Line 8 form 8606 is blank even though I have entered the amount under "Conversions to Roth IRA". Help! What am I doing wrong :(. No tax on the conversion too.

[bethbrown]

My client had a back door roth conversion done in 2019, but it was filed as a regular conversion. I am trying to amend the 2019 return to include form 8606, but the amount converted isn't showing up on the form. There is also no tax be calculated on the conversion. Help please!

[George4Tacks · Accepted solution]

In the Pensions screen for the distribution, did you check the box for Line 7 (IRA)? 

Was there any prior year IRA basis? 

Assuming yes to 1st question and No to second, you should get something like this

[bethbrown]

You are awesome and I am an idiot! Yes, I checked the box for Line 7 and there was no basis. My return looks exactly like yours. I just read the instructions wrong and thought the amount converted to a Roth IRA via a backdoor conversion was reported on line 8. Thank you so much and sorry to take up time being a dummy!

[qbteachmt]

There would be no tax on conversion, because that's the point of "backdoor Roth." It is, in fact, a regular conversion. The function works because all funds in Traditional IRA are only basis, and when that is converted before there was time for any earnings, there is no tax on that conversion. That's why it is allowed and that's why it is called backdoor.

[George4Tacks]

Don't feel bad, you are in a very large DUMMY group, including me. Senior moments start at birth.

[Runner12]

Having similar issue- not sure where the line 7 in pension area is..

did you need to change anything or was the original setup correct?

first time doing backdoor roth and line 8 on 8606 is blank but think it should have something there based on language, no? Never had traditional Ira before the conversion happened- same month and year

[qbteachmt]

"not sure where the line 7 in pension area is"

Try these articles for reference:

https://proconnect.intuit.com/support/en-us/help-article/retirement-tax-credits-deductions/entering-...

https://proconnect.intuit.com/support/en-us/help-article/retirement-tax-credits-deductions/report-co...

"Having similar issue"

Based on what you told us, your taxpayer has a taxable conversion; not a backdoor conversion.

"Never had traditional Ira before the conversion happened- same month and year"

By definition, a conversion (even if backdoor) starts from funds in a Traditional. The issue comes from whether there is any "never taxed" amount in that Trad (Trad IRA, SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA are aggregated). If so, you have a pro rata tax condition that has to be computed.

"first time doing backdoor roth and line 8 on 8606 is blank"

Backdoor Roth is when you have only nondeducted amounts, only as basis, in the pre-tax account type. The conversion is not taxable because those are post-tax funds, already. Any amounts (previous or current year deductible contributions, any earnings) that are still tax deferred create a pro rata conversion. That's not really a Backdoor. It's simply a conversion. That's why line 8 would have something in it. That section is to compute the percentage Basis to full value, and then that percentage gets applied to the conversion, to deduct previously taxed percentage and end with the taxable conversion percentage.