The IRS said “yes” in a recent Revenue Ruling. In the case, a qualified retirement plan made a required distribution to an employee and withheld the necessary federal tax. Under tax law, the distribution was includable in her gross income in the year received.

Though she had the right to cash the check, she didn’t, and she didn’t roll over the amount into another account. No income exclusion applied. The IRS ruled that not cashing the check didn’t alter the duty of the recipient to report the income, or the duty of the distributor to withhold federal tax. (Rev. Rul. 2019-19)