Can I convert a Post Tax Traditional IRA contribution to a Backdoor Roth IRA if it was Tax Deductible?
Hey everyone, I'm really confused about my IRA situation and hoping you tax wizards can help me out. I made a $6,500 contribution to my Traditional IRA back in January for the 2024 tax year, and I initially claimed it as tax deductible on my return that I filed in March. Now I'm learning about Backdoor Roth IRAs and wondering if I messed up. My income increased significantly in the middle of the year (got a promotion that pushed me over $85,000), and I've been reading that I might benefit from doing a Backdoor Roth IRA conversion instead. The problem is I already took the tax deduction for the Traditional IRA contribution. Can I still convert this to a Roth IRA? Would I need to file an amended return to remove the deduction? Or am I completely missing something about how this works? I really don't want to mess this up and get hit with penalties. Has anyone done something similar or know what steps I should take? Thanks in advance for any guidance!
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Debra Bai
You can definitely still convert your Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, but there are tax implications you need to understand. When you convert a Traditional IRA that you've already taken a tax deduction for, you'll need to pay income tax on that converted amount. Essentially, you're "undoing" the tax deduction you received. The amount you convert will be added to your taxable income for the year in which you do the conversion. You don't need to amend your previous tax return since taking the deduction was legitimate at the time. Instead, when you do the conversion, your IRA custodian will send you a 1099-R form for the year of the conversion, and you'll report this on your taxes for that year. Keep in mind that the ideal Backdoor Roth scenario typically involves making a non-deductible Traditional IRA contribution and then converting it to avoid the tax hit during conversion. But your situation is still workable - just be prepared for the tax bill on the conversion.
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Gabriel Freeman
•Thanks for the explanation! So if I understand correctly, if OP converts now, they'll pay taxes on the $6,500 for 2025's taxes (not 2024)? And does the growth get taxed too if there's been any investment growth in the Traditional IRA before conversion?
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Debra Bai
•Yes, if they convert now, they'll pay taxes on that amount when they file their 2025 taxes next year. They don't need to amend their 2024 return. Any growth that occurred in the Traditional IRA before the conversion will also be taxed when converted. So if that $6,500 has grown to $6,800, they'll pay taxes on the full $6,800. This is why some people prefer to convert quickly after making contributions, to minimize the taxable growth.
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Laura Lopez
I was in a similar situation last year and found using https://taxr.ai super helpful for understanding the tax implications of Roth conversions. Their system analyzed my IRA contributions and helped me figure out exactly what I'd owe in taxes if I did the conversion. They even pointed out that I had some basis in non-deductible contributions from a previous year that I'd completely forgotten about, which reduced my tax bill!
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Victoria Brown
•Does it actually check your previous tax returns to find non-deductible contributions? I've been making non-deductible IRA contributions for years and tracking them on Form 8606, but I'm worried I might have missed documenting some properly.
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Samuel Robinson
•I'm skeptical about these tax tools. How does it handle the pro-rata rule? That's the most confusing part of backdoor Roth conversions for me, especially if you have existing pre-tax money in IRAs.
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Laura Lopez
•Yes, it actually processes your previous returns to identify non-deductible contributions. It extracts the information from your Form 8606 history, which is super helpful if you've been filing them consistently. Even if you missed documenting some, their review process can help identify discrepancies. The system specifically handles the pro-rata rule calculations, which was my biggest confusion too. It looks at all your IRA accounts to determine the taxable portion of any conversion based on the ratio of pre-tax to after-tax money across all your IRAs. It saved me from making a costly mistake with my conversion timing.
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Victoria Brown
Just wanted to follow up - I tried https://taxr.ai after asking about it here, and it was exactly what I needed! The system analyzed my last 5 years of tax returns and found two non-deductible contributions I had made that weren't properly documented on Form 8606. It showed me precisely how the pro-rata rule would apply to my situation with my existing Traditional IRA balances. The tool generated a detailed report showing how much tax I would owe for different conversion amounts and timing scenarios. I ended up converting just a portion this year based on their analysis to manage my tax liability better. Honestly wish I had known about this before - would have saved me hours of confusion and probably some tax overpayment!
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Camila Castillo
If you're planning to do the conversion and are worried about understanding the tax implications correctly, you might want to talk directly with someone at the IRS. I tried calling them for weeks about my own Roth conversion questions and it was impossible to get through... until I used https://claimyr.com. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c They got me connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes when I had been trying for days on my own. The agent walked me through exactly how to handle my Traditional-to-Roth conversion on my tax forms and confirmed I was calculating the taxable portion correctly. Totally worth it for the peace of mind.
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Brianna Muhammad
•How does this actually work? I've spent hours on hold with the IRS before just to get disconnected. Does this service just keep calling for you or something?
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Samuel Robinson
•This sounds too good to be true. The IRS wait times are legendary. There's no way this service can magically get you through when millions of other callers can't. I'm guessing they just auto-dial and get lucky sometimes?
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Camila Castillo
•It's actually pretty straightforward - they use an automated system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you. When an agent picks up, you get a call connecting you directly to that agent. It's not magic, just technology that waits on hold so you don't have to. The reason it works so well is they understand the optimal calling patterns and IRS phone system. I was skeptical too until I tried it. Instead of spending hours with my phone on speaker hoping to get through, I just went about my day until they called me with an agent already on the line. The IRS agent I spoke with was super helpful once I actually got to talk to a real person.
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Samuel Robinson
I have to admit I was wrong about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try it for my own IRA conversion questions. The service called me back in about 20 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line! The agent confirmed exactly how I should handle reporting my conversion and explained the pro-rata rule calculation that had been confusing me. She even pointed out that I could spread my tax liability across multiple years by doing partial conversions instead of converting everything at once. For anyone dealing with backdoor Roth questions or any complicated tax situation, being able to actually speak with the IRS directly is invaluable. I've spent literally days trying to get through on my own in previous years.
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JaylinCharles
One important thing no one has mentioned yet - the pro-rata rule! If you have ANY other traditional IRA money besides this contribution (like old 401k rollovers), you can't just convert this specific contribution - the IRS considers all your traditional IRA money as one pool for conversion purposes. For example, if you have $50,000 in traditional IRA money total, and $6,500 was this contribution you're talking about, when you convert $6,500 to Roth, only 13% ($6,500/$50,000) would be considered the deductible portion you're trying to convert. The pro-rata rule is the biggest gotcha with backdoor Roth conversions!
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Eloise Kendrick
•Is there any way around the pro-rata rule? I have a large traditional IRA from an old 401k rollover but still want to do backdoor Roth contributions going forward.
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JaylinCharles
•There is actually a potential workaround! If your current employer's 401k plan accepts incoming rollovers from IRAs (sometimes called a "reverse rollover"), you could move your existing traditional IRA money into your 401k plan. This removes those funds from the pro-rata calculation. After doing that, your traditional IRA balance would be zero, so when you make a new non-deductible traditional IRA contribution and convert it to Roth, you'd have no pro-rata issues. Not all employer plans allow this though, so you'd need to check with your plan administrator first.
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Lucas Schmidt
Can someone explain to me like I'm 5 what a backdoor Roth IRA actually is? I keep hearing about it but don't really understand why people don't just contribute directly to a Roth IRA if that's what they want?
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Debra Bai
•High income earners aren't allowed to contribute directly to Roth IRAs - in 2025, if you make more than about $161,000 (single) or $240,000 (married), you can't put money directly into a Roth. The "backdoor" is a workaround: you put money into a Traditional IRA (which has no income limits for contributions, though the deductibility may be limited), and then immediately convert that Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. There's no income limit on conversions. If you do it with non-deductible contributions and convert quickly before any growth, you essentially end up with a Roth contribution without paying much additional tax, even though your income would normally prevent you from contributing to a Roth directly.
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Lucas Schmidt
•Oh that makes sense! So it's basically a loophole for higher income people. Thanks for explaining it so clearly!
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