I made IRA contributions from 2020 in 2021 before the deadline. how do i accurately reflect that on my tax return so that it doesn't look like I overcontributed in 2021?

[HelenC12]

You don't enter your 2020 IRA contribution on your 2021 income tax return. It should have been added on your 2020 income tax return. 

[SweetieJean]

If you didn't claim it on your 2020 return, you will have to file, a 1040-X amended return for 2020.

[gloprest]

I made the IRA contributions for 2020 IN 2021. 

[DanaB27]

You will enter the contribution for 2020 on your 2020 tax return, even if you made it in 2021. If you didn't do that then please see How do I amend my 2020 return?  The contribution for 2021 will be entered on your 2021 tax return.

If it was a traditional IRA contribution and you want to make it nondeductible because of doing a backdoor Roth then please follow these steps on your 2020 tax return:

To enter the nondeductible contribution to the traditional IRA:

1. Login to your TurboTax Account 
2. Click on "Search" on the top right and type “IRA contributions” 
3. Click on “Jump to IRA contributions"
4. Select “traditional IRA”
5. Answer “No” to “Is This a Repayment of a Retirement Distribution?”
6. Enter the amount you contributed
7. Answer “No” to the recharacterized question on the “Did You Change Your Mind?” screen
8. Answer the next questions until you get to “Any Nondeductible Contributions to Your IRA?” and select “Yes” if you had a nondeductible contribution before this tax year.
9. If you had a basis in the Traditional IRA before then enter the amount.
10. On the “Choose Not to Deduct IRA Contributions” screen choose “Yes, make part of my IRA contribution nondeductible” and enter the amount (if you have a retirement plan at work and are over the income limit it will be nondeductible automatically and you only get a warning and then a screen saying $0 is deductible).

TurboTax will create Form 8606 with a basis on line 14 and this can be entered in your 2021 tax return when TurboTax asks if you made nondeductible contributions.

@gloprest

[gloprest]

Do these instructions differ if i converted all of the IRA into a Roth?

[fanfare]

report a conversion to Roth on the tax return for the year you did it.

[DanaB27]

No, you still will enter the nondeductible contributions for 2020 on your 2020 tax return.

To enter the conversion you made in 2021:

1. Click on "Search" on the top right and type “1099-R”  
2. Click on “Jump to 1099-R”
3. Click "Continue" and enter the information from your 1099-R
4. Answer questions until you get to “Tell us if you moved the money through a rollover or conversion” and choose “I converted some or all of it to a Roth IRA”
5. On the "Review your 1099-R info" screen click "continue"
6. Answer "yes" to "Any nondeductible Contributions to your IRA?" if you had any nondeductible contributions in prior years.
7. Answer the questions about the basis from line 14 of your 2020 Form 8606 and the value of all traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE IRAs

@gloprest