Convert from Roth to Traditional IRA?

[TheGadfly]

I did an estimate on my 2015 taxes and it looks like I'm going to owe about $1500 this year. This happened mostly because my spouse and I received free health coverage through the university where she is a student. In other words, our total income was relatively high because we aren't deducting ~$5800 in health insurance premiums.

According to some online calculators, I can bring my tax liability down to $0 if each of us max out our traditional IRA contributions. The problem is, I don't really have quite that much cash to contribute. We have an emergency fund with $7000 and I have a Roth IRA with about $5700.

Is it possible, or advisable, to transfer money from my Roth IRA into a traditional IRA to reduce the amount of taxes I owe?

[MDM]

Is it possible, or advisable, to transfer money from my Roth IRA into a traditional IRA to reduce the amount of taxes I owe?

Possible: yes.  See https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/IRA_recharacterization.

Advisable: depends.  Rule of thumb: use traditional if current marginal rate is 25% or higher; Roth if 10% or lower; flip a coin in between (or see   
   http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/investor-alley/deciding-between-roth-and-traditional-ira-based-on-marginal-tax-rate/
   if you want even more details on that topic).  See also
   http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/case-study-overwhelming-student-loan-debt-how-would-you-get-started/msg868845/#msg868845
   and other posts in that thread about exceptions to the rule.
Also may depend on how much penalty/interest you would owe because your tax due is >$1000 at filing time.  There are other "safe harbors", so see https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i2210.pdf under "Who Must Pay the Underpayment Penalty" because you might not owe anything extra.

[beltim]

Is it possible, or advisable, to transfer money from my Roth IRA into a traditional IRA to reduce the amount of taxes I owe?

One note to add to MDM: this is only possible if you funded the Roth IRA last year (2015).  You can't recharacterize older contributions.

[Gonzo]

Is it possible, or advisable, to transfer money from my Roth IRA into a traditional IRA to reduce the amount of taxes I owe?

One note to add to MDM: this is only possible if you funded the Roth IRA last year (2015).  You can't recharacterize older contributions.

It may be possible to withdraw prior contributions, and then use that money to max a traditional IRA contribution.