Tax Strategies & Credits

Is a Roth Conversion Right for You? Be Careful, They Can No Longer Be Undone!

Is a Roth Conversion Right for You? Be Careful, They Can No Longer Be Undone!

Want your cash to grow tax-free and have the advantage of tax-free distributions once you reach retirement age? If so, then the Roth IRA is the right type of account for you. Countless American taxpayers have taken advantage of this opportunity, and many of them have done so by converting funds previously held in traditional IRA accounts and moving them into the tax advantaged Roth type, paying taxes on the monies that they’ve moved but still realizing long-term benefits. Where this strategy is always approached with the idea of being permanent, taxpayers have long pursued it with the certain knowledge that if their income falls and they need the money, they could convert the funds back at a later date. Unfortunately, under the recently passed tax reform bill, there are no more do-overs on this front. Once funds in a traditional IRA have been moved to a Roth IRA, they can’t be transferred back.

When to Make the Transfer

In order to ensure that you get the maximum benefit from converting your traditional IRA monies into a Roth IRA, you want to time your move carefully. The best time to do it is when it has the smallest tax impact, and that means either when either your income or the value of the traditional IRA are at a low. This might happen when you have significant business losses or abnormal deductions, as well as low revenue years. It’s also a good idea to do a careful analysis of the new higher standard deductions, as they alone may represent enough of a shift for a conversion to take place without any tax impact.

If moving all of your traditional IRA over at once would represent too high a tax burden, you can always complete the process gradually, taking fractional amounts each year in order to prevent the move from triggering a higher tax bracket.  Remember that any non-deductible contributions that you previously made into your traditional IRA are not subject to taxation, though they do have to be converted ratably with the rest of the monies in the account.

Determining whether converting a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA requires some research and thought. The questions you need to ask yourself include:

  • How long is it likely to take for the tax-free accumulation you gain through conversion to pay for the taxes you had to pay?
  • Is your tax bracket low enough (or likely to be in the future) for you to make a conversion without it being taxable (or of it only being taxed to a minimal degree)?
  • Do you have the cash on hand to pay for the tax that will be assessed for the conversion? If you are anticipating using money from the IRA to pay for the tax bill you incur, remember that any funds that aren’t rolled into the Roth IRA are subject to an early distribution penalty of 10% as long as you are under the age of 59 ½. That’s on top of the tax impact.
  • Does it make more sense to convert your traditional IRA funds into a Roth IRA over a period of years in order to avoid the tax impact of a comprehensive single move?

With the next tax law preventing IRA conversions from being reversed, taxpayers need to be more strategic than ever in their planning. If you need help determining the best plan for your specific needs, contact a tax professional today.

Gordon W. McNamee, CPA writes for TaxBuzz, a tax news and advice website. Reach him and his team at [email protected].

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Gordon W. McNamee

Gordon W. McNamee

Gordon W. McNamee is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) based in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. Gordon W. McNamee can assist you with your tax return preparation, payroll, accounting and tax planning needs. <br /> <br /> 2021 is Gordon W. McNamee, CPAs 38th year in the profession. As as a former IRS agent (1984 through 1987), Gordon has been in public accounting since 1987. Gordon specializes in individual, corporate, HOA, trust, estate and payroll taxes. He also prepares financial statements and provides accounting & bookkeeping services. He enjoys making his clients feel at ease while providing a personalized professional service.

GORDON W. MCNAMEE, CPA
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