Do I need fill form 8606 if a non-deductible->Roth->Traditional recharacterization?

[dmertz · Accepted solution]

If you recharacterized the entire amount that was converted to Roth, you don't need Form 8606 to calculate the taxable amount of the Roth conversion since the Roth conversion is treated as not having happened.  However, if you did only a partial recharacterization, Form 8606 will be needed to calculate the taxable amount of the portion that remained converted to Roth.

If your traditional IRA includes nondeductible contributions made for the current tax year, you must file Form 8606 whether you do any Roth conversion or not since the contribution adds to your basis and must be reported.

TurboTax takes care of all of this automatically when you enter the traditional IRA contribution, the Form 1099-R for the distribution converted to Roth, and your answers to the follow-up questions where you'll indicate the portion of the Roth conversion that you recharacterized back to a traditional IRA.

[seshasaik]

Thank you, this was for Fy2015. I had opened it initially as non-deductible then used backdoor option to ROTH and then I realized my wife was eligible for deduction at the time of filing, so re-characterized the entire amount.  I was using Turbotax until 2014 and in 2015 I went to a tax professional. We forgot to submit for 8606 for me and We did send it afterwards. Just want to make sure if this form is needed for my wife.

[fanfare]

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure it is not  possible to re-characterize your IRA into becoming your wife's IRA.

[seshasaik]

Thanks for the response. May be my wording was confusing, its her own IRA that was re-characterized. It was just married filing jointly.

[dmertz]

If I understand correctly, your wife made a deductible traditional IRA contribution for 2015 (with the deduction appearing on 2015 Form 1040 line 32 or Form 1040A line 17), did a Roth conversion, then recharacterized the entire conversion (and these were your wife's only IRA transactions).  If this is correct, there was no reason for your 2015 MFJ tax return to include a Form 8606 for your wife.