Do I Need Form 5498 to File My Taxes?

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We’ve received a lot of enquiries asking where to enter Form 5498 in TurboTax, so we thought we’d start out with this topic. Our retirement tax expert provides this information to share…

Form 5498’s title is IRA Contribution Information, and it’s usually sent by your IRA trustee to report your IRA activity to the IRS. You get a copy of this form too.

Information reported on Form 5498 is entered in several different places in TurboTax when that information is needed, but almost all of the time it’s information that you already know:

  • The amount of the IRA contributions you made for the year, whether by rollover from a 401(k) or by directly writing a check,
  • The value of your IRA accounts as of the end of the year, and
  • Any transfers you made to move money from a regular IRA account to a Roth IRA account

If you took money out of your IRA, those distributions would show on the Form 1099-R you receive from the IRA trustee. That’s the form that you need to enter into TurboTax.

Here’s another interesting fact: the trustees aren’t required to submit this form to the IRS until MAY 31, well after you file your tax return, so you may or may not receive Form 5498 until later. This won’t stop you from filing your tax return, though: you can get all the information you need to report your IRA contributions, value, etc. from your IRA’s year-end statements, so don’t hold up filing your return.

And by the way, trustees, NOT individual taxpayers, are required to file Form 5498 with the IRS. This means that you don’t need to send Form 5498 along with your tax return; you just hang onto it with the rest of your tax paperwork.

6 responses to “Do I Need Form 5498 to File My Taxes?”

  1. I rolled my pension over into an IRA last fall. I don’t think I claimed it on my taxes but I just received a 5498. Do I need to file an amendment to my taxes?

  2. I have received form 5498 from scottrade. I have received a 1099R for the same amount that i have reported in Turbo tax.

    So i just file the 1099R and keep the 5498 just for my records. Is that correct??

  3. You have made it very difficult to impossible to enter the “roll over” amount in my return. In documents imported, the amount of roll over does not show anywhere; in my printed documents, it appears ONLY on Form 5498. At the very least, you should provide a facsimile for the taxpayer to complete.

    • Hi Lily,
      Sorry you are having difficulties. I went through the program and I was able to see where you are asked for roll over information. It should also be in the coded information that was imported. You should be able to go to the “wages and income” tab, explore on my own, on the “Your 2011 Income Summary” scroll down to “IRA, 401K, Pension Plans(1099-R), Click update or start, on “You 1099-R Entries” screen you can go in edit your information. If you are still having difficulties please go through the program and have a live tax professional help you.
      Thank you,
      Lisa Greene-Lewis

      • Congrats on 200! Quite an accomplishment.I went and ehccked our site and found we’re at 228 however, 130 of those have been tips without a bunch of meat to them so we’re at, whoa 98. We’ll have to do a 100th post thing soon. Funky.Again, love your site and writing. Keep it up!

      • Hi Arielly,
        We are glad you enjoy the blog. Check back for more interesting topics.
        Thank you,
        Lisa Greene-Lewis

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