On December 22, 2017, The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law. The information in this article predates the tax reform legislation and may not apply to tax returns starting in the 2018 tax year. You may wish to speak to your tax advisor about the latest tax law. This publication is provided for your convenience and does not constitute legal advice. This publication is protected by copyright.
If you converted your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA during 2012 and paid (or will pay) the tax on the conversion and then watched the value of the account decrease in 2013, you still have an opportunity to do something about it.
If you filed your return on time or are on extension, you automatically receive a 6-month extension from the return’s original due date to recharacterize the Roth account back to a Traditional account, thereby avoiding paying taxes on IRA values that have evaporated. Once you make the recharacterization, you must wait 30 days before reconverting the IRA back to a Roth.
However, the deadline for both completing your recharacterization and filing or amending your 2012 return is October 15. So if you have questions or wish to implement this strategy, you will need to call this office right away.