Stop thinking so hard ... the income reported on the W-2 box 1 is earned income for the IRA contributions period, no matter what you did with it. However, depending on how much income you have, contributions to a ROTH may not be allowed and the Traditional IRA may not be deductible. Do some reading here : https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-ira-contribution-li...
