Recharacterization on moved acccount
I made an error and am not sure how to address it. I need to recharacterize a portion of my IRA, as a portion of my contributions were not eligible as a regular IRA. I already reflected the split in my 2012 tax return.
I had planned to complete the action earlier in the year but a family crisis interfered. In the meantime I completed the move to a new investment service, forgetting about the recharacterization, so all of the funds that were previously in the other IRA account are now held in a different institution.
My question is whether I can still recharacterize, and if so how I do so. I understand how to make the calculations for a particular account, as I had started to figure it out earlier in the year. I am wondering if I can just use the same process for each account in turn, and also how I handle submitting the application. Thank you.
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Tue, 2013-09-17 17:21
Are you sure you have to recharacterize? A TIRA contribution may be deductible or not deductible. but you may be recharacterizing because you exceeded the dollar limit including Roth contributions. With respect to the transfer, was your original contribution in an account by itself when you transferred, or was it part of a larger IRA? If transferred to the new firm along with any earnings, you can usually provide the contribution info and the new firm will recharacterize the contribution. Sometimes the new firm will ask for details from you, but the old firm will not be directly involved. A little more detail would help make the response more specific.