# Pro rata rule **URL:** \ **Category:** General Q & A\ **Created:** [January 3, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://discussion.mainstreetbusinesspodcast.com/t/pro-rata-rule/396 "2024-01-03T14:47:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lns11124](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lns11124](https://discussion.mainstreetbusinesspodcast.com/u/Lns11124)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://discussion.mainstreetbusinesspodcast.com/t/pro-rata-rule/396/1 "2024-01-03T14:47:42Z")
Hi Mark and Matt! On 1/1/24 I rolled $5,000 of my $11,000 rollover IRA into a Roth. This is money that has been there for years, some after tax and some pretax from previous employer. I do not need to worry about this on my taxes for this yr, correct? I can pay it next yr? Per the pro rata rule my understanding is if I were to add money for 2023 (or any year) for the purpose of rolling it into Roth on day 2, I would have to pay a portion of tax on this money even though it’s all after tax money and I’m rolling out the exact amount I put in, bc of pro rata? So I’d have to proportionally split “it” between my after-tax and pre-tax balances, including contributions and earnings. If this is the case, it seems to me I would want to keep the smallest balance possible in my traditional or rollover IRA and have it only for the purpose of rolling money into my Roth. Am I understanding this correctly? Thanks! Lauren ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex046/uploads/msbpod_openforum/original/1X/42f4af5f452c22dd6feece9c5b47d6a5185fa706.png) [@system](https://discussion.mainstreetbusinesspodcast.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://discussion.mainstreetbusinesspodcast.com/t/pro-rata-rule/396/2 "2024-02-07T18:02:58Z")
Answered on Today’s show (recorded Feb 7 - should be out in a couple days). Thank you so much for the question. Mark and Mat.