Bingo. My two transfers and bonuses were to IRA's and not reported as income, but will eventually be taxed, as RMD's deplete the account.
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Just to be clear, the signup bonuses are not a "gift". To make a gift an enterprise must intend to make a gift expecting nothing in return. Clearly, that is not the case here.
Brokerages seem to take various approaches to taxability of these. Their interpretations seem to change from year to year. I doubt there is clear authority on them to this point.
Having said that, I expect IRS would rule them taxable unless a case can be made successfully that they are merely a rebate of future commisions. Some brokerages make all such payments taxable. This is the wise approach IMHO.
If they are a rebate of future commissions, then they should be tax free no matter the account type. This does not seem the approach taken consistently
They are not dividends or interest that is taxable or tax free due to account type. This is because they are not dividends or interest. They are an incentive payment paid for transferring an account, not due to owning particular securities. The payment is actually earned by the account owner, not by the IRA. And paying it to an IRA does not make it tax free. It may instead be an excess contribution.
And lastly, I do not think you can take untaxed money and put it into a Roth, even if your brokerage thinks you can.
I expect there will be some guidance at some point.
FYI, I am not offering tax advice. Just think the question is interesting and not well understood.
