Filed return without claiming ’11 Roth. Can I contribute?
I filed my 2011 tax return and didn’t claim any 2011 contributions for my Roth IRA. I would now like to contribute for 2011 before the tax deadline. I’ve searched online and read that Roth contributions aren’t claimed on the tax return, and therefore, a contribution can still be made, as long as the IRA custodian is aware that the contribution is for 2011. However, the CPAs I work with have informed me that I cannot make a 2011 Roth contribution because my taxes are already filed without claiming the contribution.
Can I contribute…and if so, is there a tax reference that I can share with my CPAs to back it up?
Thanks!
ps – I imagine this question has been asked and I’m searching the discussion board, but I haven’t found anything specific yet. Thanks in advance for your help!
Kyle
Permalink Submitted by Alan Spross on Fri, 2012-04-13 20:22
These are CPAs??
You can always make a contribution up to the due date (4/17 this year) for the tax return. Filing the tax return has no relation to being able to make the contribution, except that if the tax return is incorrect it must be amended.
But a regular Roth contribution is NOT reported on the tax return UNLESS your AGI is low enough to qualify for the Savers Credit (Form 8880). Therefore, assuming that your AGI is too high for the Savers Credit, making the contribution would not change the filed return or require any amended return, as a traditional IRA contribution would require.
NOTE: Professional tax software tracks your Roth contributions to capture the information in the event you need to report a distribution or for Savers Credit tracking. These CPAs might really be telling you that they don’t want to enter your Roth contribution into their software at this point in the filing season even though it will have no effect whatsoever on the return you already filed. If so, they are not looking out for your interests, or you might have misunderstood what they were saying.
So make that contribution if you want to, specify it applies for 2011, and tell the CPAs about it next year when you update your info with them.
Permalink Submitted by Kyle Bigler on Fri, 2012-04-13 20:41
Perfect! Thank you so much. This is the answer I was hoping for (and was assuming to be the case). I reviewed my tax return and couldn’t find anywhere to record the Roth contribution anyway, so I wasn’t sure why they were telling me no. I had already contacted my custodian and they had indicated that I could still make a contribution. I checked the IRS website, but couldn’t find anything specific to this situation…just the statement on Pub 590 that, “You can make contributions to a Roth IRA for a year at any time during the year or by the due date of your return for that year (not including extensions)”, but I wasn’t sure if this was only applicable IF the contribution was recorded on the return.
Thank you for clearing this up. I will inform my CPA firm (I imagine they will ask for some official reference, so I’ll keep searching for something).
Much appreciated!
Permalink Submitted by Alan Spross on Fri, 2012-04-13 21:00
While you already have the Pub 590 citation, the official tax code section that deals with this is 219(f)(3) copied below:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
219(f)(3) Time when contributions deemed made
For purposes of this section, a taxpayer shall be deemed to
have made a contribution to an individual retirement plan on the
last day of the preceding taxable year if the contribution is
made on account of such taxable year and is made not later than
the time prescribed by law for filing the return for such taxable
year (not including extensions thereof).
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Note that there is no reference to a return filing requirement.
Permalink Submitted by martin clark on Tue, 2012-07-03 06:28
Hello
Happily, this doesn’t happen often. But if it does, what should you do? It may depend on what the change is, how big it is, and whether you feel it was authorized. But it might surprise you to know that the IRS has considered the impact such a change can have on your tax filing.if you want to field return without claiming so for more info visit here…………………………….. 💡
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