Should the program be asking for the end of year values for all of my IRAs? This causes a huge additional tax. My IRA basis is zero going forward.

[DM3]

For year 2018, I will be using all of my IRA basis.  

[macuser_22]

As long as you own ANY Traditional, SEP or SIMPLE IRA the basis will never be zero.  Some basis will always remain after prorating against the current distribution and total IRA value.

[fanfare]

Maybe you thought you would convert just your basis Into a Roth. that's not possible.

[macuser_22 · Accepted solution]

You can NEVER withdraw ONLY the nondeductible part - it must be prorated over the entire value of ALL Traditional IRA accounts which include SEP and SIMPLE IRA's. (For tax purposes you only have ONE Traditional IRA which can be split between as many different accounts as you want, but for tax purposes they are all added together).

For example using rough figures: if you had $60K of nondeductible contributions in an IRA with a total value of $600K (10:1 ratio), then when you take a $60K distribution from any IRA account $6,000 would be nontaxable and $54,000 would be taxable (same 10:1 ratio) , with the remaining $54K of basis staying in the IRA for future distributions. As long as there is any money in the IRA, there will be some basis.

TurboTax will ask for your non-deductible "basis" and then the *Total Value* of *all* Traditional IRA accounts as of Dec 31, of the tax year. That is so the prorating of the basis can be properly proportioned between the current years distribution and the remaining IRA value. That is done on the 8606 form.