Help me understand the entry on 1099-R Line B4

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As a sanity check, I compare similar tax events between my in-progress 2022 return to previous years' returns. It makes me crazy when I find differences I can't explain. In 2022, spouse (MFJ) did an end-of-service full distribution of a pre-tax 401(k) to a rollover IRA. I compared this to similar end-of-service rollover done in the past.

All was as expected. The 1099-Rs were similar, both had code G in box 7. All showed $0 taxable amount. The one difference noted was line B4 that says, "Amount of this distribution that may be rolled or converted to a Roth IRA". This year, TurboTax put an entry there of the full amount of the distribution. In previous years, this was left blank. The guidance says this line "is the amount that could potentially be converted to a Roth IRA and is computed without taking into account the modified adjusted gross income limitation on Roth IRA conversions".

OK, this seems to be an informational entry with no tax impact. If you are otherwise rolling over to an IRA, wouldn't it all be "eligible" for conversion to Roth regardless of income limitations? Why was the entry blank previously? As a side note which may be part of the explanation is that our income this year is low enough to allow a Roth contribution, but the entry on B4 is said to be without regard to income anyway.

[MarilynG1]

You are correct that the 1099-R, Line B4 entry is informational and has no tax impact in your case.

Since there were some tweaks to retirement plans for 2022, it could be that the Payor has programmed additional info to be displayed on their 1099-R's.

Here's some info on the Retirement Law Changes. 

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Thanks. This was not a field on the 1099-R as received from the payor. This is a field that TurboTax populates on the "Additional Distribution Information" addendum to 1099-R. There is no data source for it that I can tell other than it matches the gross distribution.

[KrisD15]

I do not have a solid answer, but I would GUESS that the software developers put that in the software IN CASE they needed to make an update. 

Changes to retirement rules were anticipated with SECURE 2.0, so maybe this gives them easy entry to update. 

As of this date, there does not seem to be any income restrictions for Roth conversion. 

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That's a good guess, but this section of TurboTax has not changed at least in the last five years.

What I'm seeking to figure out is, given very similar 1099-R forms with the same type of distribution, why TurboTax has not put a value in the field before, but now is. What are the conditions under which an entry is made in this field?

[AmyC]

You are sharp! The programmers choose how data is entered based on all the moving parts. The programmers work year round as this is a massive program. 

@KrisD15 is right about changes this year and the ROTH conversion. The programmers had to be ready for anything. It is better to have the program ready and fill a space without need than to be frantically trying to create something.

As you said, it has no effect on your return so all is well. Turbo Tax is working year round to make sure your return is accurate.

Just for kicks:

IRS retirement plans

[Critter-3]

Agree ... those worksheets include a lot of useful and useless information and are not included in the actual tax return ... mostly this is informational data only so you can simply ignore it.  Kudos for actually reading thru 100+ pages of  "fluff" filler put there to make the TT fee seem worthwhile.