My husband and I each did partial conversions of our traditional IRA's in May, 2000. With the falling stock market, we decided to recharacterize in December. After that, but before the end of the year, we each did another partial conversion. Even though it may not have been necessary, we decided to keep it less complicated by having separate accounts for each transaction. We have filed an extension for 2000, and are currently trying to make sure everything has been accurately reported to the IRS.

Our tax person has asked for a total basis as of 12/31/99 for each of our traditional IRA's. I have looked at the 8606 and am not sure if this means all past contributions. If so, why is this needed? The instructions on Line 2 state that if this is the first year for an 8606, we can fill in 0.

Our tax person says this is something provided by the broker who handles the accounts. We have had three different brokers for both accounts. I don't want to do unnecessary record digging, if it isn't really necessary. Thanks --Glad0