2019 return - Reporting recharacterization completed in 2020

[dmertz]

Gunner33, simply enter the original $6,000 traditional IRA contribution in the Traditional and Roth IRA Contributions section and on the next page where TurboTax asks, "Did You Change Your Mind?,"  answer Yes and indicate that you recharacterized $6,000.  Do not enter on this page the gain-adjusted amount transferred despite the title of that page incorrectly implying otherwise.  TurboTax will next prompt you to prepare an explanation statement describing the recharacterization where you should show the date and amount ($6,000) of the original traditional IRA contribution, the date and amount ($6,000) of the recharacterization, and the gain-adjusted amount transferred.

The required explanation statement takes the place of the code R 2020 Form 1099-R that you will receive near the end of January 2021, so you can just ignore that Form 1099-R other than to keep it in your records.  If you choose to enter this Form 1099-R into 2020 TurboTax next year, TurboTax will remind you that the recharacterization was reportable on your 2019 tax return, which you already will have done so there will be no need to amend your 2019 tax return.

[barbel617]

I have the same situation as Gunner33, just want to confirm, when recharacterizing a non-deductible traditional ira contribution to a roth ira contribution, 8608 will not be needed when amending the return, right? But is it suggested to just file one for the roth ira so that IRS can keep track of my roth ira basis? Is it necessary? Thank you so much for your reply.

[dmertz]

If your originally filed tax return included Form 8606 as required to report the nondeductible traditional IRA contribution, filing a corrected Form 8606 showing that no nondeductible contribution is necessary.  However, unless there was some other reason that Form 8606 Part 1 needed to be included with your tax return, TurboTax won't prepare the corrected Form 8606 showing $0 on line 1.  You'll need to prepare it manually.

Nothing about Roth IRA contributions goes on Form 8606.  It's your responsibility to track your Roth IRA contribution and conversion basis.  The IRS does not track these.