirement contributions-
For service under the Federal Employees Retirement
System (FERS), you will get interest on the refund of those contributions if you
worked more than one year. Interest is paid at the same rate that is paid
for government securities.
If you had any service under the Civil Service
Retirement System (CSRS) while you worked, interest will be included in the
refund of those contributions if you have more than one but less than five years
of service. Interest is paid at three percent.
Your retirement contributions are not taxable, but
interest included in the payment is taxable. You should contact the
Internal Revenue Service
for additional tax information.
Rollover of refund
payment to IRA or Employer Sponsored Plan-
You can roll over lump sum payments representing
your retirement contributions, including voluntary contributions, and applicable
interest. An eligible payment can be paid either to you or directly to an
individual retirement account or other employer sponsored plan. Your
choice will affect the amount of taxes you owe.
We are required to withhold Federal income tax from
taxable payments over $200 at the rate of 20 percent. However, you may
choose to take all or part of these payments in a direct rollover to an
individual retirement account or an employer-sponsored retirement plan that
accepts rollovers. The taxable portion can be rolled over into the
Thrift Savings Plan. If you make this election, we will not withhold
the Federal income tax from the taxable payments.
You can open an individual retirement account to
receive a direct rollover. You must contact the individual retirement
account sponsor to find out how to have your payment made to your account. I f
you are unsure of how to invest your money, you may wish to temporarily
establish an account to receive the payment. However, you may wish to
consider whether or not you may move any or all of the monies to another account
at a later date without penalties or limitations.
If you choose to have the payment made to you and
it is over $200, the taxable portion is subject to the 20 percent Federal income
tax withholding. The payment is taxed in the year in which it is received
unless within 60 days after receiving it, you roll it over to an individual
retirement account or retirement plan that accepts rollovers. You can roll
over up to 100 percent of the eligible distribution, including the 20 percent
withholding. To do so, you must replace the 20 percent withholding within
the 60 day period. You will be taxed on any amount that you do not roll
over. For example, if you roll over only the 80 percent of the
distribution, you will be taxed on the remaining 20 percent.
You can find more information about the taxation of
payments from qualified retirement plans from the following Internal
Revenue Service publications:
We will not withhold any amount for Federal income
tax if your total taxable lump sum is less than $200. We will request a
rollover election when you are eligible for a payment of $200 or more.