@vz28bh - Earnings, whether in a Traditional or Roth IRA are always before-tax money. In a Traditional IRA, you pay the tax when you take the money out - which is why it is referred to as a "tax deferred" account. When recharacterizing those before tax earnings are also transferred to the Traditional IRA and are treated as if they were earned in the Traditional IRA. (Which is what a recharactorization is - treating the contribution exactly as if it had been made to the Traditional IRA in the first place).
**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**
