Loss on withdrawn excess Roth IRA contribution

[petermroberts]

I'm withdrawing an excess contribution made in 2016. I've seen other answers which recommend adding a "fake" 1099-R (the real one arriving in 2018) to avoid filing an amended return when the distribution includes earnings. What do I do if the distribution shows a loss (i.e. less than the contribution)  - still file a fake 1099-R with taxable amount (box 2a) left blank?

[dmertz · Accepted solution]

Yes, the procedure is the same but if you have a loss attributable to the amount being returned, you should enter a zero in box 2a.