I contributed $5500 to a Roth IRA in 2016. After a ETF transaction, which earned $83, I realized that I should do a backdoor Roth. I recharacterized the $5583 to a new traditional IRA account, then converted it back to Roth IRA. They all were done in 10 days. Now I received two 1099-R forms. Form one with Box1 $5583, Box2a $5583, Box7 02. Form two with Box1 $5583, Box2a 0, Box7 N.
In Desktop version of TurboTax, Federal Taxes > Deductions & Credits > I'll Choose What to Work On > Retirement and Investments > Traditional and Roth IRA Contributions, should I input $5500 contribution to Roth IRA and conversion $5583 to traditional IRA, as well as $5583 contribution to traditional IRA and recharacterization to Roth IRA? Or input only once? Either way, the system will tell me that there’s $83 excess contribution to Roth that I should withdraw and pay the penalty for the gain. Does that mean I should withdraw $83 to my pocket, or set aside $83 back to traditional IRA? How to pay the penalty on the gain of that $83 part?
Another problem is when I input these 1099-R forms at Federal Taxes > Wages & Income > I'll Choose What to Work On > Retirement Plans and Social Security > IRA, 401(k), Pension Plan Withdrawals (1099-R), the federal refund amount dropped significantly. I think that’s all about after-tax money and shouldn’t have much influence on refund amount. Did I do anything wrong?
"should I input $5500 contribution to Roth IRA and conversion $5583 to traditional IRA"
No, you recharacterized only $5,500 (resulting in $5,583 being transferred). Indicate that you contributed $5,500 to a Roth IRA, then "switched or recharacterized" $5,500 to a traditional IRA. Enter no other traditional or Roth IRA contributions under Deductions & Credits.
Enter both Forms 1099-R as received. For the code 2 Form 1099-R, indicate that you converted the entire $5,583 to Roth.
There is no penalty (unless you are ineligible to make a $5,500 traditional IRA contribution).
Thanks dmertz for helping. The thing is the transaction history of my Vanguard account shows the amount of recharacterization from Roth to Traditional is $5583. Would it be a problem if I only report $5500 to IRS for this transaction?
You recharacterized only $5,500. The amount transferred was $5,583. The transaction history is reporting the amount transferred, not the amount recharacterized. On the explanation statement that must be included with your tax return you will indicate that you recharacterized $5,500 and in addition to the $5,500 being transferred, an associated $83 of earnings were transferred.
Dmertz, that makes sense and it worked. Thank you so much!
Could you be kind enough to help on another issue I have? The link is here:
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3530550-how-do-i-report-non-deductible-ira-contribution?jump_to=comment_5756732">https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3530550-how-do-i-report-non-deductible-ira-contribution?jump_to=comment_5756732</a>
I have a similar situation where I had contributed $1000 to my Roth IRA in 2018. Since I found out that I was ineligible because of income limits, I recharacterized to a traditional IRA in 2019. I transferred $993 because there was a loss of $7. When I enter these details in TurboTax, in my form 5329, it shows Excess contributions for 2018 as the $7. But this was a loss in the Roth IRA, not a contribution.
What should I enter as the actual amount transferred? Should it be $1000, or $993 and accept that $7 was an Excess contribution for 2018?
Thank you!
abhinandkr, you recharacterized $1,000, not $993. $993 was the adjusted amount *transferred*, not the amount recharacterized. Enter $1,000 as the amount recharacterized.
Thanks for the answer, @dmertz. That is correct, but whatever I answer to the question:
*How much of the $1000 that you contributed to your Roth IRA did you switch, or "recharacterize," to your Traditional IRA.*
will appear under the following note:
*The Amount Transferred (Recharacterization plus earnings or losses):*
So, should I enter $993 or $1000?
<My apologies for going into such specifics.>
Enter $1,000 as the amount recharacterized. In your explanation statement indicate that as a result of recharacterizing $1,000, a loss-adjusted amount of $993 was transferred to the traditional IRA.
This is great info, thanks for sharing.
Does the conversion itself also need to be part of the attached statement?
What about a previous rollover? I moved my Roth IRA to a different custodian before I realized I had to recharacterize :(