I'm prompted for an explanation for recharacterizing my roth contribution to traditional IRA. The form includes the amount I'm recharacterizing, but it shows blanks for the dates of the contribution. It does not allow me to fill those parts out. I made those changes with the information through my brokerage account. Will that account for those dates or am I supposed to enter those dates on the explanation window. If so, how? If not should I just proceed with filing?
No, don't just proceed with filing your return and leave those dates blank. The IRS requires an "attached statement" to reconcile why your Roth contribution disappeared and a Traditional one appeared.
If you cannot type directly into those specific blank lines you should include the dates in the text of the "Explanation" box itself.
When you are prompted for an explanation, type a clear sentence that includes the missing info. For example:
"On [Original Contribution Date], I contributed $[Original Amount] to a Roth IRA. On [Recharacterization Date], I recharacterized that contribution plus $[Earnings/Losses] in earnings to a Traditional IRA in a trustee-to-trustee transfer because my income exceeded the Roth eligibility limits."
For the "Contribution Date" you can use the date of the first contribution or state "various dates between [Start Date] and [End Date]" (if you made multiple contributions during the year).
The "Recharacterization Date" is the date the funds actually moved from the Roth account to the Traditional account (or the "transfer date" on your brokerage statement).
Make sure your typed explanation includes these four things: