topic Where is the retirement plan at work option found in the IRA deduction section? I cannot find it. in Retirement tax questions

Where is the retirement plan at work option found in the IRA deduction section? I cannot find it.

craig43 — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 19:02:25 GMT

Been through that section multiple times. Spouse and I are both retired and not covered by retirement plans at work.

Re: Where is the retirement plan at work option found in the IRA deduction section? I cannot find it.

Opus 17 — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 19:20:24 GMT

I don't understand your question. If you don't have compensation from working (W-2 wages or self-employment income) you can't contribute to any IRA regardless of any other factors.

Re: Where is the retirement plan at work option found in the IRA deduction section? I cannot find it.

craig43 — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 14:39:11 GMT

I have self-employment income that exceeds the allowable maximum IRA contribution. Neither spouse nor I are covered by a retirement plan. In years past with Turbotax, under same situation, IRA contributions were allowed and reduced my taxable contributions. This year when I enter the contributions, Turbotax askes me all kind of questions about it, but does NOT ask me whether I or my spouse are covered by a retirement plan at work. It just says my contributions are not tax deductable. Which according to the IRS, since I have self-employment income to cover it, and neither of us are covered by a retirement plan, it should be deductable. I just cannot find the switch to tell Turbotax that we are not covered by a retirement plan at work, since neither of us "work". Thank you.

Re: Where is the retirement plan at work option found in the IRA deduction section? I cannot find it.

Opus 17 — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 18:10:26 GMT

I am not familiar with this section of the program.

@dmertz

@rjs

@VolvoGirl

Re: Where is the retirement plan at work option found in the IRA deduction section? I cannot find it.

DoninGA — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 18:23:30 GMT

Go back and edit your IRA contribution. There will be a series of screens asking various questions -In order (I use the name of John for testing) -

Tell us about your IRAs
John's Traditional IRAs - Is this a repayment of a retirement distribution you received? NO
John's Traditional IRAs - Enter the total amount of contributions you put into a traditional IRA for 2025, even if you later transferred some or all of it to a Roth IRA.
John's Traditional IRAs - Did you recharacterize any of the traditional IRA contributions for 2025 over to a Roth IRA contribution? NO
John's Work retirement plans - Are you covered by a retirement plan at work?NO

@craig43

Re: Where is the retirement plan at work option found in the IRA deduction section? I cannot find...

BillM223 — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 01:14:06 GMT

Craig, can you help us out with something? I just built a brief case on a business, and sure enough, TurboTax did ask me about whether or not I was covered by a plan at work.

So, (1) please tell us what platform you are using, Online, Desktop/Windows, or Desktop/Mac? Are the Desktop platforms up-to-date?

(2) Tell us which version of TurboTax you are using: Deluxe, Premier, or Home & Business?

(3) Now please look at the path that I took in TurboTax:

I went to the Deductions & Credits->Retirement and Investments->Traditional and Roth IRA Contributions->Start/Update

My screens - I use Name for your name, Spouse for your spouse, enter the title of each screen in the first spot on each line, enter the major question on the screen in the second spot on each line, then enter what I entered in parentheses.

Tell us about your IRAs (a traditional IRA for one spouse)
[Name]'s Traditional IRAs - is this a repayment of a retirement distribution you received? (no)
[Name]'s Traditional IRAs - enter total contributions to traditional IRA for 2025 - (7,000 - 0 after 1/1/26)
[Name]'s Traditional IRAs - did you recharacterize any contributions to a Roth? - (no)
[Name]'s Work Retirement Plans - are you covered by a retirement plan at work? - (no)
[Spouse]'s Work Retirement Plans - is your spouse covered by a retirement plan at work? - (no)
[Name]'s Traditional IRAs - did you contribute more to this IRA in 2024 or previous? - (no)
[Name]'s Traditional IRAs - any nondeductible IRA contributions to your IRA from 2024 or before? - (no)
[Name]'s Traditional IRAs - value of all IRAs on 12/31/2025 - this means an excess has been found, or it wouldn't ask
[Name]'s Traditional IRAs - you had excess contributions of $495 - this happens to be equal to SE tax, i.e., my net income for Sch C after SE tax was $6,505

So, as you can see, I was asked about plans at work for me (you) and the spouse, right after the recharacterize question.

(4) Can you give us this same summary of your screens? I am sorry to ask, but since we in the Community cannot see your private tax data, we are at a disadvantage, especially when our tests don't work the same.

Re: Where is the retirement plan at work option found in the IRA deduction section? I cannot find...

craig43 — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 13:34:15 GMT

Here's what I have and the path/questions/answeres I went through. Self-employment net income was well in excess of $16,000. Thank you.

us-east-2.turbotaxonline.com/unified/2025/...

Premium (personal not business)

MasOS Monterey Version 12.7.6

Under Deductions and Credits

Select Kinds of IRAs owned or contributed to for 2025

Traditional IRA me, spouse

Did you contribute to a traditional IRA in 2025

YES

Is this a repayment of a retirement plan distribution you received..?

