IRA contributions in the presence of Employee Retirement Plan

[D-T]

My husband and I are filing jointly. I retired in 2023 in February, but was covered for those 2 months under an employee retirement plan.  My husband is not covered under an employee retirement plan. We both receive Social Security income. MAGI is difficult to calculate and I would have thought it would be calculated by TurboTax. How do we know how much to contribute to an IRA for 2023 to ensure that all of the IRA contribution is deductible?

Thanks, 

D-T

[MonikaK1]

You can use TurboTax to figure this out for you. Once you have finished the rest of your Federal return, go to the Retirement and Investments section of Deductions and Credits, and complete the interview as if you have made an IRA contribution. Enter an amount that you would like to contribute to your IRA, and see how TurboTax calculates whether and how much of the prospective contribution is deductible. Just remember to have the amount you actually contributed entered in TurboTax when you are ready to file your return.

Everyone is eligible to make contributions to a traditional IRA, but a tax deduction for those contributions may not always be available. You may need to reduce or entirely eliminate your IRA deduction if you or your spouse

• contributes to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b), and
• your Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) exceeds annual limits.

If you and your spouse are not eligible to contribute to an employer plan, you can deduct your contribution as long as you earn income during the year. For purposes of the IRA deduction, earned income excludes interest, dividends, and similar types of investment income.

See this TurboTax tips article for more information.