Tax Options for rollovers to a Roth in 2010
If one makes a rollover from a regular IRA to a Roth IRA in 2010, he can elect to have the taxable amount recogized 50% in 2011 and 50% in 2012. Can he make another rollover and elect to have this one taxed in 2010? The objective is to have equal amounts of taxable income in the three years.
Permalink Submitted by Alan Spross on Mon, 2010-06-14 21:20
No, the choice with respect to the taxable year must be the same for all of a taxpayer’s conversions in 2010. A single taxpayer can therefore either choose the two year deferral for all conversions from his various IRA accounts or opt out and report them all in 2010 income.
However, spouses can make different elections. If each spouse has employer plans or IRAs to convert, one spouse can elect to defer while the other takes the 2 year deferral. This would spread the income over all 3 years.