Rev. date: 12/21/2012
The most that can be contributed to an IRA depends on certain factors, including the overall maximum contribution limit in effect for the year, taxable compensation, the individual's age, and the amount of other contributions to traditional and Roth
IRAs.
- If
both you and your spouse
work and both have
taxable compensation, each of you can generally contribute to a separate traditional IRA. In addition, if you file a joint return, each of you can contribute to a separate traditional IRA based on your combined compensation (subject to certain limitations), even if one of you has little or no
compensation.
- The
amount
that you can contribute to each IRA is subject to a limit that can be found in
Publication 590,
Individual Retirement Arrangements.
Rev. date: 12/21/2012
In general, an amount contributed to a 401(k) account cannot be used as an IRA deduction. Most 401(k) contributions occur on a pre-tax basis, since the contributions are excluded from your federal (and most state and local) taxable income (these contributions are excluded from box 1 taxable wages of your
Form W-2 (PDF)).
However, if the 401(k) plan has a deemed IRA feature, contributions to the deemed IRA may be deductible in accordance with the IRA contribution rules. Deemed IRA contributions are included in box 1 and you use the normal IRA contributions rules to determine their
deductibility.