Excess Contribution to Roth IRA

[peter123]

I opened a traditional IRA in 2019 for $6,000 and converted the funds to a Roth IRA within the same week. I used aftertax funds to contribute to the traditional IRA. Turbotax is telling me I have made an excess contribution to my Roth IRA and I will be penalized. My understanding is that there is no income limit on the Roth IRA conversion in the scenario above. If this is the case, why is Turbotax telling me I have made excess contributions? Thanks  

[DanaB27 · Accepted solution]

TurboTax is showing the excess penalty if you entered Roth IRA contribution under the "Deduction and Credit" section. Since this was a conversion you will need to delete the contributions to the Roth IRA:

1. Login to your TurboTax Account 
2. Click "Federal" from the left side of your screen
3. Click on “Deduction and Credits” tab on top
4. Click "edit" next to "Traditional and Roth IRA Contributions"
5. Remove the checkmark next to "Roth IRA"
6. Select "yes" to "Remove Roth IRA Contributions?"

Please review these instructions on how to enter a backdoor IRA into TurboTax:

To enter the nondeductible contribution to the traditional IRA:

1. Login to your TurboTax Account 
2. Click "Federal" from the left side of your screen
3. Click “Deductions &Credits” on the top
4. Scroll down to “Retirement and Investments” and click “Show more”
5. Scroll down to “Traditional and Roth IRA Contributions” and click “Start”
6. Select “traditional IRA”
7. Answer “No” to “Is This a Repayment of a Retirement Distribution?”
8. Enter the amount you contributed
9. Answer “No” to the recharacterized question on the “Did You Change Your Mind?” screen
10. Answer the next questions until you get to “Any Nondeductible Contributions to Your IRA?” and select “Yes”
11. If you had a basis in the Traditional IRA before then enter the amount.
12. On the “Choose Not to Deduct IRA Contributions” screen choose “Yes, make part of my IRA contribution nondeductible” and enter the amount.

To enter the 1099-R distribution/conversion: 

1. Click "Federal" from the left side of your screen
2. Scroll down to “Retirement Plans and Social Security” and click “Show more”
3. Scroll down and click "Start" next to "IRA, 401(k), Pension Plan Withdrawals (1099-R)" 
4. Answer "Yes" to the question "Did You Have Any of These Types of Income?"
5. Click "I'll Type it Myself"
6. Choose "Form 1099-R, Withdrawal of Money from 401(k) Retirement Plans, Pensions, IRAs, etc."
7. Click "Continue" and enter the information from your 1099-R
8. Answer questions until you get to “What Did You Do With The Money” and choose “I moved it to another retirement account”
9. Then choose “I converted all of this money to a Roth IRA account.”
10. On the "Your 1099-R Entries" screen click "continue"
11. Answer "yes" to "Any nondeductible Contributions to your IRA?"
12. Answer the questions about the basis