Report recharacterization of a recharacterization

[taxfiler12341]

My spouse contributed to her traditional IRA in March 2024. Then she recharacterized the full contribution amount to ROTH IRA in December 2024. We have received a 1099-R for that recharacterization. I am able to enter this in TurboTax as listed below.

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 “Roth IRA”
5. Answer ‘Yes” on the “Roth IRA Contribution” screen
6. Answer “No” to “Is This a Repayment of a Retirement Distribution
7. Enter the Roth contribution amount 
8. Answer “Yes” to the recharacterized question on the “Switch from a Roth To a Traditional IRA?” screen and enter the contribution amount (no earnings or losses) on the next screen.
9. TurboTax will ask for an explanation statement where it should be stated that the original $xxx.xx plus $xxx.xx earnings (or loss) were recharacterized.
10. On the screen "Choose Not to Deduct IRA Contributions" answer "Yes" if you are thinking about doing a backdoor Roth. Otherwise select "No".

Now, in March 2025, when preparing to file our taxes,  we realize that we are over the MAGI limit for ROTH contributions. So, looks like we have two options 1) to take the excess contribution out or, 2) to recharacterize the ROTH contribution (which is originally a recharacterization of the traditional IRA contribution.)  I am leaning towards option 2. However, I am not quite sure how to enter this information (recharacterization of a recharacterization) in TurboTax.

Thanks for any help with this!

[DanaB27 · Accepted solution]

If you choose to recharacterize the contribution then you can first enter a recharacterization to add the Explanation statement and then edit the entry to show just a Traditional IRA contribution. The statement will be still attached to the return.

1. Click on "Search" on the top right and type “IRA contributions” 
2. Click on “Jump to IRA contributions"
3. Select “Traditional IRA”
4. Answer ‘Yes” on the “Roth IRA Contribution” screen
5. Answer “No” to “Is This a Repayment of a Retirement Distribution
6. Enter the Traditional IRA contribution amount 
7. Answer “Yes” to the recharacterized question on the “Switch from a Traditional To a Roth IRA?” screen and enter the contribution amount (no earnings or losses) on the "Tell us how much you transferred" screen.
8. TurboTax will ask for an explanation statement where it should be stated that the original $xxx.xx plus $xxx.xx earnings (or loss) were recharacterized to a Roth IRA in 2024. The contribution $xxx.xx plus $xxx.xx earnings (or loss) were recharacterized to a Traditional IRA in 2025. 
9. Click "Back" and delete the entry on the “Switch from a Traditional To a Roth IRA?” screen and then continue through the questions.