Open Roth IRA for 2001 after filing 2001 return?

[Guest cecbur]

I've already filed my 2001 return and received my refund.

I now realize that I should open a Roth IRA account for 2001 because I don't believe I will be eligible to in 2002 because of my expected income this year.

Do I have to file an amendment to my tax return? When I ran the numbers in TurboTax using a planned $1000 contribution to a Roth, I did not see any change to my 1040 return.

Hope someone can help me with this

[JAMES PATRICK]

As long as you open the 2001 Roth before April 16,2002 you will be alright. Roth contributions are not recorded(reported) on your tax return, so an amended return is not necessary.

[Guest cecbur]

Thanks, Jim.

[Guest cemiledavis]

Jim

Thanks for the info as I came to this site with the exact same question. Just to clarify for my purposes, does this cover funding an EXISTING Roth IRA as well as opening a NEW one? Also, what does the line item "IRA DEDUCTION" on the tax return under

"ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME" do if you may fund a Roth before or after submitting your return?

I was all ready to fund my Roth for 2001, but we've already filed and received money back. If I can go ahead and fund before 4/16 for 2001 that would be great news!

Thanks so much for your input!

[JAMES PATRICK]

You can NOT deduct a contribution to a Roth. The deduction on the 1040 is for Traditional IRA's not Roth IRA"s.

You can open a new Roth or contribute to an existing one, it generally doesn't make a difference. You have until 4/15/2002 to contribute.

When you do Conversions on a regular basis I believe it is better to open new accounts until such time as they can NOT be recharacterized, makes it easier to undo.