Traditional and Roth Contributions - are these amounts on the W-2 under box 12 (D and AA) that I should be reporting in the deduction and credits section?

[MargaretL · Accepted solution]

No, please do not report contributions (reported on your W-2, box 12, D/AA) as a separate entry in Turbo Tax. All you have to do is report W2 data in Turbo Tax exactly as it appears on the form.

The retirement plan contributions you elect to make come directly out of your salary. Since the contributions are made with pre-tax dollars, your employer does not include these amounts in your taxable income for the year. At the end of the year, when you receive your W-2 form that shows your earnings, you will notice that your wages subject to federal income (box 1) tax are lower because of your retirement plan contributions (box 12). Since the contributions are not counted in your taxable income to begin with, you do not take a deduction when you file your return.

The Deductions & Credits section is for the after-tax contributions.

[sayrichie]

follow-up question for clarification, if The Deductions & Credits section is for the after-tax contributions and I contribute after tax dollars to Roth 401k that shows up on box 12 AA on the W2,  does these contribution $$$ get included in the IRA credits section or not? Thanks

[dmertz]

A 401(k) is *not* an IRA.  Amounts reported in box 12 of your W-2 are to be entered only on TurboTax's W-2 form, nowhere else in TurboTax.

[mythicpilot]

Woops- misunderstanding.

[mythicpilot]

Woops- misunderstanding.

[oldmanram]

This is a follow up to a similar situation, what if I have a employer ROTH , BOX 12a , AA , for $XXXX.xx , AND a separate ROTH at a brokerage that I make annual contributions to as well. That area in the deductions section asks for the total , what would I put in what box in that situation ? 

thank you , I may start a new topic if I get no response's.

[Critter-3]

You do NOT enter anything about the ROTH 401K on the W-2 code AA  in the ROTH IRA deductions section of the program ... they are NOT the same thing even though they are treated the same way. 

[oldmanram]

Thank You , OK , So I just enter my brokerage account ROTH in that area , any idea if TT keeps track of the separate bases of each ROTH ? 

[Critter-3]

For income tax purposes all your ROTH IRA accounts are considered as a SINGLE account so you don't keep separate basis figures for each account.  

[VolvoGirl]

But you have 2 different kinds of ROTH accounts.  On your W2 that is a 401K Roth.  At your broker you have a IRA account.   They are different.  When you take a distribution they will go on different lines on your 1040.

[oldmanram]

Thank You guys , thought i was going to need to figure out maximum contribution limits when funding both , thought the IRS would have some formula saying you can fund this done 75% and this one 25% ,  but just noticed that I can fund BOTH to the MAX. Thanks