How to report recharacterization of Roth IRA with a little gain (hence excess contribution) to traditional IRA and conversion back to Roth IRA?

[xudan301]

I contributed $5500 to a Roth IRA in 2016. After a ETF transaction, which earned $83, I realized that I should do a backdoor Roth. I recharacterized the $5583 to a new traditional IRA account, then converted it back to Roth IRA. They all were done in 10 days. Now I received two 1099-R forms. Form one with Box1 $5583, Box2a $5583, Box7 02. Form two with Box1 $5583, Box2a 0, Box7 N.

In Desktop version of TurboTax, Federal Taxes > Deductions & Credits > I'll Choose What to Work On > Retirement and Investments > Traditional and Roth IRA Contributions, should I input $5500 contribution to Roth IRA and conversion $5583 to traditional IRA, as well as $5583 contribution to traditional IRA and recharacterization to Roth IRA? Or input only once? Either way, the system will tell me that there’s $83 excess contribution to Roth that I should withdraw and pay the penalty for the gain. Does that mean I should withdraw $83 to my pocket, or set aside $83 back to traditional IRA? How to pay the penalty on the gain of that $83 part?

Another problem is when I input these 1099-R forms at Federal Taxes > Wages & Income > I'll Choose What to Work On > Retirement Plans and Social Security > IRA, 401(k), Pension Plan Withdrawals (1099-R), the federal refund amount dropped significantly. I think that’s all about after-tax money and shouldn’t have much influence on refund amount. Did I do anything wrong? 

[dmertz]

"should I input $5500 contribution to Roth IRA and conversion $5583 to traditional IRA"

No, you recharacterized only $5,500 (resulting in $5,583 being transferred).  Indicate that you contributed $5,500 to a Roth IRA, then "switched or recharacterized" $5,500 to a traditional IRA.  Enter no other traditional or Roth IRA contributions under Deductions & Credits.

Enter both Forms 1099-R as received.  For the code 2 Form 1099-R, indicate that you converted the entire $5,583 to Roth.

There is no penalty (unless you are ineligible to make a $5,500 traditional IRA contribution).

[xudan301]

Thanks dmertz for helping. The thing is the transaction history of my Vanguard account shows the amount of recharacterization from Roth to Traditional is $5583. Would it be a problem if I only report $5500 to IRS for this transaction?

[dmertz]

You recharacterized only $5,500.  The amount transferred was $5,583.  The transaction history is reporting the amount transferred, not the amount recharacterized.  On the explanation statement that must be included with your tax return you will indicate that you recharacterized $5,500 and in addition to the $5,500 being transferred, an associated $83 of earnings were transferred.

[xudan301]

Dmertz, that makes sense and it worked. Thank you so much!

Could you be kind enough to help on another issue I have? The link is here:
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3530550-how-do-i-report-non-deductible-ira-contribution?jump_to=co...>

[Anonymous]

I have a similar situation where I had contributed $1000 to my Roth IRA in 2018. Since I found out that I was ineligible because of income limits, I recharacterized to a traditional IRA in 2019. I transferred $993 because there was a loss of $7. When I enter these details in TurboTax, in my form 5329, it shows Excess contributions for 2018 as the $7. But this was a loss in the Roth IRA, not a contribution.

What should I enter as the actual amount transferred? Should it be $1000, or $993 and accept that $7 was an Excess contribution for 2018?

Thank you!

[dmertz]

abhinandkr, you recharacterized $1,000, not $993.  $993 was the adjusted amount *transferred*, not the amount recharacterized.  Enter $1,000 as the amount recharacterized.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the answer, @dmertz. That is correct, but whatever I answer to the question:

*How much of the $1000 that you contributed to your Roth IRA did you switch, or "recharacterize," to your Traditional IRA.*

will appear under the following note:

*The Amount Transferred (Recharacterization plus earnings or losses):*


So, should I enter $993 or $1000?


<My apologies for going into such specifics.>

[dmertz]

Enter $1,000 as the amount recharacterized.  In your explanation statement indicate that as a result of recharacterizing $1,000, a loss-adjusted amount of $993 was transferred to the traditional IRA.

[Anonymous]

Thank you very much, @dmertz !

[ericrongo]

This is great info, thanks for sharing.

Does the conversion itself also need to be part of the attached statement?

What about a previous rollover?  I moved my Roth IRA to a different custodian before I realized I had to recharacterize :(

[dmertz]

The explanation statement is only to explain the recharacterization.  Roth conversions are self-explanatory, reported on Form 8606 Part II.