Roth Conversions

Dear Members,

My wife withdrew $12,900 from her traditional IRA in March, 2018 and immediately deposited all in her Roth IRA.
She requested $6,400 as a 2017 Roth contribution and $6,500 as a 2018 Roth contribution.
She received a correct form 5398 on the 2018 contribution, but nothing for 2017.
The 2018 1099-R listed the $12,900 withdrawal.

A. Must $6,400 be returned to the Traditional IRA (by the 10/15/2019 due date for the extended 2018 1040; or
B. Can she insist on a 2017 form 5398 showing the $6,400 contribution?

Thanks very much,



If she withdrew 12,000, she intended to convert that much to Roth. But the 5498 received suggests that the custodian may have treated at least some of this as a 2018 regular Roth contribution. If so, that will create problems. First, check the 5498 she has and tell us if the deposit is coded as a conversion or a regular contribution. Then, have her check to see if she received a 2017 5498 in May, 2018 and advise the amount and type of contribution shown on that one. We cannot work on clearing this up until it is clear what happened as stated on Forms 5498. This could spin off any number of problems depending on what actually happened.

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