What that article is refering to is a distribution from a Traditional IRA that *does* have the same amount in box 1 and 2a AND the not determined box is checked. That is because the IRA custodian has no idea if the IRA owner has a non-deductible basis in the IRA (that could be held by a different custodian). For tax purposes you only have one IRA but can have many IRA accounts with different custodians and the basis applies to the aggregate total of all existing IRA accounts (including SEP and SIMPLE IRA's).
Nothing about your code P or 8 1099-R's have anything to do with a "backdoor Roth" whatsoever.
A "Backdoor Roth" is having a non-deductible basis in a Traditional IRA as the only funds in the IRA and then converting that to a Roth IRA so that the non-deductible contributions offset the tax on the conversion.
Your 1099-R's indicate that the money was just returned to you - nothing else.
How is a "Backdoor Roth" involved in this?
[BTW- since the 1099-R's are messed up - the IRA/SEP/SIMPLE box on the JP and J8 1099-R's is not checked is it?]
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This is getting confusing - you originally said:
"However, the Traditional IRA contributions I made with Betterment were from already-taxed income before they were converted to a Roth, so removing them should not re-tax them."
If the money in the Roth came form a Traditional IRA to Roth IRA *conversion* then that money cannot be just returned to you from the Roth with a "return of contribution" because a conversion is not a contribution and a conversion cannot be undone. It can only be removed with a normal distribution form the Roth IRA, but the resulting 1099-R would have a code J1 (if under age 59 1/2).
Only a direct money contribution to a Roth IRA can be a "return of contribution" with a code P or 8.
At this point I am not sure exactally what you did.
**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.**
