How do I report a Converted IRA - Traditional opened 10 years ago, converted to ROTH in 2018. Haven't received any 1099-R. It’s neither a withdrawal nor contribution!

[lehuanani]

I’ve followed the questions for Wages/Income IRA and Deduction/Credit IRA, neither really fit. It doesn’t qualify as a withdrawal or contribution, and I’ve tried all the answers I’ve read so far, with no luck.

[fanfare]

your problem is not that it is neither a withdrawal or contribution.
your problem is that you lost or misplaced your 10999-R document.

[lehuanani]

I haven't lost or misplaced the 1099-R. I logged into my IRA account, and the bank has no 1099-R for this account. I have reached out to the bank as well, to ask why there is no form 1099-R.

[macuser_22]

Did they actually do the conversion?   Your statements should show the IRA distribution and Roth addition.

They were required to get a 2018 1099-R to you no later than January 31, 2019.

[lehuanani]

This was a trustee to trustee transfer. The new account lists the initial deposit as a Conversion, and it's now a Roth IRA. The initial bank that had the Traditional IRA has no tax statements as well, stating "There are no 1099-R forms for this account because no distributions were taken from your account".

[macuser_22]

A Trustee-to-trustee transfer does not generate a 1099-R because the Traditional IRA is simply moved from one trustee to the other and remains a Traditional IRA at the destination - it cannot make any change to the IRA or it would not be a transfer.   

You cannot do a Traditional IRA to Roth IRA conversion with a trustee-to trustee transfer.

Once transferred to the new trustee then you can have the new trustee convert the Traditional IRA to a Roth and that would generate a 1099-R from the new trustee showing the Traditional IRA distribution that you would enter as a conversion.

[dmertz]

As macuser-22 said, a nonreportable trustee-to-trustee transfer cannot be used to move money from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA because the tax code defines a Roth conversion as a distribution from the traditional IRA and a taxable rollover to the Roth IRA.  You should first contact the traditional IRA custodian to obtain a 2018 Form 1099-R to correctly report the distribution from the traditional IRA.  In the event that they will not produce the form, claiming that they properly initiated a transfer to another traditional IRA, you'll need to submit a substitute Form 1099-R (Form 4852) for the traditional IRA distribution.  This Form 1099-R will have the distribution amount in boxes 1 and 2a, box 2b Taxable amount not determined marked, code 1 or 7 in box 7 depending on your age, and the IRA/SEP/SIMPLE box marked.  You'll need to include explanation.

[lehuanani]

Thank you both for the clarification info. The IRA was transferred from Bank A as a Traditional, and converted by Bank B into a Roth.  Final solution - The Roth-converting bank should have generated a 1099-R, which for some reason it failed to do. I'm reaching out to Bank B for the 1099-R, and will fill in my own substitute if I can't get that official document in time. Thank you!

[macuser_22]

Bank B was required by law to send a 1099-R no later then Jan 31, 2019.  It might have been lost in the mail.

[dmertz]

This assumes that Bank B actually deposited the money in a traditional IRA before converting it to Roth.  If Bank B was under the mistaken impression that it was receiving a trustee-to-trustee transfer of a Roth IRA from Bank A and deposited it directly into a Roth IRA, Bank B would not have generated any Form 1099-R and the 2018 Form 5498 from the Bank B Roth IRA will not report any rollover or conversion contribution to the Roth IRA.  If Bank B has already issued a 2018 Form 5498 from the Roth IRA, look at it and see what it reports.

[macuser_22]

Enter a 1099-R here:

Federal Taxes,
Wages & Income
I’ll choose what I work on (if that screen comes up),
Retirement Plans & Social Security,
IRA, 401(k), Pension Plan Withdrawals (1099-R).

OR  Use the "Tools" menu (if online version under My Account) and then "Search Topics" for "1099-R" which will take you to the same place.

Be sure to choose which spouse the 1099-R is for if this is a joint tax return.
Be sure to pick the correct 1099-R type: Standard 1099-R, CSA-1099-R, CSF-1099-R, RRB-1099-R.

If this was a  conversion, answer the question that you moved the money to another retirement account (can be the same account). The screen will open up with choices of where it was moved.

Say that it was converted to a Roth IRA

[NOTE: When you get to the "Your 1099-R Entries" screen where you can add another 1099-R, use "continue" to keep going as there are additional interview questions after that screen in most cases. You can always return as shown above.]

The taxable amount will go on the 1040 line 4b.