How to access Roth basis

[Anonymous]

Every year, TurboTax asks me if I want it to track my Roth IRA basis.  Every year I say yes and fill out the required numbers.  I understand that information is important if I make a withdrawal from my Roth IRA before age 59.5.  But is there any way to look up what my Roth basis actually is?  I've poked around the website for a while and not come across anything.  I had hoped it would be in the PDF I downloaded after I finished filing our taxes, but the closest thing I see is the form 8606 I file to do the backdoor Roth every year.  At this point, I should have a pretty substantial basis.  I don't plan to make an early withdrawal, but it would be nice to know how much I can take out without taxes or penalty, should the need ever arise.

Thanks,

[PII removed]

[ColeenD3]

Your backdoor Roth conversion "contributions" are your basis.

A backdoor Roth IRA allows you to get around income limits by converting a Traditional IRA into a Roth IRA. Contributing directly to a Roth IRA is restricted if your income is beyond certain limits, but there are no income limits for conversions.

Please see this answer from DanielV01.

Tracking basis in a Roth matters if you take out an early distribution.  In that case, you are allowed to withdraw the amount of your contributions tax and penalty free.  However, your growth can be taxed and subject to early distribution penalties.  Once you reach the point where you can receive a distribution tax and penalty free, your basis is less critical.

However, if you do need to know your basis because of early distributions, it is the total amount of Roth Contributions you have made over the years, or full conversions of TIRA accounts to a Roth.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I understand what the amount is for.  But I want to know the ACTUAL number.  Is my basis $10k?  100k?  If Turbo Tax is tracking it, it seems like I should be able to find the actual number.  

[ThomasM125]

If you enter a ROTH IRA contribution in TurboTax, there is a screen that says Enter Prior Year ROTH IRA Contributions. On that page, your prior year contributions will be listed if you had TurboTax track them in previous years.

When you take a ROTH IRA distribution, your basis may be consequential in determining if any of your distribution is taxable. Also, if the value of your fund decreased and you liquidated all or your IRA's, it may be consequential in determining your deductible loss. Since you are dealing with a ROTH IRA, your basis would never be taxable when distributed, but the earnings may be taxable in the case of an early distribution.