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back door roth contribution

JT2
Level 2

can anyone share specific input instructions for entering a distribution on a 1099-R that was a back door roth contribution?

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19 Comments 19
George4Tacks
Level 15
itonewbie
Level 15

Many who raised similar questions in the past had assumed backdoor conversion is a tax-free transaction.  It is not.

Even if the taxpayer had only one brand new IRA account, made nondeductible contribution, and immediately converted the IRA to ROTH with no earnings or loss, there is no taxable income from the conversion not because it's not taxable but only because there is no taxable income to recognize.

And even if the taxpayer is converting an amount below the basis in the IRA, the taxpayer still cannot treat the conversion as coming only from the basis.

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Still an AllStar
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PhoebeRoberts
Level 11
Level 11

Moved to a new thread. Please create a new question, rather than piggybacking on old posts.

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sjrcpa
Level 15

@PhoebeRoberts - Champs have a super power of being able to move posts?


Ex-AllStar
PhoebeRoberts
Level 11
Level 11

@sjrcpa Apparently?! I was like, "do I just scold this person and answer? Can I flag it for someone else to move? Oh, hey, it says *I* can move it! Let's try!" That's kind of nifty, being able to pull a specific comment out and move it to its own thread. It looked like I could merge threads, too.

Ruth1
Level 4

Good Grief srjrcpa, I didn't kill anyone. Just made a mistake. 

Phoebe answered my question and told me nicely you cant hop on posts.

 

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PhoebeRoberts
Level 11
Level 11

Susan didn't yell at you. I was snarky about you to her. 🙂

Ruth1
Level 4

I suggest private messenger then.  

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sjrcpa
Level 15
Good grief Ruth. Chill.

Ex-AllStar
qbteachmt
Level 15

"I suggest private messenger then."

But now we all know she can move topics 🙂

I don't think there is private messaging here, anyway.

@Ruth1 

We are Volunteers and this is a community of peer users. This is where and how we communicate.

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Ruth1
Level 4

Asked to not being assaulted by volunteers is not a large request. Not only do we learn things from you, you can learn a few things about professionalism from us. 

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qbteachmt
Level 15

An explanation of who was responding to whom, was already given. Taking something personally that wasn't even directed to you, seems a bit over-the-top. It's a text-based forum, and these are open discussions. It's going to require a bit of tolerance on your part, if you intend to read these topics, follow the subject matter to helpful conclusions, and to participate. As for "professionalism" it might be helpful to know that Intuit has not once changed the forums to be more professional. Instead, they become more and more Social Networking. Just look at your badges and points. Those are not going to be exchangeable for anything of value.

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Ruth1
Level 4

I completely understood who was responding to whom. I just don't think the object of the snarky comments needs to be included in the thread. If people choose to be unkind they should volunteer elsewhere. 

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Hello

Please help me clarify this article

This article is still confusing me. I saw some investors stated that for high income earners cannot contribute to Roth (limit AGI )and instead they contribute to traditional IRA and convert to ROTH IRA immediately without gain or loss. It is called backdoor ROTH IRA 

Sound like, if they open traditional IRA and convert to ROTH immediately and no remaining or other traditional IRA left, then it is tax free 

If there is other traditional IRA, it is free only fraction of it 

Example : taxpayer has 95k traditionally in the account and 5K contribute to traditional IRA which $5k convert to ROTH IRA 

Calculation 

5k of total (95k+5k)=5%

then tax free is only 5% of 5k= about $500 and non tax free $4500 (I dont have exactly calculation)

I input data in professional proseries and see tax and I see some other investors stated this calculation. I hav not read publication yet. Please share your experienced . I thank you

qbteachmt
Level 15

"Sound like, if they open traditional IRA and convert to ROTH immediately and no remaining or other traditional IRA left, then it is tax free

If there is other traditional IRA, it is free only fraction of it"

Yes, that's it.

"Example : taxpayer has 95k traditionally in the account and 5K contribute to traditional IRA which $5k convert to ROTH IRA

Calculation

5k of total (95k+5k)=5%

then tax free is only 5% of 5k= about $500 and non tax free $4500 (I dont have exactly calculation)"

Where people go wrong, is thinking it's the same money, and it's not. It's all Values. You didn't literally pull out the same money.

Assuming all the existing Traditional IRA money is pre-tax, deferred earnings, and there is no Basis across these accounts.

$100k value includes new $5k added post tax, then immediately (to avoid any earnings)...

$5k conversion

$250 is tax free, because it is the pro rata portion that was put in post-tax (it's basis) and the $4,750 is taxable.

But, if I had $45k basis in a Traditional IRA and $50k pre-tax (such as in a retirement account through work) and then I put $5k into a new Trad IRA account post-tax...

Then I "backdoor convert" $5k by using only that new account

That is $100k total and $50k basis = half of the conversion is not taxable and half will be, even though it was all of that new account.

That's where people get it wrong.

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"Level Up" is a gaming function, not a real life function.

One more help, I really appreciate this. I think I was right to work on this case but want to listen your experienced share 

. Factors 

Tp rollover 100k from retirement plan 403c : half to traiditonal IRA and half to ROTH 

Now tp  have traditional IRA 50k.(from rollover) . 50K from traditional IRA  is nontaxable and 50k from new roth IRA is taxable  .He opened new traditional IRA and contribute $5000 himself and $5000 his spouse : non contribution deduction . They hav high income and AGI high

He converts (backdoor roth  from new account of traditional IRA ) $5000 to his roth IRA and his spouse $5000 from new traditional IRA  convert to his spouse roth IRA 

On tp: 5000+50000=55000. His tax free of $5000 conversion is (5000/55000)*5000=$454 and taxable 4545

On spouse 5000 is tax free because spouse has no traditional IRA

Am I correct?

