if I make a previous year TIRA contribution, can I immediately withdraw it ?

[RustyShackleford]

 Is it legal for a taxpayer (who is in their 60s and eligible to make a fully-deductible TIRA contribution) to shift taxable income from last year to the this year by making a previous-year TIRA contribution and immediately withdrawing it ?

In other words, when filing my 2021 tax return in April 2022, I would make a Traditional IRA contribution, thereby reducing my 2021 taxable income by $7000.  Then later in 2022 (or immediately) I would withdraw the money, adding $7000 (assuming no growth or decline of value) to my 2022 taxable income.

Is this legal ?

[ThomasM125]

It is not illegal. However, you will have taxable income for tax year 2022 for the distribution you took, so it would only work once to defer taxes on your income.

[RustyShackleford]

Yeah, I realize I can't keep doing it.  It's a one-time issue this year, because of taking a bunch of cap-gains and trying to avoid an IRMAA hit.