> Why does the IRS have income limits on Roth IRA contributions but then allow them to be so easily bypassed in this manner? I think TFA answers this. The limi

> Why does the IRS have income limits on Roth IRA contributions but then allow them to be so easily bypassed in this manner? I think TFA answers this. The limits were put in originally, and then as part of Bush-era tax cuts, as a way to raise current revenue, the conversion was allowed knowing that billions in taxes would be paid today in order to convert. They predicted $9 billion and got something like $30 billion instead. Taxing the money now, when a large part of it could be passed via inheritance tax free later, is not necessarily bad policy.