I really appreciate if you share experience:)

 

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qbteachmt
Level 15

First, I learned it helps not treat this like a story line. Instead, treat it like a staircase. One thing at a time.

"Tp rollover 100k from retirement plan 403c"

Did you really mean 403(c)? That's not a retirement plan account; that's an Annuity, isn't it? Perhaps you meant 403(b).

"half to traiditonal IRA and half to ROTH"

The IRS has tables for what type of account is qualified to rollover to what other types, time frame minimums, taxable events, and between various types of accounts.

"Now tp have traditional IRA 50k.(from rollover) . 50K from traditional IRA is nontaxable"

Let's restate it for what happened: Transfer into Traditional isn't a taxable event. You should still know if the money that was transferred in came from a post-tax (basis) or pre-tax amount or some of each.

"and 50k from new roth IRA is taxable ."

The amount that went into the Roth would be a conversion, if it came out of an account that has only pre-tax contributions and earnings. Or, compute pro rata against basis.

If you confirm what happened is from a tax deferred account with only pre-tax contributions, then the Rollover amount that was converted by putting it into a Roth is the taxable event. Now it will grow tax free.

But, for instance, a Roth 401(k) or Roth 403(b) to a Roth IRA, means it was already post-tax, so that is more like a "traded straight across" event, and not a conversion.

"He opened new traditional IRA and contribute $5000 himself and $5000 his spouse"

That means a separate account for the spouse. Each account has one owner.

": non contribution deduction . They hav high income and AGI high"

Okay, so No Tax Benefit for contributing these funds. That makes them Basis = post-tax, or treated as already taxed before going into the accounts.

"He converts (backdoor roth from new account of traditional IRA ) $5000 to his roth IRA and his spouse $5000 from new traditional IRA convert to his spouse roth IRA"

But we also see there is another $50k in Traditional, so if that is an account that has earnings and/or deducted contributions and/or employer contributed funds (anything either never taxes, not yet taxes, or put in pre-tax), it is considered part of the computation.

There also is a provision to split "rollover conversion" per the IRS:

"Can I roll over my after-tax contributions to a Roth IRA and the earnings on my after-tax contributions to a traditional IRA?

Yes.  Earnings associated with after-tax contributions are pretax amounts in your account.  Thus, after-tax contributions can be rolled over to a Roth IRA without also including earnings.  Under Notice 2014-54, you may roll over pretax amounts in a distribution to a traditional IRA and, in that case, the amounts will not be included in income until distributed from the IRA."

For example: A Roth 401(k) from my employer allows me to put in post-tax; but the employer match is pre-tax and goes into the 401(k) (not Roth), and perhaps they allow me to also put into the 401(k) once I exceed some limit on the Roth 401(k). That means I have Roth 401(k) that rolls to Roth IRA (straight across trade), some amount in 401(k) that goes to Trad IRA (never taxes and pre-tax) and some amount in the 401(k) (my post-tax basis amount) qualifies to go to the Roth IRA and all earnings go to the Trad IRA, because I just left that job.

"On tp: 5000+50000=55000. His tax free of $5000 conversion is (5000/55000)*5000=$454 and taxable 4545

On spouse 5000 is tax free because spouse has no traditional IRA

Am I correct?"

On spouse, yes. The taxpayer's situation depends on the source or origin of that $100k. You forgot about that Total. That's why I describe it as a staircase.

Let's assume everything falls into the "correct" category, no other basis, etc.

$100k from tax sheltered (deferred) and the transfer split the destination accounts, so All is distributed and half is Converted to Roth. That makes it half Taxable.

Then, he put $5k into Trad, making this $55k in Trad, and converts this $5k amount, so 9% taxable.

And don't forget: from now on until complete distribution, there is the Remaining component to track.

First year:

I put $50 nondeductible into the tax deferred account, and let's pretend the earnings double it. for the next year, I have $100 in Trad, half is my basis. I convert $80 (50/100 = half is Basis), so $40 is taxed on conversion (the "never taxed" share) and $40 is from basis. Now that entire $80 will grow in Roth tax free.

Meanwhile, $20 in Trad remains. Half ($10) still is my basis. That carries forward.

Now, the next year, it grows to $60. I decide to convert $50. That is 10/60 = about 16% basis, so about 84% taxable. That makes sense, because a majority is new earnings. So, $42 taxable and $8 is my basis and not taxable.

Now the account has $10 in it and $2 is my basis, so 20%.

Every year an account (or set of similar accounts owned by the same person) with Basis is still around, the basis is recomputed because of the prior activity that was pro rata.

 

It's a lot to review over text-based discussion. You might want to study investment materials to learn more.

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"Level Up" is a gaming function, not a real life function.

I understand now and really appreciate your knowledge .

Yes I meant 403b (retirement plan)

That is why I love intuit and willing to pay high cost for Intuit service 🙂 

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qbteachmt
Level 15

"I love intuit and willing to pay high cost for Intuit service"

But this is a community forum of peer users. Unless you see an Intuit badged name, this is other working people like you, helping each other.

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"Level Up" is a gaming function, not a real life function.
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