What counts as a "Prior Year Roth IRA Contribution"?

[thellkamp]

I'm retired and withdrew funds from my Roth IRA. I'm at the point, in TurboTax where it asks me to sum up my "Prior Year Roth IRA Contributions" and am wondering what exactly that means. 

I have a Roth 401k account with my company and have transferred money from that account to another Roth IRA account with Vanguard. There is still money left in that account that has not been transferred.

When totaling the contributions, do I add all the money that was contributed over the years to both accounts? Or, do I just use the total money contributed to the account where I did the withdrawal?

[DanaB27]

For this question, you will add up all contributions (regular Roth IRA contributions, including rollovers from Roth 401 (k)) minus any distributions from prior years to your Roth IRA.

[Edited 01/31/2023 | 2:23 pm PST]

@thellkamp 

[thellkamp]

So, essentially, I should only be worried about the account where the money was withdrawn. If I decide, in the future to withdraw money from the Roth 401k, will the answer to the original question, What counts as a "Prior Year Roth IRA Contributions"?, would I add up all the contributions I made to only the Roth 401k? Even though I have transferred some of them to the Vanguard Roth IRA?

[JulieS]

For the purpose of this question, you only consider the account from which the distribution was made. 

As @DanaB27 says, you add up all direct contributions (minus any distributions from prior years) to your Roth IRA. Keep in mind money transferred out the account is a distribution, even if it was rolled over. 

[thellkamp · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the help, but I am still a little confused. Let me lay out an example that mirrors my situation.

I have contributed to a total of $58,000 To my Roth IRA. I have contributed a total of $120,000 to my Roth 401k.

Over the years I have rolled over $75,000 from my Roth 401k to my Roth IRA. Last year, as I 66 and retired, I withdrew, for the first time, $32,000 from my Roth IRA. 

So, what is the answer to the question What counts as a "Prior Year Roth IRA Contributions"?

Is it $58,000 or is it $58,000 + $75,000 = $133,000?

And, when I take money out of my Roth 401k, this year, is the answer for next year $120,000 - $75,000 = $45,000 or $120,000?

[DanaB27 · Accepted solution]

For this example, you would enter $133,000 as Roth contributions. For your information, if you had your Roth IRA for 5 years then this should be a Qualified Distribution (since you are over 59 1/2) and this question won't matter. This information only matters if are taking a Non-Qualified Distribution.

Yes, you would still have contributions of $45,000 left in the Roth 401(k).

[thellkamp]

The original Roth was started in 1998 ad has grown significantly. My plan is to only tap the Roth when the tax burden becomes too high on my IRA withdrawal amounts. Thanks for everything.