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teachernurse
Returning Member

Backdoor Roth

Married filing jointly. Made two $6000 traditional IRA contributions (one for each of us) after filing our 2020 taxes were filed, but before April 15, 2021. These were immediately moved to our Roth IRAs in order to do a backdoor Roth conversion. We did not claim our traditional IRA contributions on our 2020 taxes because our taxes were already done for 2020 when we made the contributions, but I received form 5498s for tax year 2020. I also, of course, received 1099-Rs for the transfer from our traditional to Roth accounts for the 2021 tax year. Do I file an amended return for 2020 and utilize the form 5498 to deduct the contributions and then submit the 1099-R on my 2021 taxes? Or, is there a better way to handle this since we never deducted the original contributions?

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4 Replies

Backdoor Roth

The bank would not have put contributions made in 2021 on a 2020 form 5498 unless you told them it was for 2020.  Did you do that?

teachernurse
Returning Member

Backdoor Roth

My husband did all of this via etrade. I assume he must've directed it for a 2020 contribution since they sent me the forms for 2020.

Backdoor Roth

Normally, the only reason to do a back door Roth conversion is if you are not eligible to make a deductible contribution, because if you are eligible to make a deductible contribution you should also be within the income limits to make a direct Roth contribution.

 

At this point, you have to go back and file an amended return to report the contribution in the 2020 tax year because that’s when it occurred. I believe you can choose not to take the deduction, in which case you will generate a form 8606 to track your nondeductible IRA contributions. Or, you could take the tax deduction if you are eligible.

 

Then, since the conversion happened in 2021, you report that on your 2021 tax return.  If you take the IRA deduction in 2020, you will get a tax refund from the 2020 amended return, and you will owe tax on the Roth conversion for 2021. Unfortunately, the amended return will take much longer to process, so you will have to come up with a tax money from someplace else for the time being.  If you make a nondeductible contribution on your 2020 tax return, it will not change the tax that you have already paid, and then you will be able to report the conversion on your 2021 tax return. You need the form 8606 from your amended return in order to prepare your 2021 tax return correctly so you have to do the amended return first.

 

And very importantly, if you had traditional IRA balances already, the back door Roth won’t work the way you think it will and you will still owe income tax on the conversion. We can talk about that if we need to.

teachernurse
Returning Member

Backdoor Roth

Our income is over the married filed jointly threshold to contribute directly to the Roth. This was our first time contributing to a traditional IRA. There was no previous balance and the balance is now a few cents in both accounts (until we make another contribution), so there was no interest accumulated in the Traditional Roth before the conversion. Your reply about filing an amended return for 2020 and then reporting the conversion on my 2021 return was what I assumed that I needed to do. Thank you for your help!

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