October 15, 2020 is the deadline by which recharacterizations of 2019 regular Roth and Traditional IRA contributions must be completed
October 15, 2020 is the deadline by which recharacterizations of 2019 IRA contribution must be completed. In most cases, this means getting the paperwork to the custodian by October 15. However, we strongly recommend submitting the paperwork to the custodian earlier, in order to ensure that the transaction is processed by the deadline.
The deadline is the tax filing due date of the IRA owner. But those who file by the deadline or file for an extension gets an automatic extension to October 15.
There have been instances where the paperwork was delivered to the custodian by October 15, but the IRS determined the deadline was not met because the actual transaction was not processed by October 15.
Important: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 repealed the option to recharacterize Roth conversions, for Roth conversions done after 2017. As such, only regular contributions to traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs may now be recharacterized.
