Why is there a maximum contribution penalty on the Roth IRA when we are being told from Prudential who holds our IRA there should be no maximum or penalty?

[VolvoGirl]

Are you making a brand new contribution or doing a rollover or conversion?  Yes for new contributions you need earned income and there is a max.  IRS pub 590A for IRA Contributions
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p590a.pdf

If you are doing a rollover do not enter it under deductions as a new contribution.  Just enter the 1099R in the income section.

[dmertz]

You probably got bad information from the Prudential rep.  It's unlikely that the Prudential rep had all of the information from your tax return necessary to determine if you were eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA or not.

The other possibility is that you've prepared your tax return incorrectly, but without more information it would be impossible to determine where the mistake was made.