What options does one have if he has no record of his IRA contributions in Massachusetts?

[SweetieJean]

How was it made? By check?

[Anonymous]

I am retired and now taking  my RMD's and have long since stopped making IRA contributions.  However to properly file my Mass return you are supposed to know what your total (lifetime) IRA contribution was.  I have no record of this.

[macuser_22]

I don't know anything about MA, but are you sure that it is not asking about previous *non-deductible* Traditional IRA contributions which would be the same as used for the Federal 8606 form if you had any non-deductible "basis"?

[Zbucklyo]

@macuser_22 MA does not allow deductions for Traditional IRA contributions, so that the MA basis differs from the federal basis.  Also, MA allows tax-free withdrawals up to the amount of basis first before withdrawals are taxed.

[Zbucklyo · Accepted solution]

Unfortunately, you are out of luck unless you can make a conservative estimate of your contributions made while a resident of MA.  Absent other information (your IRA custodian might have records), you have to assume your MA basis is zero.

[fanfare]

you don't have to assume your basis is zero.
did you always put in the max? or varying amounts? you must have some idea of the number of years you made contributions. this puts an upper bound on your total contribution.
PS. if you kept all your form 5498 records it would give you the exact amount.
also note. the max allowed has changed over the years.