Must I make 2012 Roth contributions BEFORE filing taxes?

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texasdiver
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Must I make 2012 Roth contributions BEFORE filing taxes?

Post by texasdiver »

I just did a rough draft of my taxes in TaxCut to see where we were at and looks like we'll have a big chuck coming back this year.

I still have some space in our 2012 Roth IRAs and I was wondering if I needed to either (1) wait until the Roth is fully funded before filing taxes, or (2) file any sort of amended return later to show that I increased the Roth contribution. Right now we are in the middle of a refi and I wanted to keep the cash liquid until that process is over.

My inclination is to go ahead and file before finishing the Roth contributions and just show the full anticipated contribution on the return. That way I can take the return and use it for the Roth. Some googling on this topic hasn't turned up a definitive answer.
Amishman
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Re: Must I make 2012 Roth contributions BEFORE filing taxes?

Post by Amishman »

No...
Dogs
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Re: Must I make 2012 Roth contributions BEFORE filing taxes?

Post by Dogs »

Your contributions to a Roth IRA shouldn't be showing up on your tax return at all, so it doesn't matter.
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Frugal Al
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Re: Must I make 2012 Roth contributions BEFORE filing taxes?

Post by Frugal Al »

Dogs wrote:Your contributions to a Roth IRA shouldn't be showing up on your tax return at all, so it doesn't matter.
Actually that's not entirely true. For those making below $57,500 there is a "Credit for Qualified Retirement Savings Contributions" for those contributing to either a Roth or a Traditional IRA. So, for some, even if a Roth contribution isn't deductible, they might still want to let the IRS know that they made a contribution.
John Bonzo
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Re: Must I make 2012 Roth contributions BEFORE filing taxes?

Post by John Bonzo »

Dogs wrote:Your contributions to a Roth IRA shouldn't be showing up on your tax return at all, so it doesn't matter.
Well, it does if you are claiming the Saver's Credit.

But to answer the original question, I would just go ahead and put in your actual Roth contribution as of the date you are filing (making sure that it is at least $2000 to get the full Saver's Credit -- which is the only reason you need to report them at all). I don't think an amended return is necessary for additional post-filing, pre-April 15 previous year Roth contributions.

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texasdiver
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Re: Must I make 2012 Roth contributions BEFORE filing taxes?

Post by texasdiver »

John Bonzo wrote:
Dogs wrote:Your contributions to a Roth IRA shouldn't be showing up on your tax return at all, so it doesn't matter.
Well, it does if you are claiming the Saver's Credit.

But to answer the original question, I would just go ahead and put in your actual Roth contribution as of the date you are filing (making sure that it is at least $2000 to get the full Saver's Credit -- which is the only reason you need to report them at all). I don't think an amended return is necessary for additional post-filing, pre-April 15 previous year Roth contributions.

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Our AGI is just under the Roth contribution phase-out limit so we can barely squeak out a Roth this year without needing to go through the back door. So I don't think we are qualifying for any savers credit.

I guess what is difficult or confusing about some of these questions is that I am interacting with the tax preparation software and not looking at the actual forms. It is asking questions and collecting data that isn't necessarily being reported to the IRS on the final return. And since I always file electronically and am not an accountant with deep knowledge in this stuff I never really pay that much attention to what is actually being reported to the IRS and what was just being collected by the software in the event of eligibility of certain credits and so on.
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grabiner
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Re: Must I make 2012 Roth contributions BEFORE filing taxes?

Post by grabiner »

texasdiver wrote:I guess what is difficult or confusing about some of these questions is that I am interacting with the tax preparation software and not looking at the actual forms. It is asking questions and collecting data that isn't necessarily being reported to the IRS on the final return.
The software should let you switch to the forms and make entries there directly, so you can check the consequences of entering certain numbers.
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theduke
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Re: Must I make 2012 Roth contributions BEFORE filing taxes?

Post by theduke »

To answer your question, you can file your return and then make your IRA contribution. Just don't forget to make that contribution by April 15 .
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