Roth contribution in error

[dlam123]

I calculated my taxes in turbotax in February 2022 for 2021 tax year and saw the MAGI allowed me to make Roth IRA contributions for both my wife and me.  So, we made those contributions.  Then, I received the 1098 from my investment company and there were large capital gains which put me over the maximum MAGI so that my Roth contributions were not allowed and turbotax now notes them as excess contributions and penalties.  I have not yet filed my 2021 tax return.  My investment company tells me that I have to fill out an excess contributions form and that it will be a taxable event.  But Roth contributions are not deductible so how can it be a taxable event?

Can't the investment company just reverse/negate the contributions since they were made in 2022 and I have not filed my tax return yet?

So, now what do I do in turbotax?  Enter the Roth contributions? or not? and how do I handle the excess contributions form which will likely show income?

Thanks.

[DanaB27 · Accepted solution]

Yes, to avoid the 6% excess contribution penalty you would have to withdraw the excess contribution plus earnings. Only the earnings would be taxable on your 2021 tax return since it isn't a Qualified Distribution. The earnings also would be subject to the 10% early withdrawal penalty if you are under 59 1/2.

You might want to recharacterize your excess Roth contribution to a traditional IRA and make it nondeductible. Then you could convert it back to the Roth if you do not have any pre-tax funds in any traditional/SEP/SIMPLE IRA (if you do the pro-rata rule would apply).

You have until the due date to request a recharacterization with your financial institute. To enter a recharacterization: 

1. Click on "Search" on the top right and type “IRA contributions” 
2. Click on “Jump to IRA contributions"
3. Select “Roth IRA”
4. Answer “No” to “Is This a Repayment of a Retirement Distribution
5. Enter the Roth contribution amount 
6. Answer “Yes” to the recharacterized question on the “Did You Change Your Mind?” screen and enter the contribution amount (no earnings or losses)
7. 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.
8. On the screen "Choose Not to Deduct IRA Contributions" answer "Yes" (if you are thinking about doing a backdoor Roth. 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)

You will get Form 1099-R  for the recharacterization with code R-Recharacterized IRA contribution made for 2021 and this belongs on the 2021 return. But a 1099-R with code R will do nothing to your return. You can only report it as mentioned above. Therefore, you can ignore the 1099-R with code R when you get it in 2023.

If you decide to go with the removal of excess contribution and earnings then you will get a 2022 Form 1099-R  in 2023 with codes P and J for the withdrawal of excess contribution and earnings. This 1099-R will have to be included on your 2021 tax return and you have two options:  

• You can wait until you receive the 2022 Form 1099-R in 2023 and amend your 2021 return or
• You can report it now in your 2021 return and ignore the 1099-R when it comes unless there is Box 4 Federal Tax withholding and/or Box 14 State withholding. Then you must enter the 2022 Form 1099-R into the 2022 tax return since the withholding is reported in the year that the tax was withheld. The 2022 code P will not do anything to the 2022 tax return but the withholding will be applied to 2022.

To create a Form 1099-R in your 2021 return please follow the steps below:

1. Login to your TurboTax Account 
2. Click on the "Search" on the top right and type “1099-R” 
3. Click on “Jump to 1099-R”
4. Answer "Yes" to "Did you get a 1099-R in 2021?"
5. Select "I'll type it in myself"
6. Box 1 enter total distribution (contribution plus earning)
7. Box 2a enter the earnings
8. Box 7 enter J and P
9. Click "Continue"
10. On the "Which year on Form 1099-R" screen say that this is a 2022 1099-R.
11. Click "Continue" after all 1099-R are entered and answer all the questions.
12. Continue until "Did you use your IRA to pay for any of these expenses?" screen and enter the amount of earnings under "Another reason" if you are over 59 1/2 (if you are under 59 1/2 click "Continue")

Please be aware, code P will say in the drop-down menu "Return of contribution taxable in 2020" you can ignore that since the follow-up question will tell TurboTax that it will be taxable in 2021.