Roth IRA Married Filing Separately not living together

[Buckmeister]

I got married at the end of 2019 and we do not live together.  I contributed $6500 (below the limit of $7000) and have an MGI below $120K.  Turbotax automatically assumes we lived together and says my contribution is ineligible and subject to a 6% penalty.  I called the IRS, and per Pub598 p.42, I am eligible to make the contribution.  How do I tell Turbotax to override the default disallowance and penalty?  Thanks.

[dmertz · Accepted solution]

You must revisit the Personal Information section, edit your spouse's information, Continue, then on the Select Any That Apply page, mark the box to indicate that you did not live with your spouse at any time between July 1 and December 31, then mark the box to indicate that you lived apart from your spouse the entire year.

[DawnC]

In the personal info section (filing status questions), there is a place to mark that you did not live with your spouse at all during 2019.  As long as you have that marked, it should allow the contribution.  

[Pfn84]

I'm in the exact same situation (married filing separately and living apart) but already filed my taxes with TurboTax two weeks ago. My individual AGI is less than $120k for myself in 2019. I opened Roth IRA today (7/15/20) and made maximum $6,000 contribution for 2019. How can I verify that my spouse living settings on TurboTax or the IRS 1040 filed return? I'm not able to get to the settings you mentioned above. We filed separate state income taxes obviously. Thank you.