"jIM" <noreplysoccer[at]hotmail.com> wrote
- quote -

No.

First, to clarify, would you please verify that you are
doing a rollover from a 401(k) (or other qualifying
retirement plan) directly to a Roth IRA? This will be
allowed for the first time ever starting with tax year 2008.

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p590/ch02.html#d0e9113 notes
that the rules for these direct rollovers are the same as
the rules for conversions of Traditional IRA amount to a
Roth IRA.

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p590/ch01.html#d0e4941 notes
that "You can convert amounts from a traditional IRA into a
Roth IRA if, for the tax year you make the withdrawal from
the traditional IRA... " I think this is the reference for
the oft-repeated statement (on the net) that conversions
must be done by December 31 of the tax year for which you
want the conversion to count as income on your taxes.
Technically, the withdrawal for rollover purposes has to be
done by December 31, but then you have 60 days to get the
withdrawal into the Roth IRA.

- quote -

By my interpretation of the pubs (which presumably parse the
law), it is the date a distribution is made that counts.
Then you have 60 days to rollover this distribution.

- quote -

Yes, you have in fact until the date your 2008 tax return is
due to complete a recharacterization for 2008. See
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p590/ch01.html#d0e5018.

- quote -

Like default user was implying, it is modified AGI on which
you want to focus. The changes for 2008 sections of Pub 590
do not note any change in the MAGI limit from 2007 to 2008;
it is still $100k.

- quote -

The conversion increases AGI, but it gets subtracted out
when computing MAGI. See the definition of "Modified AGI" at
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p590/ch02.html#d0e9252


Yours would be a good post for the wizards at
misc.taxes.moderated. Just saying.

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jIM wrote:
- quote -

It does have to be done by Dec. 31 and you're right that this is not
explicitly stated. But there are plenty of references to the conversion
occurring during the "tax year".

- quote -

Yes, given some caveats. See the section "How Do You Recharacterize a
Contribution" in Chapter 1 of pub 590.

- quote -

This limit does not change from year to year (although I suppose it is
possible for new legislation to change it).

- quote -

Conversion does increase AGI, but the income limit for conversions is
based on a modified AGI which does not include the conversion. See the
"Modified AGI" paragraph of the "Can You Contribute to a Roth IRA"
section in Chapter 2 of pub 590.

-Will

william dot trice at ngc dot com

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jIM wrote:


- quote -

There's some information about computing the MAGI for Roths here:

<http://www.fairmark.com/rothira/modagi.htm



Brian

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On Sep 22, 2:04*pm, jIM <noreplysoc...[at]hotmail.com> wrote:
- quote -

Additional question- what is the AGI limit for doing Roth
conversions. 100k is listed in pub 590- does that limit change from
tax year to tax year? Does the conversion increase AGI (and make a
person ineligible for converting past an AGI of 100k)?

AGI for 2007 was 103k. We are close to that this year too.

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I am going to top out the 15% tax bracket in 2008 with a Roth
conversion on a portion of a rollover. This appears to be a good time
to do some of the conversion.

Questions

1) if I do some of the conversion for 2008 now, can I do an additional
rollover in February (at tax time) and have that conversion apply to
my 2008 tax return?

I read pub 590 and could not find a DATE a conversion needs to be done
by for a given tax year.

I am assuming NO, all my conversions need to be done by Dec 31 so my
Rollover custodian can issue a 1099 R.

2) If I "over convert" if I do a rollover now, can I recharactorize
the conversion in February (at tax time) and have the
recharactorization apply to the 2008 tax year?

feel free to link or quote an IRS pubs so I can interpret for myself.
Thx.

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