What to do about ROTH IRA excess contribution?

[crabanillo]

For 2019 I had an excess contribution to my individual ROTH IRA due to underestimated income at the time of the contribution.

I did an expert review and was advised to remove the excess contribution to avoid penalties.

I then called Fidelity and they mentioned there may be another option that may work better for me:

Re-characterize ROTH contribution to Traditional IRA and then re-characterize back to ROTH with no penalties and only having to pay taxes on earnings.

Is that a valid option and I when I provide the explanation statement can I just say "underestimated income" and "wanted the contribution in my ROTH account"? Or are only certain explanations valid and am I likely to get in trouble based on mine?

Thanks!

[JohnB5677]

If you're comfortable with your statement it will be fine.  Remember, the less you say to the IRS the better.  An alternative phrasing could be "I inadvertently overfunded my ROTH and redistributed it to my Traditional IRA".