2021 TurboTax Deluxe error in IRA Contribution

[CharlesQ]

I am using 2021 TurboTax Deluxe, I am getting the following errors: 

1. "IRA Contributions Worksheet: Line 11 - Taxpayer's traditional IRA contributions for 2021 made in 2022 should not be more than zero" 

2.  "IRA Contributions Worksheet: Line 11 - Spouse's traditional IRA contributions for 2021 made in 2022 should not be more than zero" 

we file a joint return,  we enrolled in IRA for the first time, we are both over ager 50 our max limit is 7000 and it is not deductible as I have a retirement account with my employer and I max out on my 401K contribution limits. 

we have transferred the money to Roth IRA after contributing into the traditional IRA account in 2022 for 2021. 

[RaifH]

This error is caused because of weird wording on the TurboTax interview. Follow these steps for both the contribution for yourself and your wife and it should clear the errors:

1. In the Deductions & Credits section of your Federal return, scroll down to Retirement and Investments. Click Show More and click Revisit/Start next to Traditional and Roth IRA Contributions.
2. If you converted to a Roth IRA, your original contribution was to a Traditional IRA.  For a proper back-door Roth, you will want to select Traditional IRA.
3. Select No to Is This a Repayment of a Retirement Distribution?
4. Enter your contribution amount, making sure to put it in the appropriate box if you contributed in 2022. Notice that the first box says Your total 2021 traditional IRA contributions and the second box says Tell us how much of the above total contribution for 2021 you contributed between January 1, 2022 and April 18, 2022. Your $7,000 contribution in the year 2022 for tax year 2021 must be in both boxes. Once you do this for yourself and your spouse, the errors should clear.

[CharlesQ]

I followed the instructions, it did not solve the issue. 

[RaifH]

Line 11 can't be greater than line 9. Line 9 comes from the amount of contributions in 2021 in Line 1, which we already determined wasn't the problem.

Another problem could come if you recharacterized the IRA contribution. Please note, recharacterizing to a Roth is not the same as converting to a Roth. They are entered differently and the tax treatment is also different. A back-door conversion can't be done by recharacterizing your contribution. See this article for more information about the difference between recharacterization and conversion.

If that is the source of the problem, you can go back through the contribution questionnaire and answer 0 to Tell Us How Much You Transferred.