Some folks get large refunds because they have too much withheld all year. But that is only a timing difference, and giving the govt an interest free loan all year
Given your relatively low tax rate, the deduction for a traditional IRA contribution will be relatively small and only defers taxation of that money to a future year; the money will eventually be taxable. It would likely be better to take a long-term view of your finances and contribute the money to a Roth IRA instead. You won't get any tax deferral on the contribution, but growth in the Roth IRA will be tax-free (instead of only tax-deferred as it would be in a traditional IRA) provided that you leave it in until age 59½ and at least five year from the beginning of the year for which you make your first Roth IRA contribution. In addition, you can take your original contributions out of the Roth IRA at any time free of tax and penalty. The benefit of tax free growth will mean that you'll likely get much larger refunds on future tax returns in retirement than you the smaller refund increase that you'll get now.
With either a traditional or Roth IRA contribution, you'll likely also qualify for a Retirement Savings Contributions Credit if you are not a full-time student, cannot be claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return and made no distributions from retirement accounts in recent years.
Using 2017 tax rates, note that if you are at the $18,000 end of the income range specified, can make an IRA contribution of at least about $1,525 and qualify for the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit, there is a good chance that there would be NO tax benefit to a traditional IRA contribution over a Roth IRA contribution. The Retirement Savings Contributions Credit that you would get for this contribution to either a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA would make the deduction for a traditional IRA contribution worthless with respect to your federal income taxes.
However, don't forget to consider state income taxes. The deduction for a traditional IRA contribution might reduce state income taxes where a Roth IRA contribution would not.
You may open and contribute to a Traditional IRA, which is a retirement account and allows you to save money. You may be able to deduct the contributions that you make to a Traditional IRA, if you qualify. You can enter the contributions that you make to your Traditional IRA in your tax return, to get the deduction which may lower your taxable income.
The most you can contribute to all of your Traditional IRA is the smaller of: $5,500 ( $6,500 if you're age 50 or older by the end of the year) or your taxable compensation for the year.
The deadline to make 2017 IRA contributions is until April 17, 2018.
Remember, any deductible contributions and earnings you withdraw or that are distributed from your traditional IRA are taxable. Also, if you are under age 59 ½ you may have to pay an additional 10% tax for early withdrawals.
Who can open a Traditional IRA,
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To enter in TurboTax, see below: