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New Member
posted Jun 1, 2019 10:59:47 AM

Don't know how much excess to 2018 to put for 2017 Roth IRA excess contribution that was later re-characterized to Traditional IRA in 2018?

In 2017 I contributed too much ($3,200) to my Roth IRA per my income.  I then re-characterized the excess amount to my traditional IRA in 2018 before my 2017 taxes were filed and reported everything correctly with TurboTax on my 2017 taxes.  Later in 2018 I then rolled over everything in my traditional IRA to my Roth IRA and closed my traditional IRA.  Now when filing my 2018 taxes TurboTax is asking "How Much Excess to 2018?":
 
"Indicate how much of your remaining excess contribution of $3,200 you want to credit toward your 2018 Roth IRA Contributions."  

I'm not sure what to put here.  I contributed only $211.53 to my Roth IRA in 2018 (other than the rollover).  If I put $0 for "Excess to Credit to 2018 Roth IRA Contributions" an error comes up later where I'm asked to "Check This Entry" for "IRA Contributions Worksheet Line 27 - Taxpayer's excess Roth IRA contribution credit should be equal to $3200, the Roth IRA contribution credit from Form 5329, Part IV."  

"Line 27 - Taxpayer 0"

Then it shows my total Roth IRA contributions as 212 for line 28 and 0 in line 27.  

Do I need to just make line 27 $3,200?

Thank you in advance for any help!

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1 Best answer
Level 15
Jun 1, 2019 10:59:48 AM

You apparently indicated to 2018 TurboTax that you had an excess Roth IRA contribution in 2017 that carried into 2018.  You did not have an excess contribution because you corrected the excess by making a recharacterization.  Go back to the "Enter Excess Contributions" page (pertaining to your Roth IRA) and delete the amount shown as "Your Excess Roth IRA Contributions for Prior Years."  Then delete the entry for "Excess to Credit to 2018 Roth IRA Contributions."

2 Replies
Level 15
Jun 1, 2019 10:59:48 AM

You apparently indicated to 2018 TurboTax that you had an excess Roth IRA contribution in 2017 that carried into 2018.  You did not have an excess contribution because you corrected the excess by making a recharacterization.  Go back to the "Enter Excess Contributions" page (pertaining to your Roth IRA) and delete the amount shown as "Your Excess Roth IRA Contributions for Prior Years."  Then delete the entry for "Excess to Credit to 2018 Roth IRA Contributions."

New Member
Jun 1, 2019 10:59:49 AM

This fixed it.  Thank you very much for the help!