You can complete the Schwab Roth IRA conversion form by entering the eight-digit account numbers for your source traditional IRA and destination Roth IRA, specifying whether you’re converting the full balance or a partial amount in cash or in-kind, making an explicit federal (and if applicable state) tax withholding election, signing with the exact name on your account, and returning the form through Schwab’s secure Message Center, by fax, or by mail.1Charles Schwab. Roth IRA Conversion Form and Account Application If you’d rather skip paper entirely, Schwab also lets you initiate a conversion online from your account dashboard; the paper form is the right tool when you need to open the Roth IRA as part of the conversion, want a physical record, or are working with an advisor who submits it for you.
What to Have Ready Before You Start
Pull these together first so you’re not hunting for numbers mid-form:
- The eight-digit Schwab account number for your traditional IRA (the source). If you already have a Schwab Roth IRA, its account number too. If you don’t, the conversion form doubles as an application to open one.2Charles Schwab. Online Enrollment Help
- The amount you want to convert. This can be the full balance, a specific dollar figure, or specific securities transferred in-kind rather than liquidated to cash first.3Charles Schwab. Taking In-Kind Distributions from Your IRA
- Your withholding decision. The default federal withholding on a conversion is 10%; you can raise it, set a flat dollar amount, or opt out entirely. State withholding rules depend on where you live.4Internal Revenue Service. Pensions and Annuity Withholding – Section: Nonperiodic Payments
One thing to think through before you check the withholding box: anything withheld goes to the IRS and never lands in the Roth. Convert $50,000 with 10% withholding, and $45,000 is what actually starts growing tax-free. Many people opt out on the form and pay the tax bill separately so the full amount benefits from the conversion.
Filling Out the Form Section by Section
Source and Target Accounts
Put your traditional IRA’s eight-digit account number in the Source Account field and your Roth IRA’s number in the Target Account field. Opening the Roth through this same form? Complete the account application section instead of entering a target number. Read those digits back to yourself. A single transposed number can send assets to the wrong account or get the whole submission bounced.
Distribution Instructions
Choose full or partial. Full liquidation moves everything. Partial conversions let you specify either a dollar amount of cash or a number of shares of particular securities. Moving securities without selling them is an in-kind transfer, which keeps your positions intact; you still owe income tax on their fair market value on the date they move.3Charles Schwab. Taking In-Kind Distributions from Your IRA
Tax Withholding Election
State your preference explicitly. If you leave this section blank, Schwab applies the default 10% federal withholding.4Internal Revenue Service. Pensions and Annuity Withholding – Section: Nonperiodic Payments Opting out means affirmatively electing zero. If your state has income tax, there may be a separate state withholding line to complete.
Signature
Sign with the exact name on your Schwab account registration. Schwab accepts digital signatures through DocuSign for electronic submissions and wet ink for mailed or faxed copies. A name that doesn’t match the account is one of the most common reasons a form gets pulled for manual review.
How to Send the Form In
You have three options once the form is complete:
- Schwab’s Secure Message Center. Log in, open the Message Center under the Service menu, choose Upload Document, and attach the completed PDF. This is the fastest route.
- Fax. Use the fax number printed on the form’s instruction page. Retail and institutional clients may have different numbers, so use the one on your version.
- Mail. Send the paperwork to the Schwab service center address on the instruction page.
Include every page. Schwab rejects incomplete submissions, and a rejection means starting over.
The December 31 Deadline
A conversion counts for a tax year only if it’s completed by December 31 of that year. This is different from Roth contributions, which you can make up until the April filing deadline. For a conversion to show up on your 2026 return, the assets have to leave the traditional IRA by December 31, 2026. Schwab’s processing runs one to three business days, so submitting in the final week of December leaves little room.
Two Tax Rules That Change What You Owe
The Pro-Rata Rule
If any of your traditional IRA money is after-tax (nondeductible contributions), you can’t pick and choose which dollars to convert. The IRS treats all your traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE IRAs across every institution as one pool.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 408 – Individual Retirement Accounts Take the total value of that pool on December 31 of the conversion year, figure out what percentage of it is after-tax basis, and that same percentage of your conversion is tax-free. The rest is taxable income. If your combined IRA balance is $100,000 and $20,000 is after-tax, 20% of any conversion escapes tax and 80% gets added to your income for the year. Employer plans like 401(k)s and 403(b)s stay out of the calculation unless you roll them into an IRA during the same year. You report the math on IRS Form 8606 with your return.6Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8606
The Five-Year Rule on Converted Amounts
Each conversion starts its own five-year clock, beginning January 1 of the tax year you complete it. Pull the converted principal out before that clock runs and you’re under 59½, and you owe a 10% early withdrawal penalty on the taxable portion of the conversion. The conversion itself doesn’t trigger the 10% penalty; the tax code exempts conversions from that surcharge.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 408A – Roth IRAs The penalty only shows up if converted money comes back out early.
After You Submit
Processing and Confirmation
Schwab typically processes a completed conversion form within one to three business days. Track it under Account History or Order Status, where a journal entry will show the assets moving between accounts. A trade confirmation goes out once the conversion posts, through whatever notification method you’ve set up.
Tax Forms You’ll Receive
Two IRS information returns come out of a conversion. Schwab issues Form 1099-R to report the distribution from the traditional IRA, and financial institutions must deliver 1099-Rs by January 31 of the year after the conversion.8Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 It shows the gross distribution and any taxes withheld. Schwab also files Form 5498 to report the conversion contribution into the Roth,9Internal Revenue Service. Form 5498 – IRA Contribution Information which typically arrives by late May because custodians have until May 31 to file it.
Filing Form 8606
File IRS Form 8606 with your return for any year you complete a Roth conversion.6Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8606 It’s where you calculate the taxable and nontaxable portions, and the IRS wants it even if the entire conversion is fully taxable because none of your IRA money was after-tax. Spouses who each converted file separate 8606s.
Before filing, compare the 1099-R and 5498 against your original request. If the gross distribution or withholding figures don’t match what you converted, call Schwab before you send the return in.