Can I back out of a 2018 Roth conversion?

[geohoppe]

 Thinking that the deadline for 2017 Roth conversions was April 15, 2018,I did one in January 2018. deadline was December  31 2017. With the new tax law I can no longer back out of conversion , is there any thing else I can do so that I would not need to pay taxes on that conversion because my income in 2018 will be larger than 2017?

[Elect-Financial]

Hi, Geo!

Unfortunately, you're correct that the deadline for conversions was December 31, 2017. The only way you could get around this is if funds were withdrawn by December 2017 even though they weren't deposited until January 2018. If that is not the case, the conversion is effective for the 2018 tax year. If your income is going to be higher in 2018, consider contributing to a traditional IRA in 2018 to lower your taxable income and offset the Roth conversion. 2018 tax rates are lower, so that should help as well.

If you still want to make a regular contribution to a Roth IRA for 2017 to take advantage of growing that money tax free while you are in a lower income tax bracket, you still have until April 17, 2018 to contribute. Just be sure to tell your financial institution that it is for the 2017 tax year.