TLDR Will Vanguard let me recharacterize a small amount from a Roth IRA to a traditional if I go over my AGI goal of $18k? Or would I have to do the whole $3,000 or whatever the limit is for an initial contribution since I don't have a traditional IRA yet?
The longer version
I'm going to try to max out the saver's credit for 2015 so I need to get my AGI under $18k. I've looked at my pay stubs and tried to forecast exactly where I'll be at the end of the year. It's looking like I'm going to be just a little over the limit if I don't make any changes. No problem, I'll just up my 403b contribution a little.
But now I've got to consider all the little bits of income from interest, dividends, etc. I'm guessing that will be somewhere in the ballpark of $3200. Now in order to get my AGI low enough I'm looking at putting 100% of my paycheck for the rest of the year into my 403b. Barring emergencies, I should have enough in my bank accounts to swing that.
But what happens if I'm still just a little bit over the limit? I don't want to put myself through the anxiety of running down my bank accounts if I'm going to miss my goal by a few dollars. Can my IRA save me from this fate? I've made a couple thousand in Roth contributions so far this year and was planning to max it out by moving money from a taxable account to my Roth IRA. I know that if I go over $18k I can recharacterize some of my IRA contributions from Roth to traditional to get me under the limit, but will Vanguard let me recharacterize, say, $100? Or would I have to do the whole $3,000 or whatever the limit is for an initial contribution since I don't have a traditional IRA yet?
Part two
What do I do about stuff I've been selling online? To throw out some hypothetical numbers, let's say the total of all the selling prices was $1000. After shipping, PayPal fees, etc I've got $800. But if I look at the original cost of the items, some of which I had for 10 years, and one refund due to mail loss, I'm looking at -200. How do I deal with this on my taxes?
Thanks tax gurus!