topic Re: IRA Recharacterization Explanation Form in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

IRA Recharacterization Explanation Form

mjmahoney223 — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 22:25:47 GMT

Hi, I'm filing taxes for my wife and I in TurboTax. She contributed to a Roth IRA last year (2025) and our income exceeded the limits, so she is doing a recharacterization of that contribution.

TurboTax has generated the "Recharacterization Explanation" form on our return but the "Amount Recharacterized" on that form is blank, and I cannot figure out where I have done wrong. These are the steps I've done:

1. On "Select the kinds of IRAs owned or contributed to for 2025.", I've selected Traditional and Roth for myself and Roth for my wife.
2. Completed all the questions that start with "MY traditional IRAs" and "MY traditional Roth IRAs" (I don't believe my IRAs are relevant to the issue)

3. Reached the screen titled "WIFE's Roth IRAs" and answered questions as follows:

Was the contribution a repayment of money [wife] previously took out of a retirement plan?: No
Was [wife] a member of the military reserves, called to active duty between September 12, 2001 and December 31, 2025, and took money out of his/her retirement plan? No
Enter [wife's] regular Roth IRA contributions: $7000
How much of [wife's] contribution to this Roth IRA did [wife] switch, or "recharacterize", to your traditional IRA? $7000
Enter your recharacterization information: 01/01/2025, 03/15/2026, Income Limits, $7100
Did [wife] open any Roth IRAs in 2024 or any previous year? Yes
Do you want to track [wife's] Roth IRA basis? No
Did [wife] contribute more to a Roth IRA than was allowed in 2024 or any previous year? No

Those are all the questions I get. The generated 8606 looks good I think, it has $7000 on lines 1, 3, and 14 and 0 on line 2. But the Recharacterization Explanation form looks like this:

Date of the Original Contribution: 01/01/2025
Date of the Recharacterization: 03/15/2026
The Amount Recharacterized: $
The Amount Transferred (Recharacterization plus earnings or losses): $7100.
Reason for the Recharacterization: Income Limits

Why is the Amount Recharacterized blank? I thought maybe it was pulling from the 1099-R (which I don't have yet) so I put in a sample 1099-R in income but still it is blank. Any idea what I'm doing wrong? Thank you!

Edit: The instructions here https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/retirement-income/recharacterize-roth-ira-contribution-traditional/L6VoYVkaP_US_en_US indicate I should get a screen for "Roth IRA Explanation Statement". I never saw that?

Re: IRA Recharacterization Explanation Form

ReneV4 — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 18:34:00 GMT

TurboTax requires two different numbers when you're performing a recharacterization, the original contribution amount and the total transfer amount. If the amount recharacterized is blank, that means the data did not map correctly.

To resolve the blank line on your Form 8606, do the following:

First, delete the IRA contribution entry by going to the Deductions & Credits, Retirement and Investments.

Note: Be sure to also delete the sample 1099-R(s) you entered by going to Income, Retirement Plans and Social Security and selecting the trash can icon to the right of your 1099-R.

Next, re-enter the contributions:

Enter the Roth IRA contribution first
Answer "Yes" to "Did you recharacterize...over to a traditional IRA contribution?"
Enter the $7,000 in the, "How much of your contribution to this Roth did you switch...?"
In the next screen is where you are asked about the origination date, recharcterization date, reason and Amount transferred, including earnings ($7,100)
Continue answering the interview questions related to your prior year Roth contributions and conversions

Next step, enter the conversion (Backdoor step) via the Form 1099-R in the Income section by doing the following:

Go to Income on the left panel within your TurboTax account
Click on the +Add more income box
Scroll down to Retirement Plans and Social Security and click the down arrow to expand
Click Start to the right of IRA, 401(k), Pension Plan Withdrawals (1099-R)
Click on +Add a 1099-R, select the Enter a different way box, then Type it in myself

Re: IRA Recharacterization Explanation Form

mjmahoney223 — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 19:30:40 GMT

Thanks for the reply! I've tried deleting all IRA contributions and the 1099-R to start with a clean slate. Then I entered my wife's IRA contribution and the 1099-R info and checked the final return again but still have the same issue.

To clarify, the 8606 looks good (as far as i know). The issue is on the "Recharacterization Explanation" form which looks like this right now:

It seems like "The Amount Recharacterized" should pull from my answer to "How much of [Wife's] contribution to this Roth IRA did [Wife] switch, or "recharacterize", to your traditional IRA?" which I put $7000. The rest of the info in this form comes from my answers to the next question "Enter your recharacterization information". Is it possible this is just a bug? Or am I doing something wrong?

Re: IRA Recharacterization Explanation Form

mjmahoney223 — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 13:02:43 GMT

Hi @ReneV4 do you have any suggestion on this?

Re: IRA Recharacterization Explanation Form

ReneV4 — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 20:42:31 GMT

Yes. I have suggestions to resolve this. By adjusting the two entries below, you will tell TurboTax to recognize a 2026 event on your 2025 return:

1. When inputting your substitute 1099-R, ensure you are using code R in Box 7, which means a recharacterized contribution

2. When asked, "What year is on your 1099-R?", ensure you select 2026, not 2025.

Since your Form 8606 appeared to be correct, we just needed to tell TurboTax a little more information so that it would place the recharacterized amount in your 2025 return instead of waiting until 2026.

Here is a screenshot: