Traditional to Roth IRA conversion for 2025 taxes but Form 5498 won't arrive until after April 15 deadline

Thanks for responding! So just to make sure I understand - I should just look at my December statement for the Traditional IRA value as of Dec 31st? Would this still work if I did the conversion around December 20th? I'm confused because there wasn't much left in there after the conversion.

Yes, your December statement will show the value as of December 31st. If you did the conversion on December 20th, then your December statement will reflect that transaction and show the remaining balance (which might be very small or zero depending on whether you converted the entire account). The key thing to understand is that Form 1099-R shows the amount you converted, which is what creates the taxable event. The December 31st value is just a snapshot of what remained in the account after the conversion, and you can definitely get that from your year-end statement.

Does this actually work with Traditional to Roth conversions specifically? I'm having the same problem but with Fidelity and their statements are confusing me.

I'm skeptical about using third-party tools with financial docs. Is it secure? And does it actually tell you something you couldn't figure out by just looking at your statements more carefully?

Yes, it works specifically with Roth conversions! It has templates for all the major brokerages including Fidelity, and it highlights exactly where to find the December 31st valuation on their specific statement format. Regarding security, they use bank-level encryption and don't store your documents after analysis. I was hesitant too, but it was actually much easier than spending hours staring at my statements trying to figure out which numbers corresponded to what TurboTax was asking. It basically translated the financial jargon into plain English.

Wait so this service actually gets someone to call you back? How does that even work? I've been on hold with Schwab for literally hours trying to sort out my IRA conversion mess.

Sounds like a scam to me. Why would I pay a service to do something I could do myself by just waiting on hold? And how do they get priority access when nobody else can?

The service essentially navigates the phone tree for you and waits on hold in your place. Once they reach a representative, they connect you. It's not about getting "priority access" - they're just doing the waiting for you. Yes, it actually works! I was skeptical at first too, but after wasting my entire lunch break on hold with my brokerage, I decided to try it. They called me back when a real person was on the line, and I got my IRA conversion questions answered in minutes instead of hours.

Isn't estimating risky though? What if the IRS notices a discrepancy between what you report and what the brokerage reports on the 5498?

The year-end IRA value on Form 5498 isn't actually used to calculate your tax liability - it's informational. The conversion amount on your 1099-R is what actually matters for tax purposes. The IRS primarily wants the December 31st value for future reference and to track contribution limits. Small discrepancies here won't trigger an audit or penalty as long as you've correctly reported the actual conversion amount from the 1099-R.

Thx for this suggestion! I'll try calling again tomorrow morning. Does anyone know if there's a specific department I should ask for? Last time I got lost in the phone menu.

@ApolloJackson Try asking for "Retirement Services" or "IRA Department" when you call. Most brokerages have a dedicated team for retirement account questions. If you get stuck in the phone tree again, you can also try saying "IRA" or "retirement" when prompted, or sometimes just pressing "0" repeatedly will get you to a human operator who can transfer you to the right department.