I'm back in case I misunderstood your question. While deferred comp doesn't count toward an IRA, maybe you have other non-deferred income you want to count toward an IRA. IRA deductions may be limited if you otherwise were covered by a retirement plan. If you want to know whether participating in a non-qualified plan counts as being covered by a retirement plan for purposes of the deduction limitation, I don't know the answer.
With my company, being a highly compensated employee did not throw me out of all aspects of the qualified retirement plan. It just placed limits on how much the qualified plan could give me. The non-qualified plan made up the difference. This is a complex area, and the IRS repeatedly says in its publications that you should check with your employer to verify whether or not you were covered by a retirement plan.
