Wow, the TT interview never hinted at how to correctly determine the true excess contribution. Your advice regarding recharacterizing had my head spinning. I went with option 2 in the link you provided to withdraw the additional funds. After the first withdrawal to correct the excess contribution, TT said I was still $300 over because the earning withdrawn raised my AGI. I was finally able to calculate that removing an additional $400 contribution + $121 earnings struck the correct balance of rising AGI (due to the earnings) and the resulting sinking contribution limit. For my wife's Roth, I had just sent in the original incorrect contribution limit (doh!), so simply withdrawing the additional $400 fixed that as there was no time to accrue any earnings on that money. God, I hope I got this right and the 1099-Rs I get next year closely match what I calculated and submitted now. Thanks for steering me in the right direction.