Enter the total amount of contributions you put in a traditional IRA for 2025

8,000 for jan 1, 2026-Apr 15, 2026

Did you contribute more money to this IRA than was allowed in 2024...

Did you have any nondeductable IRA contributions from 2024 or prior...

Did spouse contribute to traditional IRA in 2025

Yes

Is this a repayment of a retirement plan distribution you received?

Enter the total amount of contributions you put in a traditional IRA for 2025

8,000 for jan 1, 2026-Apr 15, 2026

Did spouse contribute more money to this IRA than was allowed in 2024...

Did spouse have any nondeductable IRA contributions from 2024 or prior...

Your IRA Deduction Summary

Based on what you have entered you don’t qualify for an IRA deduction

Re: Where is the retirement plan at work option found in the IRA deduction section? I cannot find...

user17736706288 — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 16:58:57 GMT

I am having the same problem, but when I go through EasyStep, it doesn't ask me if I'm covered by a retirement program at work. Switching over to the worksheet view of the "IRA Contributions Worksheet," line 10 is checked and not editable, indicating that TurboTax thinks that I'm covered by a retirement plan at work.

Personal details: I was laid off by my employer in December, 2024, rolled over my 401(k) to an IRA in January, 2025, had W-2 severance payments in Q1 2025, and started company pension income in 2025. My spouse hasn't worked in years and the same box is checked. Our return is "Married Filing Jointly."

I am using TurboTax Home & Business 2025 running on Mac desktop.

Thank you.

Re: Where is the retirement plan at work option found in the IRA deduction section? I cannot find...

Vanessa A — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 14:23:50 GMT

I would like to take a deeper look at this. However, I need a diagnostic file which is a copy of your tax return that has all of your personal information removed. You can send one to us by following the directions below:

TurboTax Online:

Sign into your online account.
Locate the Tax Tools on the left-hand side of the screen.
A drop-down will appear. Select Tools
On the pop-up screen, click on “Share my file with agent.”
This will generate a message that a diagnostic file gets sanitized and transmitted to us.
Please provide the Token Number that was generated in the response.

TurboTax Desktop/Download Versions:

Open your return.
Click the Online tab in the black bar across the top of TurboTax and select “Send Tax File to Agent” *
This will generate a message that a diagnostic copy will be created. Click on OK and the tax file will be sanitized and transmitted to us.
Please provide the Token Number (including the dash) that was generated in the response.

*(If using a MAC, go to the menu at the top of the screen, select Help, then, “Send Tax File to Agent”)

Re: Where is the retirement plan at work option found in the IRA deduction section? I cannot find it.

xmasbaby0 — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 14:28:30 GMT

Re: Where is the retirement plan at work option found in the IRA deduction section? I cannot find...

craig43 — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 14:56:50 GMT

Token no: 1344424 Thank you.

Re: Where is the retirement plan at work option found in the IRA deduction section? I cannot find...

Vanessa A — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 20:27:23 GMT

Looking at your entries, it appears you may have only entered a number in one of the boxes on the screen that asks when you made the retirement contribution. To fix this go back through the IRA entries and when you get to the screen asking if you made any contributions in January through April, enter $8,000 in both boxes not just the Jan- April box. The first box is asking you what total contributions have been made for 2025, the second box is just about the timing if other than during 2025.

Also, the question about not covered by a plan at work does pop up for me on MAC and PC. For the online version, it MAY be missing due to the lack of W-2's so TurboTax is assuming you are NOT covered by a plan at work since you have not entered any W-2's which would be the indicator that you could be covered by a plan at work. But the fact that the box is blank on the form itself, says this is not causing any part of the issue.

@craig43

Re: Where is the retirement plan at work option found in the IRA deduction section? I cannot find...

Vanessa A — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 20:28:25 GMT

On your W-2's do you have anything in box 14 that indicates a retirement plan? If so, what is the code?

@user17736706288

Re: Where is the retirement plan at work option found in the IRA deduction section? I cannot find...

user17736706288 — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 05:19:26 GMT

Box 13, "Retirement plan," is checked. There is no information in Box 14. I have contacted my former employer to request a corrected W-2. I may have to contact IRS for a written opinion to incentivize them to comply (assuming I'm right). Thanks for reaching out.

Re: Where is the retirement plan at work option found in the IRA deduction section? I cannot find...

craig43 — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 13:26:50 GMT

Oops, my bad. When I enter the same contribution in both the 2025 IRA contribution fields, I get a question about being covered by a retirement plan at work. When I just enter a contribution in the '..amount contributed between 1-Jan-2026 and 15-Apr-2026..', it does not ask me the question about being covered. I put a number in both fields, and I get credit for a tax deduction, and now I get a refund instead of owing money. Yeah. Thank you.