How to enter basis from Form 8606 to offset this years rmd

[Anishka]

This is my first year that I have an RMD from my retirement accounts.  How do I enter the basis of my non-deductible IRA from Form 8606 so that I can offset the taxes on this years retirement distributions.  My Turbo Tax program is not giving me any prompts where I can list the basis from Form 8606.

[dmertz]

To reach the necessary pages in TurboTax, click the Continue button on the page that lists the Forms 1099-R that you have entered.  Answer Yes when TurboTax asks if you made nondeductible contributions to your traditional IRA.

[Anishka]

Thank you for your reply.  I followed your suggestion and the program did ask me about my spouse's 8606 Basis.  However, the program never prompted me about my 8606 Basis.  I am not sure how I can enter my Form 8606 non-deductible  Basis.  Any ideas would be appreciated.  Thank you.

[dmertz · Accepted solution]

TurboTax will ask about your basis only if you have entered a Form 1099-R that reports a distribution to you from a traditional IRA, indicated by the IRA/SEP/SIMPLE box being marked on the Form 1099-R provided by the payer.  Make sure that the marking of this box on the form in TurboTax agrees with the marking of the form provided by the payer.  Also, make sure that you have indicted the correct spouse as the recipient of the Form 1099-R.

[Anishka]

I did forget to enter that the IRA Box was checked on my 1099-R😂  Thanks to your reply, my problem has been solved.  Thank you bunches!!

[kcf2112]

That might be a bug in TurboTax.  As I understand it, I should report nondeductible IRA contributions on Form 8606 whether or not I received a 1099-R.  I was able to get around this problem by temporarily adding my name to one of my wife's 1099-R forms.  I was then able to enter my IRA basis, then I fixed the name on the modified 1099-R.  Unless I'm misunderstanding something, this work-around should not be necessary.

[DaveF1006]

It depends. Workarounds should not be necessary but from time to time are a necessity. To clarify though, did you follow this path when you attempted to enter your non-deductible contribution.

1. Open TurboTax and navigate to the "Federal Taxes" section.
2. Select "Deductions & Credits" and scroll down to "Retirement and Investments."
3. Choose "Traditional and Roth IRA Contributions" and click "Start/Update."

[kcf2112]

Yes.  I replaced her name with my name on her 1099-R.  Then when I went through the section "Traditional and Roth IRA Contributions", I was eventually prompted to enter my nondeductible contributions and enter the basis value.  After that, I restored wife's name on the 1099-R and my Form 8606 was still correct.  

I'm thinking that adding nondeductible contributions should not depend on the presence of a 1099-R.

[dmertz]

@kcf2112 , although the workaround that you did will work, you should also be able to enter your basis by going through the IRA contributions section under Deductions & Credits without doing any workarounds.

[fanfare]

If you made an IRA  contribution you have to tell TurboTax. This has nothing to do with a 1099-R, which is for distribution.

TurboTax will ask you if you want the non-deductible election (not common but more so now that people want Roth IRAs).

@Anishka 

@kcf2112 

[kcf2112]

<quote>If you made an IRA  contribution you have to tell TurboTax.</quote>

*I know that.*

<quote>This has nothing to do with a 1099-R, which is for distribution.</quote>

*I know that, too*

<quote>TurboTax will ask you if you want the non-deductible election (not common but more so now that people want Roth IRAs).</quote>

*It should, but TurboTax did not do that; that is why the bogus workaround was necessary.*

TurboTax has a bug that should be fixed ASAP.

[DanaB27]

If you do not get the "Any Nondeductible Contributions to Your IRA?” screen then please see Why is my backdoor Roth IRA conversion being taxed? to sign up for updates.

@kcf2112