dmertz
Level 15

Retirement tax questions

TurboTax asks this question because it has already determined that you have made an excess Roth IRA contribution and needs to determine the amount that is subject to the 6% excess accumulation penalty (6% of the lesser of the excess or the total year-end value of your Roth IRAs).

 

You can obtain the year end values of your Roth IRAs from the year-end statements from these accounts.

 

The question is, "Why has TurboTax determined that the Roth IRA contribution is an excess contribution?"  The reasons are that the amount contributed exceeds the permissible amount for your age and filing status, or the compensation that you have entered is insufficient to support the contribution.  If Married Filing Separately, eligibility to contribute to a Roth IRA phases out between $0 and $10,000.  Married Filing Jointly has a much higher phase-out range.