How do I re-characterize a Roth IRA contribution as a traditional IRA contribution in TurboTax?
Re-characterizing your contribution means re-classifying the contribution as if it were a traditional IRA instead of a Roth. This must be done before the due date of your return. First, contact your plan administrator and follow their guidance to make your re-characterization.
To re-characterize your Roth contribution in TurboTax, follow these steps:
Open or continue your return.
Navigate to IRA contributions.
TurboTax Online and Mobile: Go to IRA contributions,under Deductions & credits in the Federal section , choose Retirement and Investments then select Start next Traditional and Roth IRA Contributions.
TurboTax Desktop: Search for IRA contributions and select the Jump to link.
Select Roth IRA and Continue.
Answer Yes on the screen, Did you make a Roth IRA contribution for 2025?
Answer No on the screen, Was the contribution a repayment of money you previously took out of a retirement plan?
On the next screen, enter your Roth contribution amount and Continue.
Answer Yes on the screen, Did you recharacterize any of the Roth IRA contributions for 2025 over to a traditional IRA contribution?
On the next screen, How much of your contribution to this Roth IRA did you switch, or "recharacterize", to your traditional IRA?, enter the excess contribution amount (don't include earnings or losses) and Continue.
On the screen, Roth IRA Explanation Statement, enter the original amount plus the amount of earnings or loss that were re-characterized.
Tip: After you re-characterize, you can make this contribution nondeductible (depending on your income limit and work retirement plan) by making a backdoor Roth IRA conversion.
