How to file a loss on form 8606 when converting Traditional to Roth

[Tee1224]

Hi!

I am attempting to file my backdoor Roth and think I just made an error. I added $6500 for my 2023 taxes in March 2024 and converted it to my Roth within the same month. However, it had $550 in losses from my investments.

In September, I contributed $7000 in my traditional IRA account and converted it to my Roth account without any losses.

I got my 1099-R from Fidelity that showed that I contributed a total of $12998 in 2024.

I realize that I most likely need to amend my 2023 taxes to reflect my losses, but I don’t even know how to go about it’s I also don’t know how I should fill out my 2024 taxes in such that I won’t have to amend it also in the future. 

Please help! 

[DanaB27]

No, you do not need to amend your 2023 taxes, assuming you entered the nondeductible contribution of $6,500 on your 2023 return. You should have a 2023 Form 8606 with a $6,500 basis on line 14, which will be carried over to line 2 of the 2024 Form 8606.

You cannot deduct your loss but if you convert the funds with loss then you will have a basis left on line 14 to use in the future. In your case, assuming your value was $0 at the end of 2024, you will have a $502 basis on line 14 of your 2024 8606 to use in a future year.

Please review How do I enter a backdoor Roth IRA conversion?