"Federal Tax Due" amount increased when I entered my 2018 Roth IRA contribution. Why?

[crodrigues110 · Accepted solution]

Roth IRA contributions are not deductible from your income.

[ceand4]

Basically, yes.  Just figured that out.  Regret the churn.

[Carl]

During the data entry process, that number is going to fluctuate *wildly* and will be all over the place. That number is meaningless and just as worthless to you or anyone else until you have completed your return. That's because the program can only work with the date you have entered *at* *this* *specific* *point* *in* *time*. So the fact your tax due when up when you entered the ROTH contribution is no big deal. If you're using the program the way it's designed and intended to be used, then you're only halfway through the personal income section, and have a ways to do before you get to the deductions and credits section.

In my opinion (and we all know what those are like) no number should be displayed at all until the return is completed. it would be just as useful during the data entry process if it just flashed "we did something!" when a calculation was made.