If Wife had a nonzero balance in traditional IRAs on December 31,2016, "your total basis in traditional IRAs for 2016 and earlier years" on Form 8606 line 14 cannot be zero. It *must* be nonzero, but without knowing all of the numbers that go into preparing Form 8606, it's impossible to say how much basis remains. This value being zero implies that the amount appearing on Form 8606 line 6 has not been entered correctly.
