Out of the last 25 years it looks like I failed to include an 8606 5 times. I have 5498 for all but 5 of those 25 years but in those years, I have an 8606. Previous to that I do not have tax forms saved but I do have Schwab statements for all those years that show an IRA contribution of the maximum amount for that year and one 5498. I have always taken a non-deductible IRA. This issue started in 2007 when I put in a cost basis of $0. Before that the 8606 look to have the correct basis. Not sure why that happened. I guess I didn't transfer from the previous year in Turbotax. I really think they should make the 8606 a required entry and if no IRA was contributed a person puts in zero. Then Turbotax will make sure the history is transferred when the previous year is imported.
The prior year (2023) has basis of 7000. For 2023 I contributed 7500 so the current cost basis reported should be 14500. This makes the error to be 137000. Hopefully not big enough to trigger an audit.
I've always read that I only need to keep the last 7 years of records. In this case that is bad advice. I guess that's what I get for working 48 years straight and paying taxes. Sorry for the diatribe.
