Of course I am aware of and followed eligibility requirements.As a US expat, whether you are eligible to make contributions ...I simply made a contribution for the same year in which I did the conversion.
As an expat (at the time)...
Sure. Again what I did to 'backfill' (the term being used here) the amount that was withheld was simply to make a 'contribution' for the amount withheld. Since it was done within 60 days, it effectively serves as a contribution.Also, generally, the treatment of a Roth IRA contribution is not the same as that of a Roth IRA conversion. They have different eligibility, tracking, withdrawal, and penalty rules even when residing in the US.
And again, this is what Schwab reported that other people had said they had done - Schwab would give no tax advice and offered no other solution.
So while the 1099-R and the final monthly statement showed different things and it would have been ideal to have the 'backfill' contribution coded as a rollover, I believe it is a simple matter to clarify with the IRS what happened if they had challenged me on it. For certain, no more went into the ROTH than was converted from the IRA and the final monthly statement showed that.
In tax law, I believe facts and substance win over forms. In any case, it is not uncommon for institutions to refuse to recode the transaction because they may not be certain of where the money that is claimed to be from an indirect rollover is from. I believe showing the IRS the amount of the IRA withdrawal, the amount of the ROTH contribution and the timing of it is sufficient to satisfactorily prove the 'contribution' was actually a rollover (or conversion). But I was never asked to do that.
Statistics: Posted by typical.investor — Mon Dec 15, 2025 3:09 am — Replies 17 — Views 869