Backdoor Roth conversion not working as described in article

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
April 4, 2023
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Hi, I am trying to enter a backdoor conversion from traditional IRA to Roth IRA for 2022. I found an article https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/retirement-benefits/enter-backdoor-roth-ira-conversion/L7gGPjKVY_US_en_US

This article says to enter the amount I withdrew as a Traditional IRA contribution on the Tell Us How Much You Contributed screen (Step 1, item 8), then enter the 1099-R for the distribution from the traditional IRA (Step 2). When I do this, TT says that I have an excess IRA contribution. If I try to enter it as a Roth contribution (not in the article), I get an excess Roth contribution error. When I check this on the forms, 1040 line 4B says that I have some odd calculated amount for the taxable amount of the IRA distribution. The article also describes screens that I do not see.

The only way I could get this to look reasonably correct is to enter zero for the traditional IRA contribution, zero for the Roth contribution, and enter the converted amount on the screens after the 1099-R data is entered. Then I don't get the errors regarding excess contributions and the taxable amount on line 4B looks correct. I think the article is confusing and perhaps incorrect.

I would like to know if I am doing this correctly and if the instructions in the article are correct. If not, what is the correct procedure to follow?

TurboTax Home & Biz Windows

jman42Author

More information. I am not sure if a "backdoor" conversion is what I need, since I'm not trying to contribute more than allowed to a Roth by contributing first to a traditional and then converting it. There does not seem to be an article explaining this. The "What are traditional IRA to Roth conversions" article https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/retirement-benefits/traditional-ira-roth-ira-conversions/L5yYXaoK4_US_en_US doesn't go into enough detail here. I would like to see how this can be entered on Form 8606, as the conversion I entered is not showing up there.

fanfare

Employee

For a true backdoor Roth contribution, you must:

start with a zero balance in your traditional IRA before beginning this adventure
end with a zero balance in your Traditional IRA by converting it all to Roth

@jman42

jman42Author

Hi, thanks for the answer. After more reflection, I think that a backdoor Roth conversion is not what I need, as I am doing a conversion from an existing traditional IRA to a Roth. I just wish there had been a help article posted that explained this difference better.