I'm 61 years old, why does turbotax need to know my cumulative contributions to my roth IRA?

Forum|Forum|6 months ago
February 9, 2026
3 replies
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TurboTax Online

Best answer by KrisD15

TurboTax is asking in order to have the numbers needed "in case" you were to over-contribute in the future.

The amount of your contributions would then be needed to calculate the amount of earnings that would need to be claimed when a correction was made.

KrisD15Answer

Level 15

TurboTax is asking in order to have the numbers needed "in case" you were to over-contribute in the future.

The amount of your contributions would then be needed to calculate the amount of earnings that would need to be claimed when a correction was made.

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jeffschmitzAuthor

Level 3

Thanks.

I've held this roth for close to 30 years, I don't think there's anyway I could come up with that number. Do contributions include conversions?

Monikak11

Level 6

No, Roth contributions do not include conversions. Roth contributions and conversions are treated as distinct, separate transactions with different rules. Contributions are limited by annual income/amount caps, while conversions involve moving pre-tax money to a Roth account, which is not subject to annual contribution limits.

TurboTax requires your cumulative Roth IRA contributions to track your "basis" (the total amount of after-tax money put in) to determine if any current-year, non-qualified withdrawals are subject to taxes or penalties. It also helps identify excess contributions, which can incur a 6% penalty if not corrected.

See this TurboTax blog article for more information about Roth IRA withdrawal rules and penalties.