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[typman05]

Again.  I tried making a 401k contribution by April 15 to reduce taxes owed.  The plan returned my check and said it has to come from my employer.  What do I do now?  Its after April 15.

[DoninGA]

An employer provided 401(k) can only be contributed to on a calendar year basis.  For tax year 2018 the contribution had to be made no later than 12/31/2018.

[typman05]

This does not answer my question.  When doing my taxes on Turbo Tax, I was informed that if I made a contribution of X amount by April 15, I could reduce my taxes by X amount.  I tried doing so, but was later informed by the plan that the contribution has to come through the employer, but it was after April 15.  Are you not familiar with this option?

[DoninGA]

The message was to contribute to an IRA on or before April 15, 2019, not to your 401(k).

[Opus 17]

IRAs and 401(k)s are completely different and covered under different sections of the tax law even though they seem similar in many ways.

Sometimes, you can make a contribution to an IRA before April 15, and have it count as a deduction on the past year tax return.  You would have had to contact a bank, investment advisor, or online investment company to open a private IRA for that deposit.  

You can never make contributions to a 401(k) except by payroll deduction and the money is always counted toward the current year.

If you filed a tax return in which you stated that you planned to make a deductible IRA contribution before April 15, and you did not, you need to file an amended return to remove the contribution and pay the extra tax.

Amend https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3288565