You cannot convert a Roth IRA to a Traditional IRA in the sense most people mean when they ask the question. Once money has been converted into a Roth IRA from a Traditional IRA, 401(k), or other pre-tax account, that conversion is permanent under federal law. What you can still do is recharacterize a regular annual Roth IRA contribution, treating it as if you had put it into a Traditional IRA instead, provided you act by your tax filing deadline.
The distinction matters because the two transactions look similar but the law treats them very differently.
Roth Conversions Are Permanent
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 permanently eliminated the ability to reverse a Roth conversion, effective for any conversion completed after 2017. Before that change, taxpayers who converted pre-tax retirement funds to a Roth IRA and then regretted the tax bill could undo the conversion. That escape hatch is closed. Every conversion completed since January 2018 is irrevocable, and the income tax owed on the converted amount cannot be recovered.
So if you rolled a Traditional IRA into a Roth IRA last year and now want to move it back because the tax bill stings or the account has dropped in value, there is no mechanism to do that. The money stays in the Roth.
What You Can Still Undo: Annual Contributions
Recharacterization is a separate tool that survived the 2017 law change. It lets you reclassify a regular annual IRA contribution from one account type to the other. If you deposited money into a Roth IRA for the current tax year, you can direct your custodian to move that contribution, along with any earnings it produced or minus any losses, into a Traditional IRA. The IRS then treats the money as if it landed in the Traditional IRA on the original contribution date.
You can recharacterize all of a contribution or just part of it. On a partial recharacterization, the custodian calculates the earnings attributable only to the portion being moved.
Why People Recharacterize
The most common trigger is income. For 2026, direct Roth IRA contributions phase out between $153,000 and $168,000 of modified adjusted gross income for single filers, and between $242,000 and $252,000 for joint filers.1Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500 If your year-end income comes in above those ranges, the Roth contribution you made becomes an excess contribution. Recharacterizing to a Traditional IRA clears the excess without a penalty.
The other reason is a mid-year change in tax planning. If your income drops or you decide a current-year deduction is more valuable than tax-free growth later, the same recharacterization process applies.
The 2026 annual contribution limit across all your Traditional and Roth IRAs combined is $7,500, or $8,600 if you are 50 or older.1Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500 A recharacterization does not create additional room. It reassigns money you have already contributed.
Your Deadline
The recharacterization must be completed by the due date of your federal tax return for the year the contribution was made, including extensions. For most filers that means April 15 of the following year. If you file Form 4868 for an automatic extension before that date, the deadline moves to October 15.2Internal Revenue Service. IRA Year-End Reminders You do not have to file your actual return by April 15 to get the extra time; the extension request alone is enough.
If you let both deadlines pass, the contribution stays in the Roth IRA. Where the contribution was ineligible because your income exceeded the Roth limits, it becomes an excess contribution subject to a 6% excise tax that recurs every year the money remains in the account.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 4973 – Tax on Excess Contributions to Certain Tax-Favored Accounts and Annuities
The Amount That Actually Moves
You cannot simply transfer the original dollar amount. The IRS requires the recharacterization to include the net income attributable to that contribution, meaning the proportional share of gains or losses generated while the money sat in the Roth account.4eCFR. 26 CFR 1.408-11 – Net Income Calculation for Returned or Recharacterized IRA Contributions Your custodian runs the calculation using the full account balance, not just the specific investment your contribution bought.
If the Roth IRA grew, more than your original contribution moves to the Traditional IRA. If it lost value, less moves. Say you contributed $7,500 and the account fell during the holding period; the custodian might transfer $7,100. That $400 difference is a real investment loss and disappears. For contribution-limit and tax purposes, though, you still have a $7,500 Traditional IRA contribution on record.
Will the Traditional IRA Contribution Be Deductible?
Once the money is in the Traditional IRA, deductibility depends on your income and whether you or your spouse are covered by a workplace retirement plan. If neither of you has a workplace plan, the full contribution is deductible at any income level.
If you are covered by a workplace plan, 2026 deduction phase-outs apply:1Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
- Single filers covered by a workplace plan: $81,000 to $91,000 modified AGI
- Married filing jointly, contributor covered: $129,000 to $149,000
- Married filing jointly, contributor not covered but spouse is: $242,000 to $252,000
- Married filing separately, covered by a workplace plan: $0 to $10,000
Above these ranges, the contribution is nondeductible. You still get tax-deferred growth, but no upfront deduction. Nondeductible contributions create basis in your Traditional IRA, which you have to track on Form 8606 to avoid paying tax on the same dollars a second time when you eventually take distributions.5Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8606, Nondeductible IRAs
This is worth thinking through before you initiate the transfer. If your income is too high for a Roth contribution and also too high for a full Traditional IRA deduction, recharacterization mainly cleans up the excess contribution problem. It does not necessarily save you tax.
Requesting the Recharacterization
Contact the custodian holding the Roth IRA. You will need the original contribution amount and date, the account numbers for both the source Roth IRA and the destination Traditional IRA (they can be at the same firm or different firms), and the portion you want to recharacterize if you are not moving all of it.
Most custodians have a recharacterization request form on their website or through customer service. Once you submit it, the custodian executes a trustee-to-trustee transfer, moving the contribution plus the net income attributable directly to the Traditional IRA.6Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plans FAQs Regarding IRAs You never handle the money yourself, which keeps everything inside the tax-advantaged system.
You will receive confirmation and, later, a Form 5498 reflecting the transaction.7Internal Revenue Service. Form 5498, IRA Contribution Information Keep it with your tax records.
Reporting It on Your Return
The custodian’s paperwork is only half the job. You must attach a written statement to the federal tax return for the year the original contribution was made. The IRS requires that statement to include:8Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8606
- The amount and date of the original Roth IRA contribution
- The amount transferred to the Traditional IRA (contribution plus earnings or minus losses) and the date of the transfer
- How you are treating the recharacterized contribution, including whether you are deducting it
If the Traditional IRA contribution ends up nondeductible, file Form 8606 to record the basis. Skipping Form 8606 risks paying tax twice on that money down the road.
If you already filed your return and then recharacterize before the October 15 extended deadline, file Form 1040-X to amend. Explain the recharacterization in Part II, adjust your IRA deduction as needed, attach Form 8606 for any nondeductible portion, and include a full updated Form 1040. The IRS will not process an amendment that arrives without the required forms.
After the Money Lands in the Traditional IRA
Once recharacterized, the contribution is treated as if it had always been in the Traditional IRA. You can leave it there as pre-tax or nondeductible money and let it grow tax-deferred. You can also later convert that Traditional IRA balance to a Roth IRA through a standard Roth conversion, a separate transaction with its own tax consequences. Some high-income earners use this exact sequence deliberately as a “backdoor Roth.” The conversion remains available; the 2017 law only ended the ability to unwind conversions, not the ability to make them.
One caution: recharacterizing does not reset your annual limit. If you contributed $7,500 to a Roth IRA and moved it all to a Traditional IRA, you have used your $7,500 for the year. You cannot make a fresh $7,500 Roth contribution on top of it.