You have until April 15th, 2017 to make a Traditional IRA contribution for 2016. The maximum contribution per year, for all IRAs and Roth IRAs combined, is $5500 ($6500 if you're 50 or older)
The deductibility of your IRA (Traditional IRAs only, Roth IRAs are not deductible) depends on your income, filing status, and whether or not you are covered by an employer-sponsored retirement plan (401k, pension, etc).
TurboTax will figure this out for you, but I've included links to IRA deduction limits from the IRS website:
IRA
deductibility - covered by employer plan
IRA
deductibility - NOT covered by employer plan
Your IRA contribution (Traditional of Roth) may ALSO qualify you for the Saver's Credit.
The Retirement Savings Contributions Credit (Saver’s Credit) helps low and middle-income taxpayers save for retirement. Sometimes this is called the Credit for Qualified Retirement Savings Contribution or Retirement Credit. It’s a non-refundable tax credit which means it can’t reduce the amount of tax owned to less than zero.
Based on your income and filing status, you may claim a credit on your return for a percentage of the contributions you made to a qualified retirement plan.
You qualify for the credit if you’re:
- 18 or older.
- Not a full-time student.
- Not claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return.
Also, in 2016 your adjusted gross income (AGI) can’t be more than:
- $61,500 if married filing jointly.
- $46,125 if head of household (with qualifying person).
- $30,750 if single, married filing separately, or qualifying widow(er) with dependent child.
The maximum credit is $1,000 ($2,000 for taxpayers who are married filing jointly), but is often less due to other deductions and credits and is limited by income.
I suggest entered a few IRA contribution scenarios into TurboTax to see how it impacts your refund.
Hope this helps.
