Roth Conversion not reported on form 8606 in 2015
I have a question about not reporting a Roth CONVERSION on my 2015 tax return. The 1099-R was correct and showed a gross distribution in 2015. The good news that all the taxes were paid correctly, so I DO NOT owe the Fed any money. The problem was I forgot to download form 5498 which shows the IRA Roth Conversions for 2015, to bad it’s not on the 1099-R form. So the 8606 form that I filed with the Fed in 2015 does not show any Roth Conversion for 2015. I found the error when I was doing my 2016 taxes.
Do I have to File an Amended 2015 Tax return?
Do I have to just send them a new 8606 form showing the Roth Conversion for 2015, the supporting 5498 for 2015 that shows the conversion amount, and a letter to explain the error on my 2015 tax return? I did not receive any letters from the Fed last year about this error.
Do I do nothing? They have the correct amount in taxes and I did not re-characterize the 2015 Roth.
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Mon, 2017-03-13 16:02
Just to avoid possible future unintended consequences I would file the 8606 with a 1040X explaining the reason for amending the return is to report the conversion that occurred rather than just a taxable distribution. I assume your line 15 of the original return correctly showed the taxable income. There probably would not be any consequences if you don’t file the 8606, but best not to take that chance.