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Level 3
September 26, 2021
Question

Roth 401K to Roth IRA rollover

  • September 26, 2021
  • 1 reply
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I have made after-tax contributions in my workplace 401K program which I have set up to automatically transfer into a Roth 401K account in Fidelity.  I have the option of rollign over those Roth 401K funds into an IRA.  I was told first the securities have to be liquidated in the Roth 401K, then the money can be rolled over into a Roth IRA.  In my case I was planning to open a Roth IRA in Fidelity, so I wouldn't be receiving a check from Fidelity with the balance but rather they'd transfer the funds between those accounts.

 

Is there any income restriction to perform such a rollover, or any tax consequence the year of the rollover?  I'm not eligible to directly contribute to a Roth IRA.  I'm aware of the back-door Roth IRA contributions that aren't income restricted, but what I had heard about was pre-tax IRA rollovers to Roth where taxes are due for that conversion.

 

I just want to avoid any surprises, so would much appreciate it if anyone has done this and can comment to enlighten me and anyone else considering this.

1 reply

macuser_22
Alumni - Champ
Alumni - Champ
September 26, 2021

A rollover/conversion of  after-tax 401(k) money to a Roth IRA is tax free.  Have the 401(k) trustee do a direct rollover to the Roth IRA which should be reported to you with a 1099-R with a code G [typo corrected] in box 7 and the taxable amount in box 2a.   The after-tax contributions should be shown in box 5 and if that is the same amount as the total rollover shown in box 1 then  box 2a should  be zero.

**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**
Omar80Author
Level 3
September 27, 2021

Do you know if a rollover to a Roth IRA is subject to income restrictions?  The direct contributions is clearly, but I couldn't tell for certain about rollovers.

macuser_22
Alumni - Champ
Alumni - Champ
September 27, 2021

@Omar80 wrote:

Do you know if a rollover to a Roth IRA is subject to income restrictions?  The direct contributions is clearly, but I couldn't tell for certain about rollovers.


A rollover is not a new contribution so there are no restrictions - you are simply transferring money from one tax deferred retirement account to another.

**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**