Retirement tax questions

You can't make any IRA contributions (Roth or traditional) unless you have compensation from working.  This generally means wages from a W-2 job or self-employment on schedule C.  Either you had such compensation in the past and don't this year, or you did not report your Roth contributions, so your tax program never had the chance to tell you the contributions were disallowed.

 

You need to remove the ineligible contributions for 2023 before the April 15 deadline along with any attributable earnings.  The earnings are not taxable if you are over age 59-1/2 but you should report them to avoid problems with the IRS.

 

If you made excess (ineligible) contributions in the past, you owe a cumulative 6% penalty for each year you made the excess contributions.  You would need to file amended tax returns to calculate and pay the penalties.  Then you can withdraw the excess in 2024 so you won't be assessed further penalties.  If you don't withdraw the excess contributions, and the IRS catches you (which they have apparently not so far), you can be assessed back taxes with interest and additional penalties.