Can I undo or recharacterize an IRA contribution if I made a mistake?

Yes – recharacterization lets you change a contribution from one IRA type to the other as if it had originally gone there. If you contributed to a Roth IRA but discovered your income exceeded the limit, you can recharacterize it as a Traditional IRA contribution (and vice versa) by your tax-filing deadline, including extensions. The custodian moves the contribution plus its attributable earnings to the other account. Important: since 2018 you can no longer recharacterize a Roth conversion – conversions are permanent. Recharacterization only applies to regular annual contributions. This is the standard fix for an accidental excess Roth contribution and avoids the 6% excess-contribution penalty that otherwise applies each year the money stays. Contact your custodian early, because the earnings calculation and paperwork take time to process before the deadline.