> “I have heard the IRS often doesn’t track the cashed-out 401Ks.”
Not exactly right. I cashed out two IRA’s when I quit a job in December several years ago. After I moved to a new job (out of state), I rolled them over at my new location (it was about a week under the time limit). Shortly after April 15th that year, I got a letter from the IRS threatening me for cashing out my IRA’s, not rolling them over, and not paying a huge penalty for keeping the money. I eventually proved to them that I had rolled them over and within the time limit. It took several letters.
So, I would say that they very definitely track when you cash out an IRA. They don’t seem to track when you legally roll them over, however.
And which candidate is LEAST LIKELY to do this? I’ll give you a hint......it ain’t Trump.
I'm assuming that what triggered the IRS response is that the 401(k) distribution was done in one year, and the rollover was completed in the first month of the following year. So for Year 1, the IRS received a notice of a 401(k) distribution with no corresponding rollover transaction.