What is my basis in Roth IRA contributions?

Typically, your basis is the total amount of any contributions you've made to your Roth IRA (including SEP or SIMPLE) minus any amounts you've already withdrawn. Do NOT include earnings and losses, amounts converted from a traditional IRA, or any Roth IRA contributions you made for 2026.

The IRS provides two specific ways to calculate your basis:

• If you've never taken a Roth IRA distribution before 2025:
  1. Add up your contributions to your Roth IRA (including contributions made for 2025).
  2. Add any adjustment due to distribution repayments treated as rollovers.
  3. Subtract any rollovers from other Roth IRAs.
  4. Subtract any contributions that you had returned to yourself.
  5. Also make adjustments for any recharacterizations you may have made.
  
  
  or


• If you did take a distribution before 2025, see the Basis in Regular Roth IRA Contributions Worksheet in the 8606 Instructions  to figure your basis amount.

Whether or not you previously took a distribution from your Roth IRA, you may also need to also make one or more of these adjustments to your basis if they apply:

• Add to your basis any amounts you rolled in from a designated Roth account that is treated as investment in the contract.
• Add to your basis or subtract from your basis any amounts you received or transferred due to a divorce.
• Add to your basis any amount you received as a military gratuity or SGLI payment that was rolled over to your Roth IRA.