The question is not triggered by TT suspecting an excess contribution since it asked me this question even though I made no contributions to my IRAs.
I did do a Roth conversion from my traditional IRA to my Roth IRA. Since the withdrawal from the traditional IRA for the Roth conversion is documented by a 1099-R, there is no need for the requested information on the total value of the traditional IRA accounts with reference to form 5498, which is not even due out until May, after the tax filing deadline.
I still have not seen a good explanation as to why TT asks for this information. I suspect that there is no good reason.
