Past 4 years of Roth IRA excess contributions. Thought my account was a traditional IRA and filed taxes with 3 of the 4 taking the deduction. How to handle?

[Acer31]

I have a strange one here that I am not sure how to handle.  I opened a Roth IRA in 2007 and contributed to the Roth IRA in 2007,2008, and 2009 when my income was lower and filed the taxes in those years as contributing to a Roth.  I did not contribute to an IRA again until 2014 when I contributed into this Roth IRA.  However, I had forgotten that it was a Roth and thought it was a traditional IRA.  I contributed to it and took the deduction on my taxes as a traditional IRA.  I was not eligible for a Roth IRA contribution.  I continued to do this for 2015, 2016, and 2017 making it 4 years total that I put it in the Roth account while all along thinking this was a traditional account.  Now I am trying to figure out what options I have.  Can I just reclassify this and pay the penalty?  What options do I have available? 

[KittyM]

This is not an uncommon problem.  Discuss with your account custodian the steps you need to take to transform your error into a "Back Door Roth IRA."  The link below discusses how you will make the resulting entries in TurboTax next year.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/6768029

[Acer31]

Thank you for responding, but I am not sure why I would transfer this into a back door Roth IRA.  Then I have problems with my taxes each year from 2014-2017 because I listed it as a traditional IRA and took the deduction.