Using TurboTax desktop, how do I create and incorporate Form 8086 into my 1040 for e-filing in years I have no nondeductible contributions to my traditional IRA?

[fernwoodnzs]

I have a prior-year basis in my traditional IRA that my tax advisor says I should report annually on Form 8086 so I'm not double-taxed when I take a distribution. This annual reporting does not appear to be required by IRS and it seems that's the reason I can’t get TT to automatically create the form. I can manually create it, but TT doesn't allow me to incorporate it into my 1040 for e-filing.

[dmertz · Accepted solution]

"my tax advisor says I should report annually on Form 8086"

The instructions at the beginning of Part I of Form 8606 say otherwise, and TurboTax adheres to this IRS instruction.  It says that Part I of Form 8606 is to be prepared only when one or more of the stated conditions is met:

Complete this part only if one or more of the following apply.
• You made nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA for 2025. Nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA do not include employer contributions made to a SEP IRA pursuant to a SEP arrangement or to a SIMPLE IRA pursuant to a SIMPLE IRA plan.
• You took distributions from a traditional IRA in 2025 and you made nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA in 2025 or an earlier year. For this purpose, “distributions” does not include rollovers (but does include certain 2025 retirement plan distribution repayments treated as rollovers (see instructions)). Also, it does not include qualified charitable distributions, one-time distributions to fund an HSA, conversions, recharacterizations, or returns of certain contributions.
• You converted part, but not all, of your traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs in 2025 and you made nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA in 2025 or an earlier year.

The instructions for Form 8606 also indicate that that you should be saving copies of all Forms 8606 that you ever file.  This means that filing Form 8606 just to reiterate the basis shown on the most recent previously filed Form 8606 is redundant.

If you want to include an unnecessary Form 8606, you'll need to separately print it from forms mode of the desktop version of TurboTax and include it with your printed and mailed tax return.

[fernwoodnzs]

Thank you. This confirms what I was thinking.

Note: In subject line and additional descriptive text "8086" should be "8606".