Deductability of IRA - No 2007 Contribution to Retirement Plan

I work for one of UC universities.

My income for 2007 was 100k.

I made no contributions whatsoever to the 403 b and 457 plans that were available to me. My balance in both these plans is $0.

I opened a traditional IRA and put $5,000 into it today. I was told that since I did not contribute to the 403 b and 457 plans, I could deduct the $5,000 as an IRA deduction on the 2007 1040. Is that correct?

Reply to
richard2007
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Shame on you if you're teaching English and making such inconvenient use of passive voice. It would be helpful to know who told you this.

It appears you were not "covered" by a defined contribution plan for 2007. See IRS Publication 590. Missing from the narrative is whether the "Retirement plan" box is checked on your W-2 and whether you were covered by a defined benefit plan, e.g., CALPERS. If the box is checked on your W-2 you need to find out why.

Also missing is your age. If you were under 50 as of 1/1/2008 you made a $1,000 excess contribution for 2007, regardless of whether it's deductible.

Reply to
Phil Marti

But aren't you covered by a defined benefit retirement plan (i.e. UCRP)?

Reply to
PeterL

I am clearly not entitled to the deduction. The box is checked on my W-2 for covered by an employers' plan. I am over 50. I got the bum advice from a finanical institution.

Reply to
richard2007

Sadly, not the first time someone's been led astray by a bank employee dispensing tax guidance.

IIRC you said that your 2007 income was about $100,000. You may qualify for a Roth IRA contribution, and it's possible to transform the traditional IRA contribution you made into a Roth contribution if you meet the income level.

If you're interested in pursuing this, step 1 is to compute your Modified Adjusted Gross income for Roth purposes. Download a copy of IRS Publication

590 from
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and see chapter 2 for the calculation method.

Get back to us with that figure and we can propose some options.

Reply to
Phil Marti

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