Social Security, Medicare, and IRMAA

[bart1000]

We as taxpayers, need to ask congress to change the law regarding the IRMAA calculations. In order to reduce our future RMDs, we convert traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs. Even though the money is not in our hand, we need to pay IRMAA penalty. For tax purposes, conversion is taxable income, but for IRMAA, it should not be a taxable income. Instead, the money withdrawn from Roth IRA should be considered for IRMAA. The current tax law is like transferring your money from CD account to a savings account considered as an income.

[GailL1]

@bart1000 wrote . . . . 

We as taxpayers, need to ask congress to change the law regarding the IRMAA calculations. In order to reduce our future RMDs, we convert traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs

===================

But that is exactly why it is done this way - to “catch” that income that you converted to the ROTH - you have to pay for it one way or the other - pay it NOW, as a result of the conversion or LATER as a Traditional IRA distribution.  

If you had left the retirement funds in your Traditional IRA, then your distributions would have only been taxed as they were distributed and you could have taken out a lesser amount so that IRMAA was not a factor in your income.  OR if your Trad. IRA was large enough + your other income, you would still have to pay IRMAA depending on the total income. 

What was your reason for converting the funds - especially a large amount - from the Traditional IRA to the ROTH?  Most likely so that you would have access to these funds as they grow tax free.  

This is the ONLY way that it works cause now when it is in the ROTH, it never shows up anyplace on your tax return when you take a distribution from the ROTH.

Sorry, you just converted at the wrong time - you should have done it when you were a bit less than 62 so that it was already done before you had to pick up Medicare Part B at 65 years old.

If your whole income amount is not gonna continue to be over the IRMAA amount then you will only have to pay the IRMAA Part B surcharges for a year.

 But if your income continues to be over the limit then you will continue to pay the higher Medicare Part B amount for the IRMAA.

REMEMBER - that’s ALL income - earned and unearned - either as a single person or MFJ. 

I hope you know what the IRMAA payments are for - I will post the SSA.gov link that describes them in case someone that reads this does not know.

SSA.gov- Medicare Premiums - Premiums: Rules for Higher-Income Beneficiaries 

 We do not need to stop IRMAA surcharges because if we do - we will ALL pay a much higher Part B monthly premium - at least the ones that pay it on their own rather than their state paying for the premiums.