Thank you, I appreciate your response.
May I ask what the basis is for your reasoning? My confusion stems from the fact that if we had filed as single and each had half the income as in the example (e.g. 205K/2= 102.5K), our individual limits would be both $1000 and we could each contribute $1000, adding up to $2000. This is because the phaseout limits are half of the joint limits (i.e. , 190K/2= 95K and 220K/2 = 110K). In fact, in any different combination of income between husband and wife, the total allowed contribution would end up $2000. Let's say husband earns $120K, and wife earns (205-120 = 85K), husband can't contribute anything but wife can contribute the full $2000.
Given this, I don't understand why a couple filing jointly can't each contribute to their calculated max amount.
