Determining whether I returned all or part of my ira distributions

[yangbuck]

I took an RMD from my IRA in 2020 that I later returned as well as making separate QCDs. When completing TurboTax Premier 2020 should I say that I returned all of my RMD or only part since there were also QCDs involved?

Thanks.

[dmertz · Accepted solution]

Presumably the distribution that was returned and the separate QCD distributions were all combined on a single Form 1099-R.  (They should be.)  Enter this Form 1099-R as received, indicate that none of it was RMD, indicate that you did a combination of rolling over and cashing out, indicate the amount that was returned to the IRA, then indicate the amount that was distributed as QCDs.  If you previously told TurboTax that some or all of the distribution was RMD, delete and reenter the Form 1099-R to make sure that the rollover is handled correctly.

Confirm that the entire box 1 amount is included on Form 1040 line 4a, that line 4b is zero and that the notation "STMT" is next to line 4b.  Also confirm that your tax return includes an explanation statement that includes the ROLLOVER and QCD notations.

[yangbuck]

Thank you! This is the clarification I was looking for and spent a significant amount of time phrasing and rephrasing the my issue until it gained traction and elicited your response. It seems to me that TurboTax should have anticipated situations like mine where filers had both RMDs that were returned in their entirety under the CARES Act as well as QCDs and expanded the instructions for this section to clarify that if you returned everything other than the QCDs you should check the box indicating that none of it was an RMD.

[fanfare]

for 2020 it is the distribution that is rolled over or paid back in full or in part.

You can't return the entire amount if some of it was paid to others as QCD.

[dmertz]

As long as was was originally intended to be a QCD didn't come from a required distribution, you could actually substitute other funds within 60 days (or in 2020 the extended rollover deadline) to do a rollover of an amount transferred to charity from an IRA, but the transfer to charity would cease to be a QCD and would have to be claimed as an ordinary charitable contribution instead.