Traditional ira contribution limits

[hoverguy5]

I work for the department of defense, our annual limits on traditional IRA contributions are set at $18,000, not the usual $5500.  It says I over contributed, can I ignore this warning because I am part of the government retirement program?  (TSP)

[PaulaM]

These are two different retirement accounts.

Salary deferrals for 401K (or similar employer qualified plans such as a TSP) are limited to $18,000 + $6,000 for those 50 yrs and older. These are contributions that are made through your employer and reflected as a reduction of wages on your W-2. You will also have a Box 12 code D for that contribution on the W-2. Your employer already reduced your wages and thus no taxes were paid on those amounts. You don't enter your TSP contributions anywhere else in TurboTax.

IRA's (Individual Retirement Accounts), are separate plans that you initiate on your own, separate from your employer. These are limited to the $5,500 contributions + $1,000 for those 50 yrs and older.

See links below.

https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-401k-and-profit-sha...

https://www.tsp.gov/PlanParticipation/EligibilityAndContributions/contributionLimits.html

https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-ira-contribution-li...