You can contribute to a Traditional IRA, as long as you have earned income and you are under the age of 70 and 1/2. For a Traditional IRA contribution, once you reach the year in which you turn age 70 ½ you are no longer eligible to make a contribution.
For any Traditional IRA deduction, to reduce your tax liability it depends on your filing status, your income, and if you or your spouse is covered by a retirement plan with your Employer (in your case you are covered by an employer). If you do, there are a couple of possibilities. If you (and a jointly-filing spouse) didn’t contribute to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, like a 401 (k), or self-employed retirement plan your entire Traditional IRA contribution is deductible.
But if you (and/or your jointly-filing spouse) contributed to an employer-sponsored or self-employed retirement plan in 2017, the amount you can deduct will depend on your tax filing status and modified adjusted gross income (MAGI).
Note that if your MAGI is:
- Below the phase-out range—your entire contribution is deductible.
- Above the phase-out range—you can’t deduct anything.
- Within the phase-out range—you can make a partial deduction (we’ll calculate this for you).
Here are the MAGI phase-out ranges for tax year 2017 if you participated in another retirement plan:
- Single, Head of Household, or Married Filing Separately, the phase-out range is $62,000 – $72,000
- Married Filing Jointly or Qualified Widower, the phase-out range is $99,000 – $119,000
- Married Filing Separately (but lived with your spouse), the phase-out range is $0 – $9,999
If you didn't participate in another retirement plan, but your spouse did, and you're:
- Filing jointly, the phase-out range is $186,000 – $196,000
- Filing separately, the phase-out range is $0 – $9,999
The most you can contribute to all of your Traditional IRA is the smaller of:
- $5,500 ( $6,500 if you're age 50 or older by the end of the year) or
- your taxable compensation for the year.
The deadline to make 2017 IRA contributions is until April 17, 2018.
