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No, no; I'm not tryin' to proselytize you or hand out Witness phamplets; I saw a Help Wanted KFC sign yesterday which may appeal to those of us who are sick/tired/fed up (I'm in there somewhere) translating taxes for the terminally obtuse. It offers $15-20 an hour (possible manager training for those who can tell the difference between Original and Extra Crispy), 401-K, full health insurance + dental & vision, two weeks paid vacation, and fast-tracking for the skilled employee (if only I'd played basketball instead of majoring in business; accurate burger-flipping is probably a plus). Yes, yes, it's cheap pay, but think of the enticing attraction - soothing that wrung-out, worn-out brain of yours with a desperately needed island-class rest. The only thing you must really know is not PPP ins-and-outs, back-door Roths, or tracking CTC advances, but merely this (50% errors are tolerated): "Did that guy say with cheese or without?"

One can recharacterize a current or previous year's contribution from ROTH to traditional or Trad to ROTH up to the due date of the return (plus extensions). You must transfer the contribution plus the earnings. It is treated as if contributed to that IRA in the first place. ROTH to traditional is common when AGI exceeds the income limits. When this is the case, then income is too high to deduct the contribution so it is reported on the form 8606 as a nondeductible contribution. A conversion can be done at any time. It is reported on the return for the year converted. When t/p recharacterizes to cure an excess ROTH contribution, t/p can then convert it back to ROTH. the recharacterization is reported on the return for the year the original contribution was made. The conversion is reported on the return for the year converted. Recharacterizing a conversion is no longer allowed. a "backdoor ROTH' is cleanest when done all at once: t/p contributes to traditional IRA and then immediately converts to ROTH. best when using a cash account. the traditional has no time to earn income. As long as t/p has no other traditional IRAs (or SEP), the conversion has no tax consequence. In the case of recharacterizing to cure the excess ROTH contribution, the earning are now part of the traditional account, so if they convert the contribution plus earnings, then the earnings are taxed. The contribution was not deductible so it is not taxed. IF the t/p already has traditional IRA accounts, then the conversion will result in taxable income and thus may not be attractive. If excess contribution is not cured by the due date of the return, then t/p pays the 6% excess penalty each year until it is cured. In the case that the high AGI was a one-time thing, then one can leave the excess in the ROTH, pay the 6% penalty and then apply that contribution to the next year's IRA. The advantage is that you don't have to pay tax on the earning (and a lot less paperwork) This disadvantage is you lose a year's IRA contribution.

Dang! Just as I got the Fresno address memorized.

I did not catch that part, but not clear if OP is referring to the conversion of an account balance or recharacterize a contribution. Under TJCA you cannot unwind a conversion of a traditional IRA "account" to a Roth "account". The conversion is irrevocable per 408A(d)(6)(B)iii However, you can still recharacterize a traditional "contribution" to a Roth Contribution.

You are allowed an automatic 6-month extension to recharacterize or withdraw if you timely file. For this and other rules, see: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590a#en_US_2020_publink1000230693 It is too late to make a new contribution for last year. The conversion can be done anytime.

I'm having trouble matching the font of the all-caps letters used by ATX to display information input on New York State forms POA-1 and TR-2000 -- i.e., my input and not the form's fonts. Has anyone managed to do that? The client returned a copy of his signed POA-1 that I belatedly noticed lacked his apartment number, so I want to simply add that to the PDF before submitting it. I've gone through almost a dozen fonts -- playing with boldface and various sizes -- and am about to just settle for the near-miss of 9-pt "Mongolian Baiti" that I've never heard of before and don't even know how to pronounce.